Kefta and Egg Tagine (Tagine Kefta Mkaouara)

Ingredients

• For the kefta
• 500 g ground lamb (or beef), minimum 20% fat
• 1 medium onion, very finely grated or minced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• ¼ tsp cayenne
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• 15 g fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 15 g fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tsp sea salt
• For the tomato sauce
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• ¼ tsp cayenne
• 800 g ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped, or good-quality tinned whole tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 1 tsp sea salt
• To finish
• 4 eggs, whole, at room temperature
• To serve
• warm khobz, for scooping
• harissa, on the side

Method

1. 1
   Combine the ground lamb, grated onion, cumin, paprika, cayenne, cinnamon, coriander, parsley, and salt in a bowl. Work the mixture firmly by hand for at least 3 minutes until the ingredients are fully cohesive and the mixture holds its shape when pressed — the sustained kneading aligns the meat so it binds to itself rather than to the pan, and kefta that has not had this treatment will fall apart in the sauce. The mixture is ready when it pulls cleanly from the hand and feels uniformly dense.
2. 2
   Pinch off portions of the kefta mixture and roll between the palms into walnut-sized balls of approximately 20–22 g each, setting them aside on a tray. Keep each ball no larger than a walnut, because a bigger ball will colour and tighten at the surface while the centre is still raw by the time the sauce has done its work. Uniform size also means every ball finishes at the same moment.
3. 3
   Warm the olive oil in the tagine base — or a wide, shallow pan with a lid — over a medium flame, then add the chopped onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, paprika, and cayenne and stir for 1 minute until fragrant, so the spices bloom in the hot fat and their flavour carries into the sauce rather than sitting raw at the finish. Add the tomatoes and salt and simmer uncovered, stirring and pressing the tomatoes down, until the sauce is thick, deeply coloured, and spoonable with no pooling liquid — it is ready when a spoon drawn across the base of the pan leaves a trail that holds for 2–3 seconds.
4. 4
   Lower the kefta into the reduced tomato sauce in a single layer and spoon sauce over each ball, so every surface is coated and the balls poach evenly rather than steaming on one side. Cover the tagine and simmer gently for 12–15 minutes, turning the kefta once at the halfway point. They are cooked through when firm to a light press with the back of a spoon and no longer pink at the centre.
5. 5
   This is where the dish lives or dies. Use the back of a large spoon to press four shallow hollows into the sauce between the kefta — shallow enough to cradle each egg so the white stays gathered around the yolk rather than spreading thin across the pan — then crack one egg into each hollow and cover the tagine immediately. At 6 minutes, lift the cover: the whites should be barely set and opaque, the yolk visibly fluid and domed; replace the cover and check at 2-minute intervals, removing from the heat the moment the whites are fully set and the yolk remains liquid. Do not stir, do not shake — overcooked eggs, with rubbery whites and a hard yolk, make the dish dry and dull, and the runny yolk breaking into the red sauce at the table is the defining moment of this preparation.