Harira is the soup everyone at home looks forward to. A thick, warm tomato soup full of lentils, chickpeas, vermicelli and slowly stewed meat, finished with a mountain of fresh coriander. Filling enough to serve as a meal, and even better the next day. All the spices are in our Harira blend, so you don't have to weigh anything yourself. This recipe makes a big six litre pot, because you never make harira for two. Some goes on the table, the rest in the freezer for busy days.

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⏱ Preparation time: ±2h 30min
👥 Serves: 12
🌶 Difficulty: medium
🍽 Category: Soup

Ingredients

For 6 litres of harira

• 160 g thin celery stalks
• 50 g parsley
• 100 g fresh coriander
• 1 onion
• 4 large tomatoes (800 g)
• 140 g tomato paste
• 200 g peeled tomatoes or passata
• 50 ml culinary olive oil
• 48 g Harira blend (or 48 g Harira Chamalia)
• 500 g beef or veal
• 80 g brown lentils
• 400 g pre-cooked chickpeas
• 100 g vermicelli
• 210 g wheat flour
• water: 500 ml, 6 litres boiling and 590 ml cold

Method

1. Cut the onion into coarse pieces. Peel the tomatoes and chop them roughly. Put everything in a large soup pot.
2. Add the peeled tomatoes and the tomato paste.
3. Cut the celery, the parsley and 50 g of coriander into pieces and add. Keep the remaining 50 g of coriander for finishing.
4. Pour in 500 ml water and the olive oil and blend everything to a smooth mass.
5. Cut the meat into pieces and add, together with 48 g Harira blend.
6. Put the pot with the lid on over a medium heat for 20 minutes, until the contents become liquid.
7. Add the lentils and pour in 6 litres of boiling water. A kettle makes this easy.
8. Close the pot and cook for 1 hour 30 minutes over a medium heat. Check the meat: it should be tender and fall apart easily.
9. Add the chickpeas.
10. In a bowl, mix the flour with 340 ml cold water. First pour 250 ml cold water into the soup, so the flour won't clump.
11. Pour the flour mixture into the soup in stages, stirring all the while.
12. Add the vermicelli and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir regularly.
13. Finish with the remaining 50 g of finely chopped coriander.

Chef's tip

A tablespoon of smen, added at the moment the spices go in, gives harira its typical deep flavour. We now make it ourselves, aged for eight months. Want to thicken without flour? Use about 100 g instant cornflour: low fat, gluten free and no lumps.

Serving suggestion

Serve with a wedge of lemon and some dates or figs on the side.

Ready to cook?

Harira stands or falls with the seasoning. Our Harira blend contains the complete combination, measured for a six litre pot. Prefer the Chamalia version? You'll find it here. Add our culinary olive oil and you have everything you need.

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Enjoy!
— Moroccan Spicy Secrets