Haleem

Ingredients

Pot

• 500 gturkey meat, or lamb shank
• 300 gshelled wheat, soaked overnight
• 1onion
• 1 tspsalt
• 2 litreswater

To serve

• melted butter or oil
• ground cinnamon
• sugar

Directions

1. Soak the wheat overnight in plenty of cold water, then drain it.
2. Simmer the meat with the onion and salt in the water for 2 hours, until it falls away from the bone.
3. Lift the meat out, discard the bones, skin and any sinew, and shred it very finely.
4. Return it to the pot with the soaked wheat and cook, covered, for a further 2 to 3 hours over a very low heat.
5. Stir it often and scrape the bottom as you go. Wheat sticks and scorches readily, and burnt halim tastes of nothing else afterwards.
6. Now the beating, which is the entire dish. Take a heavy wooden masher or a flat paddle and pound and beat the mixture against the side of the pot.
7. Beat it for a long time, twenty minutes or more, until the meat fibres and the wheat have merged completely into one smooth, glossy, stringy mass with nothing recognisable left in it.
8. Halim is judged by whether a spoonful pulls into threads when lifted. A machine gives you a purée, which is a different and lesser thing; the stretch only comes from beating.
9. Add hot water if it becomes too thick to work, and keep it moving.
10. Check the salt and spread it into shallow bowls, smoothing the surface.
11. Make a well in the centre of each and pour melted butter or oil into it.
12. Dust heavily with cinnamon and sugar, or set both on the table for people to add themselves.
13. Cinnamon and sugar is what makes this Iranian rather than South Asian. The Persian halim is a sweet breakfast, while the haleem of India and Pakistan is savoury and heavily spiced, a quite different dish under nearly the same name.
14. Serve it very hot. It is sold from before dawn through the winter and eaten as breakfast.

Technique

• Turkey is the traditional Iranian meat for it, though lamb shank is just as common now.
• It is winter food and appears on the streets from autumn onwards, disappearing again in spring.
• Sangesar and Tabriz both have local versions with their own reputations.

Substitutions

• Lamb shank or shoulder in place of turkey.
• Pearl barley if shelled wheat is unavailable, accepting a slightly different texture.

Variations

• Haleem bademjan, made with aubergine and no wheat at all.
• The savoury South Asian haleem, spiced and served with fried onion and lime.
• With extra sugar, eaten almost as a dessert.

History

Wheat and meat beaten to a smooth porridge and sold hot before dawn through the winter.

Frequently asked questions

What is Haleem?

Haleem is a breakfast from Iran: slow-beaten wheat and turkey porridge with cinnamon and sugar. Wheat and meat beaten to a smooth porridge and sold hot before dawn through the winter.

How long does Haleem take to make?

Haleem takes 15 min plus overnight soaking of preparation and 5 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Haleem?

Yes, within limits. Lamb shank or shoulder in place of turkey. Pearl barley if shelled wheat is unavailable, accepting a slightly different texture.

What is the most important thing to get right in Haleem?

Now the beating, which is the entire dish. Take a heavy wooden masher or a flat paddle and pound and beat the mixture against the side of the pot.