Harira

Name: Harira
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 5 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: 1 serving
Cuisine: African
Ingredients: 80 g lamb shoulder; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 onion; 1 stick celery; 10 g fresh coriander; 10 g flat-leaf parsley; 0.5 tsp ground ginger; 0.25 tsp ground turmeric; 0.25 tsp black pepper; 1 pinch ground cinnamon; 150 g ripe tomatoes; 1 tsp tomato purée; 40 g green or brown lentils; 40 g cooked chickpeas; 500 ml water; 20 g vermicelli; 1 tbsp plain flour; 1 wedge lemon; 0.5 tsp salt

Morocco's fragrant Ramadan soup: lamb simmered slowly with lentils, chickpeas and grated tomato, perfumed with ginger and turmeric, thickened with a flour-and-water tadouira and finished with a fistful of coriander and parsley and a squeeze of lemon.

Snacks Mains 8g+ fibre

85 min20 prep · 65 cookEasy479 kcalper serving

Instructions

Warm 1 tbsp of olive oil in a heavy-based pot or pressure cooker over medium heat. Add 80 g of diced lamb shoulder and turn it for 3-4 minutes until the pieces are lightly coloured on all sides, you want colour, not a hard crust.
Add 1 finely grated small onion and 1 stick of finely chopped celery with half of the 10 g of coriander and half of the 10 g of parsley. Stir in 0.5 tsp of ground ginger, 0.25 tsp of turmeric, 0.25 tsp of black pepper, the pinch of cinnamon and 0.5 tsp of salt, and sweat over low heat for 5 minutes until the onion has collapsed and the spices smell toasted.
Stir in 150 g of grated tomato and 1 tsp of tomato purée and cook uncovered over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the raw smell goes and the mixture looks jammy round the edge of the pot.
Add 40 g of rinsed lentils and 400 ml of the water. Bring to the boil, skim any grey foam, then cover and simmer very gently for 40 minutes, until the lamb pulls apart under a spoon and the lentils are soft but still whole. Top up with a splash of hot water if the level drops below the solids.