This week I visited North Africa twice, for soup and dessert. For soup this week I made Harira a Moroccan soup made with tomato, chickpeas, lentils, noodles or rice, and meat. I discovered that the name of the soup is derived from the Arabic word for silk because of the texture of the soup after it has been thickened with a flour and water mixture. Additionally the soup is eaten by around 90% of Moroccans during Ramadan, it is the dish used to open the fast - so it feels specially fitting to have cooked this in the first week of Ramadan.
The soup is traditionally made with meat, most of the recipes I found used lamb but also listed chicken and beef as an option. I have made a commitment to meal prep one vegetarian dish and one meat dish a week and decided to make this soup vegetarian. I found the flavours deeply rich and warming, and the lentils and chickpeas really did keep me full for a long time. The process for making the soup varies a little if you want to add meat and my recipe was based off this one. I made the soup quite late in the evening and was glad that I made it vegetarian as it took a lot less time to cook. I love the flavours of the soup and I think I will make another version of it soon, maybe add butternut squash and eggplants to round the textures off and create an alternative meat free option!
Serves 4-5 as a main
Ingredients
For the soup
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (400g), blended
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp Ras El Hanout
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp of chilli powder
1 tablespoon butter
1 stick celery (including leaves if you have them) chopped finely
1 onion, chopped finely
small bunch fresh coriander, chopped finely
2tbs tomato puree
2/3 cup lentils (I used red lentils but green or yellow lentils are also used)
1 tin chickpeas
7 cups water (or more as required)
1tbs flour (optional)
1 nest vermicelli or 1/2 cup of rice
salt
All spice quantities are a guide - you may need more or less depending on the quality of your spices and how old they are. Remember to constantly taste and season!
To serve
lemon wedges
coriander leaves
Method
In a large saucepan over medium melt the butter and add the onion, celery, spices and fresh coriander. Fry for around 5 minutes until the onion is soft. Add the tomato and the tomato puree and allow the mixture to come to the boil.
Add 2 cups of water, cover and simmer for around 10 minutes.
Add 3 cups of water, lentils and the rice if using rice. Bring up to boil, then reduce and simmer for around 25 minutes until the rice and lentils are cooked.
Optional: This soup is usually thickened with a mixture of flour and water. However, as I used so many lentils and some rice I found that the soup naturally thickened by itself and the next morning after having been in the fridge the soup had thickened even more - feel free to thicken if you would prefer it this way. (Mix 1 tbsp of flour with a little water to form a runny paste and then add to the soup stirring for around 5 minutes)
You will notice that the rice and the lentils soak up a considerable amount of water, keep adding water until you have a consistency that you are happy. Add the chickpeas and the vermicelli if using, by crushing the nest into small pieces.
Simmer for a further 20 minutes and serve garnished with coriander and a wedge of lemon.
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