Harira (Moroccan Lentil, Tomato and Vermicelli Soup) 🥣

Name: Harira (Moroccan Lentil, Tomato and Vermicelli Soup)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 2-4 servings
Cuisine: Moroccan
Ingredients: 1 cup lentils + 1 cup chickpeas (soaked overnight if dried); 400 g canned tomatoes (or 6 fresh), 2 sticks celery, 1 onion, big handful cilantro + parsley, chopped; 2 tsp ginger; 2 tsp turmeric; 1 tsp black pepper; salt; 2 tbsp oil or a knob of smen; Ribbon: 100 g thin vermicelli broken; 3 tbsp flour slackened with water to a thin batter; Finish: 2 beaten eggs (optional, Fez style), lemon, vermicelli nests and fried msemen squares to serve

The sound of Ramadan in a Moroccan city is a ladle on harira: lentils and chickpeas braised with tomatoes, celery and coriander, ribboned with vermicelli and a flour swirl, then finished with eggs if the family is a Fez-style one. At sunset the whole country breaks its fast into this soup with a date and a chebakia biscuit — silky, restorative, engineered for an empty stomach.

Casablanca-Settat Moroccan ⏱ 75 min Easy

Method

1

Cover lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, celery, onion and herbs with about 2 liters of water. Add ginger, turmeric, pepper, salt and oil. Boil, then simmer 40 minutes until pulses are tender.
2

Mash some of the soup against the pot side for body. Stir in the flour batter in a thin stream and cook 10 minutes, stirring so it silks without lumps.
3

Add broken vermicelli; simmer 5 minutes. For Fez style, lower the heat and thread in beaten eggs while stirring, then kill the flame.
4

Let it rest off the heat — harira thickens as it cools; loosen with hot water before serving.
5

Serve at dusk with a date, a squeeze of lemon and fried msemen. Ramadan or not, one bowl and the day is forgiven.

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Harira (Moroccan Lentil, Tomato and Vermicelli Soup) 🥣

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