Harira

Ingredients

Base

• 300 glamb shoulder or shin, in 1.5 cm dice, bones kept in
• 2 tbspsmen or 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1large onion, finely grated
• 3celery sticks with their leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tspground ginger
• 1 tspground turmeric
• 1 tspblack pepper
• ½ tspsaffron threads, crumbled
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 2 tspsalt

Body

• 150 gdried chickpeas, soaked overnight and skins rubbed off
• 120 gbrown or green lentils, rinsed
• 1 kgripe tomatoes, grated to a pulp and skins discarded
• 2 tbsptomato puree
• 1large bunch flat parsley (60 g), finely chopped
• 1large bunch coriander (60 g), finely chopped
• 2 litreswater
• 60 gfine vermicelli or 60 g rice

Tedouira (thickener)

• 80 gplain flour
• 250 mlcold water
• 1 tbsplemon juice

To serve

• 1lemon, in wedges
• Dates and chebakia or honeyed pastries
• Hard-boiled eggs with cumin salt (optional)

Directions

1. Sweat the lamb with the smen, grated onion and celery in a heavy pot over medium heat for 8–10 minutes, until the meat is grey-brown and the onion has collapsed. Do not brown it hard; harira is a gentle, not a roasted, soup.
2. Stir in the ginger, turmeric, pepper, saffron, cinnamon and salt and cook 1 minute until the pot smells of the spice rather than of raw powder.
3. Add the drained chickpeas, the grated tomato, the tomato puree and half the herbs. Cover and simmer 15 minutes so the tomato loses its raw edge and turns brick red.
4. Pour in the water, bring to a bare simmer, cover and cook 1 hour until the chickpeas are completely soft and the lamb pulls apart. Skim the surface twice.
5. Add the lentils and cook a further 20 minutes until they are tender but still hold their shape.
6. Make the tedouira: whisk the flour into the cold water until absolutely smooth with no lumps, then leave it to stand 10 minutes and whisk again.
7. With the soup at a steady simmer, pour the tedouira in a thin thread through your fingers while stirring continuously in one direction. Never stop stirring or it will set in ropes.
8. Simmer 15–20 minutes more, stirring often and scraping the base, until the soup turns velvety and slightly opaque and no longer tastes of raw flour.
9. Add the vermicelli and the rest of the herbs and cook 5 minutes until just tender. The finished harira should coat a spoon and be pourable, not stodgy; loosen with hot water if needed.
10. Finish with the lemon juice, check the salt, and serve very hot in bowls or glasses with a lemon wedge, dates and chebakia alongside.

Technique

• The tedouira is what makes it harira and not a lentil soup. It gives the silky, faintly sour body; add it slowly to simmering, not boiling, soup and keep the spoon moving.
• Herbs go in twice, half early for depth and half at the end for freshness. Moroccan cooks use as much coriander and parsley as they do tomato.
• During Ramadan harira is the first thing eaten after the call to prayer, with dates and a sweet chebakia to bring blood sugar up fast; it is made in enormous pots and reheated across the month.
• Recipes divide over the thickener: many Fassi families ferment the flour-water mix for a day first for a sour tang, while others use beaten egg with lemon instead.

Substitutions

• Tinned chickpeas can replace dried; add them in the last 20 minutes with the lentils and reduce the water by 300 ml.
• No smen: use olive oil plus 1 tsp of butter. The soup is slightly less savoury but still correct.
• Replace the flour tedouira with 2 beaten eggs whisked with the lemon juice and stirred into the simmering soup for a lighter, Fez-style finish.

Variations

• Harira Fassia, the Fez version, thickened with fermented tedouira and often with no meat at all.
• Harira with beef shin instead of lamb, common outside the cities.
• Chorba beida, the paler Algerian-style cousin without tomato.

History

Named for the Arabic word for silk, harir, describing the smooth body the tedouira flour-and-water paste gives the broth. Its exact age is debated: food historian Gil Marks traced its roots to Maghrebi cooking of recent centuries, while Moroccan chef Lahcen Lahouari has argued for pre-Islamic Amazigh origins built on grains, legumes and herbs, putting the dish at over 2,000 years old. What is certain is its modern role: harira is the soup that ends the day’s fast throughout Ramadan across Morocco, its chickpeas, lentils and lamb replenishing a body that hasn’t eaten since dawn, always with dates and the honey-sesame pastry chebakia alongside it. Outside Ramadan it stays a winter street-food staple, ladled hot at roadside stalls with a glass of mint tea.

Frequently asked questions

What is Harira?

Harira is a soup & stew from Morocco: tomato, lentil and chickpea soup with lamb; breaks the Ramadan fast. Named for the Arabic word for silk, harir, describing the smooth body the tedouira flour-and-water paste gives the broth. Its exact age is debated: food historian Gil Marks traced its roots to Maghrebi cooking of recent centuries, while Moroccan chef Lahcen Lahouari has argued for pre-Islamic Amazigh origins built on grains, legumes and herbs, putting the dish at over 2,000 years old. What is certain is its modern role: harira is the soup that ends the day’s fast throughout Ramadan across Morocco, its chickpeas, lentils and lamb replenishing a body that hasn’t eaten since dawn, always with dates and the honey-sesame pastry chebakia alongside it. Outside Ramadan it stays a winter street-food staple, ladled hot at roadside stalls with a glass of mint tea.

How long does Harira take to make?

Harira takes 30 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Harira?

Yes, within limits. Tinned chickpeas can replace dried; add them in the last 20 minutes with the lentils and reduce the water by 300 ml. No smen: use olive oil plus 1 tsp of butter. The soup is slightly less savoury but still correct. Replace the flour tedouira with 2 beaten eggs whisked with the lemon juice and stirred into the simmering soup for a lighter, Fez-style finish.

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

Sweat the lamb with the smen, grated onion and celery in a heavy pot over medium heat for 8–10 minutes, until the meat is grey-brown and the onion has collapsed. Do not brown it hard; harira is a gentle, not a roasted, soup.