Harira Soup

Description

The Harira is the national soup of Morocco. During 30 days of Ramadan, every house prepares this perfumed soup, impregnating the streets of its scent at the sundown. It is eaten along with dates, or honey sweeties (Chabakkia, briouats with almonds and honey).

The soup should be prepared in two phase:

1. Bouillon(Bubbling) phase: about one and a half hour of cooking.
2. Tédouira phase: one hour cooking

The harira should be velvety, not thick.

There are many varieties of this soup, but the classical one is the following. We can replace meat by the fillets of chiken. For 12 people.

Ingredients

Bouillon

• 250 g of beef or mutton meat cut into little pieces
• 4 or 5 little fleshy bones
• 500 g of whole little onions
• a half coffee spoonful of saffron (half natural and half artificial)
• 1 coffee spoonful of pepper
• 1 butter walnut
• 250 g of lentils
• salt
• one and a half litter of water for the bubbling

Tédouira

• 1 bouquet of coriander
• 1 bouquet of parsley
• 1 kg and a half of moulded tomatoes or 1 box of concentrated and mixed tomatoes in 1 litre and a half of water
• 2 litres and a half of water
• 1¾ filled cup tea of lemon juice
• 1 butter walnut
• 200 g of flour
• salt

Directions

Bouillon

1. Cook the lentil in salted water,squeeze the juice of 1 citron.
2. Put it apart.
3. Cook the other ingredients in an under cover saucepan on a little fire *after boiling, remove the onions when they are cooked to keep them complete.
4. 1 hour past, verify that meat is cooked then remove it from fire, put the lentil and the onions in the same container.

Tédouira

1. Boil water with the moulded or concentrated tomatoes,add butter, then boil for quarter an hour, add the bubbling juice over the meat, lentil, onions,etc.… in the saucepan.
2. Out of fire, pour the mixed flour in 1 litre of water, while shaking it fast to avoid having clots.
3. Put it back on fire, then shake the mixture till boiling.
4. Add the parsley and coriander cut to little pieces or crushed with mortar with the necessary quantity of salt for condiment.
5. Dilute with1 liter of water, and pour into the marmite, keep shaking(we can also crush them in a mixer full of water).
6. Verify the condiment and remove it from fire when the soup is very hot.