1. Seal the lamb in hot oil to get even colour. Take out of the pan and add the shallot, onion and garlic and cook until soft.

2. Add the cinnamon stick and stock and bring to the boil and add half the herbs.

3. Continue to cook on medium heat for approximately 30 minutes until the liquid has reduced by half, and then add chickpeas, apricots and honey.

4. Transfer the tagine to a deep sided baking dish, cover with coil and place into the oven at 150°C/300F oven for 90 minutes, checking after 60 minutes, then every 10 minutes until the lamb is tender.

5. Remove from the oven and add the remainder of the herbs, lemon juice, lemon peel, rose water and sesame seeds. Simmer on top of the stove for five minutes. And season well, adding plenty of black pepper.

6. Thicken the sauce with a little corn flour if you like.

7. For the cous cous, mix all of the dry ingredients apart from the almonds together in a large mixing bowl and season well

8. Bring the vegetable stock and butter to the boil and pour over the dry cous cous mix and stir well.

9. Cover the dish and allow to soak for five minutes

10. To serve fluff up the cous cous with a fork and add the toasted almonds and chopped parsley,

11. serve a generous pile of the cous cous with the tagine sprinkle with more toasted almonds and chopped coriander

Chef tip
Although lamb is the traditional meat for this dish you could also use beef or chicken
Try adding a finely chopped chilli to the tagine for a more spicy taste.