Harira
Harira is the soup traditionally served in Morocco to break the Ramadan fast. Its characteristic velvety body comes from tadouira — a thin flour and water slurry poured in for the last quarter hour. Without it you get a good lentil soup; with it you get harira.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Spice base 15 min
- Cooking the pulses 45 min
- Flour slurry 15 min
- Seasoning 5 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneCook the spice base
Cook the finely chopped onion and celery in olive oil for 10 minutes until soft. Add the ginger, cinnamon, cumin, pepper and crushed saffron and cook 60 seconds until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and cook 2 minutes more.
Ingredients: 2 pcs onions · 3 pcs celery · 3 tbsp olive oil · 2 tsp ground ginger · 1 tsp cinnamon · 2 tsp cumin · 1 pinch saffron · 1 tsp pepper · 2 tbsp tomato paste
TipCinnamon in a savoury soup sounds odd until you taste it. It gives harira its warm, spiced foundation.
Spices fried in oil before any liquid goes in.Cook the lentils and chickpeas
Add the tomatoes, lentils, chickpeas and stock. Bring to the boil and simmer 40–45 minutes until the lentils are soft. The acid in the tomatoes slows their softening, so if they are still firm after this time, keep cooking. Add the salt only then — stock and tinned tomatoes can be salty, and the soup reduces.
Ingredients: 150 g lentils · 400 g chickpeas · 800 g tomatoes · 1500 ml stock · 60 g vermicelli
Whisk the slurry smooth
Whisk the flour into cold water in a jug until not a single lump remains. The slurry should have the consistency of pouring cream. Hot water would gelatinise the flour and set it into dumplings.
Ingredients: 60 g plain flour · 250 ml water · 1 bunch coriander · ½ bunch parsley · 1 pcs lemon · 2 tsp salt · 100 g dates
The consistency of cream and zero lumps.Pour the slurry in a thin stream
Pour the slurry in a thin stream while stirring the soup constantly. Then cook 15 minutes, stirring often — the flour must cook out, otherwise the soup tastes raw and pasty.
Ingredients: 60 g plain flour · 250 ml water · 1 bunch coriander · ½ bunch parsley · 1 pcs lemon · 2 tsp salt · 100 g dates
TipStir along the base of the pot. The slurry likes to stick and can scorch within a minute.
A thin stream and constant stirring — otherwise, dumplings.Add the pasta and herbs
If using the pasta, add it and cook 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped coriander and parsley — a whole bunch of coriander, not a handful. In harira the herbs are an ingredient, not a garnish.
Ingredients: 60 g plain flour · 250 ml water · 1 bunch coriander · ½ bunch parsley · 1 pcs lemon · 2 tsp salt · 100 g dates
Sharpen with lemon and serve
Squeeze in lemon juice and taste. Harira should be as thick as loose porridge and clearly sour. Serve with lemon wedges and dates — that is how the fast is broken in Morocco.
Ingredients: 60 g plain flour · 250 ml water · 1 bunch coriander · ½ bunch parsley · 1 pcs lemon · 2 tsp salt · 100 g dates
Before you start
With meat
Harira is often made with about 300 g of finely diced lamb or beef, browned at the start with the onion. The meat then needs about 40 minutes' extra simmering before the lentils go in.
Thickens overnight
By the next day harira becomes very thick. Loosen it with stock when reheating and adjust the lemon again.
Gluten free
Instead of the flour slurry, thicken the soup by blending two ladlefuls of broth and pulses and stirring them back in.
