Moroccan Harira
LEBANESE · LEBANON

Moroccan Harira

الحريرةSoup

The soup that breaks the fast in every Moroccan home: tomatoes, lentils and chickpeas darkened with ginger and turmeric, tangled with fine noodles and finished with a storm of fresh herbs and lemon. Deep, tangy and warming, it eats like a meal.

Total
80 min
Heat
1/5
Serves
6

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Flavour profile

Heat
Funk
Acid
Richness
Umami
  • Ginger
  • Herby
  • Savoury
  • Sour

The real deal

Region
Morocco, the classic Ramadan soup eaten at iftar in every city from Fes to Marrakech.
Technique
A tomato-and-lentil base built on a ginger-turmeric-celery-coriander flavour block, thickened with tedouira (flour slurry) and finished with vermicelli.
We kept
No meat version here, but the defining herb bundle (coriander plus celery leaves), the flour liaison and the final squeeze of lemon are all kept intact.

Ingredients

6 Serves

soup

  • 400 g · drained and rinsed
  • 150 g · rinsed
  • 1 · finely chopped
  • 3 · finely chopped, leaves reserved
  • 1 bunch · large bunch, stems and leaves separated
  • 1 bunch · leaves only
  • 800 g · chopped
  • 2 tbsp
  • 2 tsp
  • 1 tsp
  • ½ tsp
  • 1 tsp
  • 1½ tsp
  • 1.5 l
  • 750 ml

tedouira

  • 2 tbsp

finish

  • 80 g · broken into short lengths
  • 1 · cut into wedges

Method

  1. Finely chop the . Finely chop the stalks, keeping the leafy tops for the herb bundle. Pick the leaves from the and and chop them together, keeping the coriander stems for the pot. You want a generous, grassy pile, not a polite pinch. Snap the into short lengths and set them aside.

    Harira is a herb soup as much as a tomato one: if the pile looks small, add more.

  2. Warm a glug of oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery with the coriander stems and cook, stirring, until soft and translucent but not coloured, about 8 min.

  3. Stir in the , , and . Cook for a minute until the pot smells warm and earthy, then add the and fry it into the vegetables until it darkens a shade.

    Don't skip frying the tomato purée: it turns the raw tin flavour into a deep, sweet base.

  4. Add the , , , 500 ml and a good pinch of . Bring to a boil, then drop the heat low and simmer, partly covered, until the lentils are completely tender, about 40 min.

  5. Whisk the with 250 ml in a bowl or shake it in a jar until completely smooth. This tedouira is what gives harira its silky body.

    Any lump now will be a lump in the soup.

  6. With the soup at a low simmer, pour in the tedouira in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Let it bubble gently for a few minutes until the broth thickens enough to coat a spoon.

    Keep the heat low and keep stirring, or the flour sinks and catches on the bottom.

  7. Stir in the and let them heat through for a few minutes.

  8. Add the and cook just until tender, about 4 min. They keep drinking broth, so pull the pot off the heat while they still have a little bite.

  9. Take the pot off the heat and stir through the chopped herbs, reserving a handful to scatter over each bowl. Taste and adjust the salt: it should be bright, tangy and deeply savoury, not flat.

    Adding the herbs off the heat keeps them green and fragrant instead of stewed.

  10. Ladle into warm bowls, scatter with the rest of the herbs and serve with wedges so everyone can sharpen their own bowl.

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Make it a meal

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