Moroccan beef with prunes and almonds

Name: Moroccan beef with prunes and almonds
Ingredients: beef (osso buco or shin; any stewing cut works) — 2 kg; prunes — 250 g (one pack); blanched almonds — 250 g; onions — 4 large; cinnamon — about 2 tsp (added in three goes); salt, pepper; curry powder — a pinch, for colour; other spices to taste; vegetable oil for frying; water — about 100 ml (for the prunes); butter — 30 g (for the prunes); sugar — ½ tsp (if the prunes are sharp); quail eggs — to serve (optional, as in the original)

Cooked by my mother. People asked for it after the stories on Instagram, so here is the whole recipe in words. There are no step photos, sadly — they were never planned.

Ingredients

beef (osso buco or shin; any stewing cut works) — 2 kg
prunes — 250 g (one pack)
blanched almonds — 250 g
onions — 4 large
cinnamon — about 2 tsp (added in three goes)
salt, pepper
curry powder — a pinch, for colour
other spices to taste
vegetable oil for frying
water — about 100 ml (for the prunes)
butter — 30 g (for the prunes)
sugar — ½ tsp (if the prunes are sharp)
quail eggs — to serve (optional, as in the original)

Method

Prepare the onions. Peel them and chop very, very finely — a food processor is fine, but stop short of a purée. A mincer will not do: it releases too much liquid.
Brown the meat. Heat a little oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed pot. Brown the pieces on both sides and take them out.
Fry the onions. Put the onions into the same pot and cook them to a golden colour, uncovered, so the liquid evaporates. Along the way add salt, pepper and 1 level tsp of cinnamon (plus the curry powder for colour, if using).
Bring it together and stew. Lay the meat on the cooked onions. Season again with salt and pepper and dust with ½ tsp of cinnamon — cinnamon is the lead flavour here. Cover and leave over moderate heat for about 2 hours. Check now and then that nothing catches, turning the pieces a little. The meat stews in its own juices with the onions.
Cook the prunes. In a small pan put the rinsed prunes with about 100 ml of water, a knob of butter (30 g) and ½ tsp of cinnamon. If the prunes are sharp, add ½ tsp of sugar. Bring to a boil, turn the heat right down, cover and simmer until the liquid thickens to a syrup. Turn it off and set aside.
Toast the almonds in a dry pan until golden.
To serve. The meat is ready when it falls apart. Take a large deep dish: lay out the meat, spoon the onion sauce from the pot over it, top with the prunes and scatter the toasted almonds. The original is also decorated with boiled quail eggs.