Nourishing Beef Tagine

After all the sweets of Christmas, it is so nice to have a nourishing meal which is still satisfying.  Seriously, since Christmas my sweet tooth has intensified.  So, to curb it a little, I put a slightly sweet edge to this dish. It balances the spices and compliments the vegetables. No more after-dinner cravings for plum pudding! As if.  Serves 4

Ingredients
olive oil
650g beef chuck steak, diced
2 medium brown onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 tsp ground coriander (used at separate times)
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp ground paprika (used at separate times)
2 cups beef stock (used at separate times)
1/2 cup boiling water
3 large tomatoes, chopped coarsely
1 medium sized eggplant, sliced and quartered
2 large zucchinis, sliced
3/4 red split lentils, uncooked
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tbsp BBQ sauce
2 tsp sugar

Method
Heat the oil in a large frying pan; cook beef.  Remove from pan; set aside.  Stir onion in same pan until softened.  Add garlic and 2 tsp ground corinander, 1 tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp ground paprika.  Cook, stirring, until fragrant.  Add 1 cup stock, the sugar and the tomatoes to the pan; bring to boil.  Reduce heat, simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.  Add lentils to mixture along with extra 1 cup of beef stock; let simmer again for further 20 minutes.  Slowly add the 1/2 cup boiling water throughout this 20 minute (eg. topping up spice and tomato mixture if it looks dry as water evaporates).  Uncover the pan and add the beef back to pan.  Stir through.  Add tomato and BBQ sauce.  Simmer for further 15 minutes for flavours to amalgamate.  Meanwhile, heat oil in separate frying pan and cook eggplant and zucchini slices until tender.  Stir vegetables through beef and spices mixture.  Allow to simmer for 5 more minutes before serving.