Harira - traditional Moroccan soup with lentils and chickpeas
12 servings
120 minutes
Recipe from Ilya Cherkashin, chef of Levantine Fire Cuisine Bar.
1
Soak chickpeas and lentils for 8–10 hours (overnight).
- Chickpeas: 200 g
- Green lentils: 350 g
2
Rinse the lentils. Rinse the chickpeas, cover with clean water, bring to a boil, and drain in a colander.
- Chickpeas: 200 g
- Green lentils: 350 g
- Water: 4 l
3
Cut the meat into 2 cm cubes, fry on all sides until golden brown in vegetable oil, transfer to a bowl, and leave the pan.
- Beef: 1 kg
- Vegetable oil: 4 tablespoons
4
Chop the onion and celery into small cubes, blanch the tomatoes and peel them. Finely chop the hot pepper and garlic.
- Onion: 1 head
- Celery: 5 stem
- Tomatoes: 5 piece
- Chili pepper: 1 piece
- Garlic: 4 cloves
5
Sauté onion, hot pepper, garlic, and celery in the pan leftover from the meat, add tomato paste and tomatoes, and cook everything until soft.
- Onion: 1 head
- Celery: 5 stem
- Chili pepper: 1 piece
- Garlic: 4 cloves
- Tomato paste: 1 tablespoon
- Tomatoes: 5 piece
6
Add black pepper, cumin, ginger, and saffron soaked in water to the vegetable sauté.
- Ground black pepper: 1 teaspoon
- Ground cumin (zira): 2 teaspoons
- Saffron: pinch
7
Add meat, chickpeas, and lentils there, pour boiling water, and bring to a boil.
- Beef: 1 kg
- Chickpeas: 200 g
- Green lentils: 350 g
- Water: 4 l
8
Reduce the heat and simmer for about 2 hours, until the chickpeas are tender.
9
At the end of cooking the soup, beat the eggs with lemon juice and add them in a thin stream to the boiling soup along with small pasta, cooking for another 5 minutes.
- Chicken egg: 3 pieces
- Lemon: 0.5 piece
- Vermicelli: 70 g
10
Salt and pepper the soup, add chopped cilantro, parsley, and green onions. Remove from heat, add the juice of half a lemon and let it steep for 20 minutes.
- Salt: to taste
- Ground black pepper: 1 teaspoon
- Coriander: 1 bunch
- Parsley: 1 bunch
- Green onions: 0.5 bunch
- Lemon: 0.5 piece