Haleem
A dish known from Iran to Hyderabad. During Ramadan it is eaten to break the fast in the evening, and in Iran also for breakfast — it is very filling. What defines it happens at the end: after four hours of cooking the whole pot is pounded with a wooden masher until the meat separates into fibres and the mass turns smooth and stringy. It is never blended — a blender gives uniform mush, while haleem should carry long, perceptible strands of meat in a creamy base.
Your own work in that: 20 min.
- Soaking 480 min
- Cooking 250 min
- Pounding 20 min
- Fried onions 15 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneSoak grains and pulses overnight
Soak the wheat, barley, lentils and split peas separately, in cold water, for 8 hours. The wheat, barley and split peas must swell properly to soften in the same time as the meat; separate bowls make each easy to check and drain.
Ingredients: 250 g wheat · 80 g red lentils · 80 g split peas · 60 g pearl barley · 3000 ml water
Separate bowls — easy to check that everything has swollen.Braise the meat with spices
In a large heavy-based pot heat about 40 g of the ghee, soften the onions, add the ginger and garlic paste, the spices and the meat and cook 10 minutes until browned. Add 1.5 litres of water and simmer, covered, for 90 minutes, until completely tender.
Ingredients: 800 g lamb · 2 pcs onions · 40 g ginger · 8 cloves garlic · 2 tsp garam masala · 1 tsp turmeric · 1 tsp chilli flakes · 1 pcs cinnamon · 5 pcs cardamom · 3 tsp salt
Add the grains and cook two and a half hours
Add the drained grains and pulses, pour in the remaining water and cook 2.5 hours on the lowest heat, stirring every quarter of an hour. Stirring is essential — wheat settles and catches, and a caught pot ruins everything in it. If it thickens too early, add boiling water.
Ingredients: 250 g wheat · 80 g red lentils · 80 g split peas · 60 g pearl barley · 3000 ml water
Check that the wheat has split
The mixture is ready for pounding when the wheat grains are soft and split and the meat falls apart under a spoon. If the wheat resists, add boiling water and cook another 30 minutes — pounding hard grain achieves nothing. Before pounding, fish out the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods (and any bones, if the meat was on the bone).
Ingredients: 250 g wheat · 80 g red lentils · 80 g split peas · 60 g pearl barley · 3000 ml water
Pound, do not blend
Pound the mixture with a wooden masher or the end of a rolling pin for 20 minutes, until the meat separates into long fibres and the whole becomes smooth and stringy. A blender would give uniform mush with no fibres — and the fibres are the point of the dish.
Ingredients: 250 g wheat · 80 g red lentils · 80 g split peas · 60 g pearl barley · 3000 ml water
Pound until the meat separates into fibres.Adjust the thickness
Haleem should be as thick as very stiff porridge — a spoon stands for a moment before slowly sinking. Loosen with boiling water if it has stiffened; it thickens further off the heat.
Ingredients: 250 g wheat · 80 g red lentils · 80 g split peas · 60 g pearl barley · 3000 ml water
Fry the onions dark
Fry the thinly sliced onions in the remaining ghee for 15 minutes, to a deep brown and crisp, and drain on paper, leaving the ghee in the pan. Crisp fried onion is not a garnish but a fixed part of haleem — it brings sweetness and contrast to the smooth mass.
Ingredients: 120 g ghee · 3 pcs onions · 30 g ginger · ½ bunch coriander · 2 pcs lemons
Deep brown and crisp — drained on paper.Serve with fried onions, ginger and lemon
Ladle into bowls, pour over hot ghee from the pan and finish with the fried onion, julienned ginger, coriander and a lemon wedge. The lemon is obligatory — without acid a dish this dense soon feels heavy.
Ingredients: 120 g ghee · 3 pcs onions · 30 g ginger · ½ bunch coriander · 2 pcs lemons
Before you start
Haleem versus khichra
Haleem is smooth and pounded to a uniform mass; khichra (khichda), popular in Pakistan and Mumbai among other places, leaves the meat in pieces. The ingredients are very similar — the two dishes differ mainly in texture.
Beef or chicken
Lamb is classic, but beef works well too — it needs a similar, sometimes slightly longer, cooking time. Chicken cuts the meat cooking to 40 minutes and gives a milder haleem.
It sets solid
Chilled, haleem sets firm enough to cut with a knife. Reheat with plenty of boiling water, stirring hard. It keeps up to three days in the fridge and freezes well in portions.
