Moroccan Harira Soup
What is Harira?
Harira is an earthy rich tomato-based soup made with lentils, chickpeas, herbs, and warm spices.
It gets its name from the Arabic word “harir” which means silk, the right description for its velvety texture.
Harira is the most popular soup in Morocco, it’s eaten all year round but it’s a must, during Ramadan. You can literally smell it in the streets during the holy month.
During Ramadan, practitioners don’t eat or drink anything between dawn and sunset. At sunset, Moroccans eat their first meal of the day and it’s often the Harira soup, very comforting after a day of fasting.
It can be an appetizer or main dish, depending on the serving size. It’s usually served with lemon slices, dates, bread, fried honey cookies called chebakia, figs, and coffee or milk.
This tradition of eating harira during Ramadan is so deep-rooted that many Moroccans consider a meal incomplete without it.
Recipes of harira are usually passed down from generation to generation and they usually vary between different families and geographical regions.
What do you know about Marocco?
Marocco is famous for:
- The Moroccan Desert & Sahara, imagine being surrounded by gigantic dunes and having no clue where you are. Camels are a big part of the experience too.
- Morocco has a big variety of beautiful beaches from wild to azure luxurious ones.
- This beautiful country is known for its delicious balanced food, full of fragrance and spices. It’s often cooked in the famous Moroccan tagine pot, made of clay or ceramic, that gives the food a very tasty flavor and it’s known to be one of the healthiest cookware preserving the vitamins and not transferring any bad chemicals to the food.
The lid made of a conical shape traps the steam during cooking and brings back the liquid to the pot, making it a moist dish with strong flavors.
Have you heard of the Moroccan hammam?
It’s a bathhouse with dry and steamed rooms, created for cleaning the body and soul. Water is an important symbol of purification and cleanliness in Islam. There are historic and very luxurious hammams around and this should be one of the spots to go to visit if you find yourself in Morocco.
Moroccan Harira Soup
Ingredients
- 2 tbs Extra vergin of olive oil
- 250 g Lamb or beef 9 oz
- 200 g canned diced tomatoes 7 oz
- 90 g lentils ¾ cup
- 210 g cooked chickpeas 1cup
- 90 g vermicelli noodles 3/4 cup
- 70 g tomato paste 2 ½ oz
- 25 g all purpose flour 3 tbsp
- 1 medium onion
- 1 celery stick with leaves
- 2 cinnamon sticks ½ cinnamon powder
- ½ tsp ginger powder
- ½ tsp cumin
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp salt
- ½ tsp saffron (optional)
Instructions
- Wash the lentils
- Mince the celery, cilantro and parsley
- Cut the oninons in small pieces
- Cut the meat in small pieces
- Put the olive oil in a pot over medium heat
- Add the meat, stir and keep cooking it until the base of the pot is a little brown
- Add the onions and let them cook until they are translucent
- Add the tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas and celery
- Add the cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, salt
- Add 1.5 liters of water or broth
- Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 45 min
- When everyhing is cooked, put the tomato paste
- Mix the flour and ½ cup of water and stir into the pot for 1 to 2 min
- Add the saffron (optional)
- Add the vermicelli noodles ( optional) and let it cook for 8 min, stirring occasionally
- The last 5 min add the fresh minced cilantro and parsley
- Serve with a fresh squeeze of lemon
- It's usually served with some dates and bread on the side.