Harira

Ingredients

• Lamb — in small dice300 g
• Chickpeas — soaked overnight150 g
• Green lentils100 g
• Tomatoes — grated600 g
• Onion1
• Celery2
• Coriander and parsley60 g
• Ground ginger1 tsp
• Cinnamon½ tsp
• Plain flour4 tbsp
• Vermicelli60 g
• Lemonto taste
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Fry the lamb with the onion, ginger and cinnamon for five minutes, add the chopped celery and herbs and give it two more.

   8 min

2. 2

   Add the grated tomato and the chickpeas, pour in two litres of water and simmer for an hour, until the chickpeas are soft.

   60 min

3. 3

   Add the lentils and give it twenty minutes more.

   20 min

4. 4

   Whisk the flour into a cup of cold water until completely smooth and pour it in as a thin stream, stirring without stopping. Cook five minutes: the soup thickens and turns matt.

   8 min

5. 5

   Add the vermicelli and cook until done. Serve with lemon and dates — that pairing is not accidental: sweet and sour at once.

   8 min

About the dish

Harira is what Morocco breaks the Ramadan fast on, but it is eaten all year. Its body comes not from long boiling but from tadouira: a slurry of flour and water stirred in at the end.

The slurry has to go in as a thin stream with constant stirring, or the flour seizes into lumps. And it must cook five minutes: raw flour leaves a cloudy taste.

The coriander and parsley are not a sprig for looks but handfuls. They are chopped with celery and go in at the start — the herbs work as a vegetable here, not a garnish.

Worth knowing

• — The slurry is sometimes replaced by egg beaten with lemon juice. That gives a different texture, equally traditional, but a less dense soup.
• — Harira thickens as it cools and by the next day is nearly porridge. Loosen it with boiling water rather than from the tap.
• — The vermicelli goes in at the last moment and only into the portion being eaten: overnight it swells and drinks all the liquid.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

380 kcal

Protein

22 g

Fat

12 g

Carbs

46 g

More from Morocco

• Chicken tagine with preserved lemon — Chicken braised with preserved lemons and olives. The sourness comes from the peel, not the flesh.