Harira (Moroccan lamb, lentil and chickpea soup)

Name: Harira (Moroccan lamb, lentil and chickpea soup)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 2 h
Total time: 10 h 30 min
Cuisine: Moroccan
Ingredients: 100 g dried chickpeas; 3 tbsp olive oil; 350 g boneless lamb shoulder (or beef chuck), trimmed and cut into 1 cm pieces; 1 large onion, grated or very finely chopped; 2 celery sticks, with their leaves, finely chopped; 40 g fresh coriander (a large bunch), leaves and tender stems finely chopped; 40 g flat-leaf parsley (a large bunch), leaves and tender stems finely chopped; 1 tsp ground ginger; 1 tsp ground turmeric; ½ tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper; 2.5 l water; 150 g brown or green lentils, picked over and rinsed; 750 g ripe tomatoes, halved and grated, skins discarded (or 800 g canned chopped tomatoes, blended); 2 tbsp tomato paste; 2 tsp salt, plus more to taste; 50 g vermicelli, broken into 2–3 cm lengths (or 50 g short-grain rice); 60 g plain flour; 500 ml cold water; 1–2 lemons, cut into wedges; 12 dates

Morocco's velvety tomato soup of lamb, lentils, chickpeas and a fistful of herbs, thickened at the end. The bowl that breaks the Ramadan fast, with dates and lemon.

By the Soupmap Culinary Team

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 2 hr
Total: 10 hr 30 min
Effort: Takes some care
Serves: 6

The total includes 8 hr of soaking, resting or chilling.

Broth richness 6/10

Spice 2/10

Comfort 8/10

Ratings by the Soupmap Culinary Team, not readers.

Dairy-free

Photo: Miansari66, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Harira is the soup Moroccan families put on the table at sunset during Ramadan, at iftar (the meal that breaks the day's fast), usually with dates and a squeeze of lemon. It's eaten the rest of the year too, and it's easy to see why: tomato, lentils, chickpeas and small pieces of lamb, warmed with ginger, turmeric and cinnamon, and lifted by a startling amount of fresh coriander and parsley.

What makes it harira is the tadwira, a thin batter of flour and water stirred in at the end. It turns a brothy bean soup into something smooth and velvety, which fits: the soup's own name is often said to come from harir, the Arabic word for silk. Cooked properly, you can't taste the flour at all.

That's also where most pots go wrong. Pour the tadwira in too fast, or into soup that isn't simmering, and you get lumps; stop after a minute or two and the soup tastes pasty. Whisk it smooth, drizzle it in while you stir, then give it a full 10–15 minutes. And give the chickpeas a head start before the tomatoes go in, because acid slows their softening.

Method

The night before

Put the chickpeas in a large bowl, cover with at least three times their volume of cold water and leave to soak for 8–12 hours. Drain and rinse. If you have the patience, pinch off the loose skins: the soup will be silkier for it.

Build the soup

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot (at least 5 l) over medium heat. Add the lamb, onion, celery, half the coriander and parsley, and the ginger, turmeric, cinnamon and pepper. Stir for 5 minutes, until the meat has lost its raw colour and the spices smell warm and toasty. You're not browning anything, just waking the spices up in the fat.
Add the drained chickpeas and 2 l of the water. Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off any grey foam, then lower the heat until the soup barely bubbles. Simmer, partly covered, for 45–60 minutes, until a chickpea crushes between your fingers with only a little resistance.
Stir in the lentils, grated tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and the remaining 500 ml water (if you're using rice instead of vermicelli, add it now). Return to a gentle simmer and cook, partly covered, for 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the lentils are soft and the lamb is tender.
Meanwhile, make the tadwira: whisk the flour into the cold water a little at a time, or shake them together in a lidded jar, until there isn't a single lump. Set aside.

Thicken and finish

Add the vermicelli to the pot and simmer for 5 minutes.
Whisk the tadwira again, since the flour settles. With the soup at a steady simmer, pour it in a thin stream, stirring all the time. Keep stirring over medium-low heat for 10–15 minutes, until the soup turns glossy and velvety, coats the back of a spoon and no longer tastes of raw flour. Stir right down to the bottom: once thickened, it catches easily.
Stir in the remaining herbs and simmer for 2 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper; it should be generously seasoned. If it's too thick to pour easily from a ladle, loosen it with a splash of hot water. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing and dates on the side.

Swaps

Cooking for coeliac disease or an allergy? Check every label: the notes below say which ones matter.

Gluten-free

Use 50 g short-grain rice instead of the vermicelli, added in step 4 as the recipe allows.
Make the tadwira with 60 g fine rice flour in place of the wheat flour, whisked into the same 500 ml cold water and cooked the same way. The texture is a little less silky but still smooth.
Lentils and chickpeas can carry stray grains of wheat or barley, so pick them over carefully, or buy packs labelled gluten-free if you need to be strict.

Plant-based

Leave out the lamb and add another 50 g lentils, as in Variations. Made with olive oil, everything else is vegan; check the vermicelli has no egg, as some does.
Without the meat the soup tastes lighter, so season it generously and don't skip the lemon.

High-protein

Already over 20 g protein a bowl from the lamb, lentils and chickpeas. Use 600 g lamb instead of 350 g for about 8 g more per bowl, or add 100 g more lentils with 500 ml more water in step 4 for about 4 g more.
Finish with the egg ribbons from Variations using 4 eggs (about 4 g per bowl), or serve a hard-boiled egg alongside, as it often is on the Ramadan table (about 6 g).

Tips

Be generous with the herbs and chop them finely. Two large bunches sounds like a lot, but they're an ingredient here, not a garnish: half goes in early for depth, half at the end for freshness.
Grate fresh tomatoes for the best flavour. Rub the cut side of each half on the coarse holes of a box grater and the skin stays in your hand. Out of season, good canned tomatoes beat pale fresh ones.
Old chickpeas can take much longer to soften. If yours are still hard after an hour, keep simmering before you add the tomatoes; once the acid goes in, they'll barely soften further.
If the tadwira has lumps in spite of the whisking, pour it into the pot through a sieve. A lump that makes it into the soup stays a lump.
The lemon matters. A squeeze in each bowl sharpens all the spice and tomato, and the sweetness of a date eaten alongside is part of the meal.

Make ahead and storage

Cool leftovers quickly in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours; harira keeps for 3 days. It thickens a lot as it stands, so loosen it with water as you reheat, stirring, until it's simmering all the way through.
To freeze, cook the soup to the end of step 4, cool it and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge, bring it to a simmer, then carry on from step 5 with the vermicelli, tadwira and fresh herbs.

Variations

Canned chickpeas (shortcut): skip the soak. Simmer the lamb with 2 l water for 45 minutes in step 3, then add 1 drained and rinsed 400 g can of chickpeas with the lentils in step 4. It takes about 2 hours from start to bowl.
Egg ribbons: some cooks finish harira by drizzling 2 beaten eggs into the simmering soup at the very end, stirring gently, then simmering for 1 minute so they set in fine strands.
Meat-free: leave out the lamb and add another 50 g lentils. Made with olive oil, as here, the soup is then vegan, though the flour and vermicelli still contain wheat.

Reviews & cooks' tips

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