Moroccan harira

There are times when we buy a jacket for the button 🙂 I chose this soup specifically because I was tempted the other day and bought a harissa spice mix. Since I hadn’t used it before – although it was only a matter of time – I thought I’d try this traditional North African soup. The flavour is something quite interesting, slightly spicy (because of the harissa), slightly exotic – just the kind of thing that makes you imagine yourself in Morocco or somewhere on the northern Mediterranean.

Moroccan harira

10dkg chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces
10dkg lentils
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 nut-sized ginger, grated
3-4 tomatoes
1-2 tablespoons tomato puree
20dkg chick peas
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground curcuma
1 teaspoon harissa
1.2 litres of broth
salt, pepper, coriander leaves for serving

First, cook the lentils in lightly salted water for about 20-30 minutes. Drain, rinse and set aside. If your chickpeas were dry, soak them in water well in advance; drain them too before using. Chop the onions and garlic and fry them in a little oil. Once the onions are browned, add the ginger, harissa, cinnamon and turmeric and pour over the stock. Add the tomatoes and tomato puree, then pour in the chickpeas and lentils.

Bring the soup to the boil, then reduce the heat slightly and simmer for a while (10-20 minutes). Then add the chicken breasts and cook for another 10-20 minutes until the chicken breasts are cooked. Add the juice of the lemon (gently squeeze the lemon juice over the soup) and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with a little chopped coriander (or parsley) before serving.

Vegetarians can safely omit the meat and use a vegetable stock instead of the broth 🙂 Although I don’t think the stock has ever seen too much meat…

First publication: 8th March, 2009