Harira is a traditional Berber soup in Morocco. It can be eaten as a light meal or as a starter. Being such an iconic meal, much like Tagine stews, I wanted to learn how to cook it and then share the recipe. Below, you can find one of the recipes to cook it. You can make all kind of variations you want and choose your right kind of Harira. You will not find twice the same recipe for Harira. The one I ate wasn’t very spicy and there were no traces of the chickpeas.
In the photo, my first meal in Morocco, Harira soup (as suggested by a newly made friend), chicken with rice and Coca-cola. No more beer in the next weeks.
The Harira is just an awesome meal. It will fill you up and it is extremely tasty.
Ingredients
Harira’s recipe is composed of the following ingredients but vary a lot depending on the regions and the cook:
- 300 gr of an amount of meat: (beef, lamb or chicken)
- 1 onion
- 250 gr tomatoes and tomato concentrate
- herbs (celery, parsley and coriander)
- spices (mainly saffron, ginger and pepper)
- 1 tea cup of lentils and another of chickpeas
- Salt
- 1 or 2 eggs and/or flour
- 1 or 2 Chili pepper
- a spoon or two of olive oil.
You can find the spices already mixed, as Moroccan spices mix.
Preparation
Fry the onions in olive oil until the onions start to become transparent. Add the meat and when it browns add the tomato, the salt and some water.
When the water starts to boil, add the spices, the herbs, the lentils and the chickpeas, that were previously half cooked. Add water until it reaches your preference.
In the end add the beaten eggs and steer. This will thick the soup but you can also use flour.
You can also add rice or pasta like macaroni, if you like it.
You can serve with lemon and almonds on the side.
For more details, see Harira at About.com.