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I tasted this amazing vegan version of a Moroccan dish in Tangier (at the NBTA restaurant), and wow - such delicate flavours! I definitely had to make a note and then try to recreate it. I think I've done pretty well!

The finished dish should be a gloopy honeyed collection of lovely stewed objects, garnished with almonds and sesame seeds, and if you're feeling glam even some rose petals or orange blossom?

Mrouzia is traditionally made with lamb so you can choose whatever non-flavoured fake meat you like, ideally something a bit stew-friendly. I use some nice seitan pieces that come in a jar.

The spice mix is "ras-el-hanout" which basically indicates the classic Moroccan spice mix. There shouldn't be any chilli in it - that's not appropriate for this dish. We've had a couple of different ras-el-hanouts and some of them had chilli in.

Serves 2 people, takes 30 minutes.

• 160g seitan pieces - or other fake meat, in bite-size chunks
• 1 large handful almonds, maybe about 20 nuts (unsalted, whole or halved) (you could use pre-roasted almonds as a shortcut)
• 3 or 4 strands of saffron
• a stick of cinnamon (1 to 2 inches)
• 1 clove garlic, crushed, or an equivalent dollop of liquid garlic
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp ras-el-hanout
• 25g butter or vegan butter
• 6 prunes (whole, but with no stones)
• 6 dried apricots (whole, but with no stones)
• 2 tbsp honey or vegan honey
• 2 tsp lemon juice (optional - I didn't use it but you may wish to use it to balance the flavour at the end)
• 1tsp sesame oil (toasted, e.g. the common Japanese sesame oil) (optional)
• 3 tsp sesame seeds

Bloom the saffron by adding it to half-a-cupful of hot water, five minutes before you use it.

In your stewing pan, add a splash of water and the butter. Turn the heat on so that the butter begins to melt while you also add the garlic, cinnamon stick, salt, pepper, ras-el-hanout, and the bloomed saffron with its water. Give it a simple stir to mix.

Add the fake meat, apricots and prunes. Bring it all up to a medium-hot heat and let it stew gently for ~30 minutes, with a lid on, until it's nicely reduced and there's not that much liquid left. Stir occasionally.

- Note: if you want to make this dish ahead of time, you can pause the recipe at this point e.g. take it off the heat. -

While the stew is cooking, prepare the almonds. If they aren't already halved, slice them lengthways. Then roast for 5-10 minutes in an oven at 180C (or a frying pan on a medium-to-low heat), and take them out again. Save a few of the almonds to garnish at the end, but add most of the roasted almonds to the pan, when there's maybe five or ten minutes cooking time left.

When the stewing time is done, and the stew quite well reduced, remove the cinnamon stick then add the honey and the sesame oil and stir. Let it warm/cook for a minute more. Check for seasoning (any lemon needed?).

Serve garnished with a generous sprinkle of sesame seeds over the top, as well as the reserved almonds.

Accompany it with bread or couscous.