On Love your Lentils there is a contest going on that ends next week, bloggers can enter their recipes, or home cooks can do a twist on an existing recipe, one of the things that I have come to love is Moroccan Harira Soup, this soup is often served during the month of Eid, when Muslims are breaking their fast.
It is a delilcous soup and for me I tend to enjoy it all winter long as well.
There are many many recipes for this soup and here is how I do my Canadian take on this wonderful Moroccan dish.
Moroccan Harira Soup
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- ½ lb. un cooked chicken
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 bunch cilantro (coriander),make sure you chop it very finely.
- 2 celery stalks with leaves, finely chopped
- 1 large onion, minced very very fine
- 1 can of chick peas
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoons pepper
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 6 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and pureed
- 1/4 cup dry lentils, picked over and washed (we like lentils)
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste, mixed evenly into 1 or 2 cups of water
- 2 tablespoons uncooked rice
- 1 cup flour
Preparation:
Step 1 – Ahead of Time
Make sure you have all the ingredients. Do the following before you begin cooking the soup..)
- Pick through the lentils and wash them.
- Peel, seed and puree the tomatoes in a blender or food processor. We use our Magic Bullet for this.
- Pick the parsley and cilantro leaves from their stems. Small pieces of stem are OK, but discard long, thick pieces with no leaves. Wash the herbs, drain well, and finely chop them by hand or with a food processor.
Step 2 – Brown the Meat
Put the meat, into a 6-qt. or larger pressure cooker. Over medium heat, cook the meat for a few minutes, stirring to brown all sides.
Step 3 – Make the Stock
Add the cilantro, parsley, celery, onion, chick peas, tomatoes, and spices. Stir in 3 cups of water.
Cover tightly, and heat over high heat until it boils. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Step 4 – Make the Soup
Add the lentils, tomato paste mixture, and 6 cups of water of water to the stock.
Set aside (but don’t add yet), either the rice or vermicelli.
Cover the pot and heat the soup over high heat until it boils is achieved. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking.
When adding rice: Add the rice about 20 minutes before the soup finishes.
Step 5 – Thicken the Soup
While the soup is cooking, mix together the 1 cup of flour with 2 cups of water. Set the mixture aside, and stir or whisk it occasionally. The flour will eventually blend with the water. If the mixture is not smooth when you’re ready to use it, pass it through a sieve to remove balls.
Once the rice has cooked, taste the soup for seasoning. Add salt or pepper if desired.
Bring the soup to a full simmer. Slowly — and in a thin stream — pour in the flour mixture. Stir constantly and keep the soup simmering so the flour doesn’t stick to the bottom.
You will notice the soup beginning to thicken when you’ve used approximately half the flour mixture. How thick to make harira is your own preference. I like to thicken the broth so that it achieves a cream-like consistency.
Simmer the thickened soup, stirring occasionally, for five to ten minutes to cook off the taste of the flour. Remove the soup from the heat.
Serves 6 to 8.
