Moroccan Harira - a Favourite in Algeria
photo by Um Safia
- Ready In:
- 1hr 50mins
- Ingredients:
- 19
- Yields:
-
6 bowls
- Serves:
- 6
ingredients
- 2 1⁄2 liters water
- 1 cup water
- 1 lemon, juice of
- 3 teaspoons plain flour
- 4 pieces lamb or 4 chicken pieces, preferably on the bone
- 1 carrot
- 1 potato
- 1 courgette (zucchini)
- 2 fresh tomatoes
- 1⁄2 bunch coriander (cilantro)
- 1 fresh fennel bulbs or 1 pinch fennel seed
- 1 pinch celery seed
- 1 medium onion
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4 tablespoons chickpeas
- 4 tablespoons green lentils
- 1 tablespoon olive oil oil (for frying)
- 3 teaspoons ras el hanout spice mix (heaped)
- salt and pepper
directions
- In a medium sized bowl, pour 1 cup of water, the lemon juice and the flour. Set aside.
- Also put 1 garlic clove and 1/4 of the corriander to one side until the end of cooking.
- Take a heavy bottomed pan or pressure cooker and place the meat (if using small pieces or boneless meat, it's best to secure them in a muslin cloth bag), add the vegetables and remaining corriander roughly chopped.
- Fry those ingredients with a little oil, 1 tsp of ras el hanout for a couple of minutes then pour on the water and leave to simmer, covered for 1 and a 1/2 hours or around 45 minutes in a pressure cooker. (or until meat and vegetables are tender) Add salt & pepper to taste.
- Remove the meat and set aside. Remove any traces of bones, gristle etc.
- Liquidise the remaining vegetables and push through sieve when finished, take another cup of freshly boiled water and pour over sieve to get any last traces!
- Put everything back in the pan and on low heat (just enough to reach a slow boil) You may wish to add a little more water or stock at this stage.
- When the harira reaches the boil, lower heat a little & add the flour mixture prepared in step 1. Add a few tbsp of the harira to the flour mix first. Remember to add gradually and stir continuously to avoid lumps.
- Turn heat to low and finely chopped coriander (last 1/4), final garlic clove minced & 2 tsp of ras el hanout. Allow the harira to heat through again so garlic is not raw.
- Sprinkle more coriander on top if desired and serve with fresh bread.
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Reviews
-
I love harira, am always ordering it in restaurants here, but have never really had the opportunity to make it myself. This was a very good recipe, although in step 24 it says to add the ras el hanout which is not listed in the ingredients. I used chicken pieces and served this up with some couscouse and Moroccan carrot salad. Thanks for bringing one of my favorite eating out pleasures home.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
ABOVE: My eldest, Talha with his 'Zaar Star!
I'm 29 years old and have been cooking since I was old enough to wield a wooden spoon! My Mum is a fantastic cook and both my Grandmas were great cooks too.
I've also had the pleasure of working in two commercial kitchens - one which I ran and the other I was second chef of.
You can find me lurking in the NA*ME (North Africa / Middle East) Forum where I am a host:
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and also in the Cooking for Kids Forum where I am co-host:
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I am fortunate enough to have 2 children of my own now and enjoy cooking with my eldest who is almost 8 years old. My daughter is almost 3 & has now started joining me in the kitchen & 'helping'. She likes to stand on a chair next to me, give instructions & stir.
We eat food from all over the world but my husband prefers it like 'mama used to make' or in his case ''like yemma makes it'' as he is Algerian! We are currently living in the UK after living in Algeria for a while. You will notice that I have posted quite a few Algerian classics.
If I had the time and the money, I would spend all day every day trying new recipes! My husband has a 'recipe score' which is this:
1: "Add it to your recipe book - I loved it and wanna eat this again soon!"
2: "Interesting....I will enjoy eating this again."
3: "I cleared my plate but don't expect me to eat this again...ever."
However, I rate 'Zaar recipes the by the 'Zaar standard, so don't worry. Oh and fyi, I have a problem being negative so will probably NEVER give a rating less that 4*!!!
Other than cooking, I love anything arty-crafty and enjoy painting when I get the chance, which is rarely these days. I used to sell a lot of my creations and do things to order but just don't have the time at the moment.
I have a passion for gardening almost as strong as that for cooking. I tend to have 90% of it in pots though as I can't bear to leave it behind when we move - therefore we don't have a lot of stuff that we'd like to have as it wouldn't like being confined to a pot! I take great pride in my garden and love the summer months (the few that we get in the UK) when we can eat outside... and being a typical man, my husband likes any excuse to get the BBQ going - enough said!
By the way; I'm on a mission to re-educate people about soaking cous cous for use in North African recipes.,,just so you all know....it is traditionally STEAMED & not soaked!
Most of the North African recipes I have have been taught to me by my mother in law, sisters in law etc. A few have come from very old cookbooks. It has taken me a long time to get the dishes into some kind of recipe form as basically we "eyeball" the majority of the ingredients. Bear with me whilst I try to get the rest of the recipes in order!...
On a personal note, I abhor the mistreatment of animals and have taken care of many abandoned or injured animals over the years. Similarily, I love to help children and that is why my husband and I are in the process of becoming foster carers.
I have a thing about being polite and having good manners - they don't cost anything after all. Something that bugs me is when you hold a door open for someone and they don't even acknowledge you or if you need to go through a door and they won't hold it for you but let it slap you in the face!
I think we should all smile more - myself included....
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