Moroccan Soup Harira

Harira (arabic: حريرة) is probably the most typical soup in Morocco - especially during Ramadan. In this month, it is the typical starter to break the daily fasting after sunset. Light, nutritious and full of flavor. A soup that makes you want to visit Morocco.

Ingredients:

1 onion

1 clove of garlic

5 tomatoes (alternative: peeled tomatoes)

3 celery

4 carrots

1 tbsp vegetable broth

1 cup red lentils

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp coriander seeds (alternative: coriander powder)

cumin

turmeric

sweet paprika powder

ginger powder or a piece of fresh ginger

Raz el Hanout (alternative: a little more of each of the other spices)

1 handful of fresh parsley or fresh coriander

1/2 jar chickpeas

1 cup fideo (a type of pasta; also called: vermicelli)

juice of half a lemon

Preparation:

In this recipe I use only fresh ingredients. This makes the soup the most aromatic. Of course, the cooking will be faster if you use pureed or peeled tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes, or if you replace the fresh celery with celery powder.

Prepare vegetables

Cut the onion into small pieces or chop it with a food processor. Also chop the garlic. Peel the celery so that no fibers will be in the soup later. Chop the leaves of the celery into small pieces. Cut the stalk into pieces and blend with a food processor.

To remove the skin of the tomatoes, score a small cross at the back, place in boiling water for a few minutes and as soon as the skin starts to come off, quench with cold water. Now the skin can be removed easily. Blend the tomatoes. Cut carrots into small pieces. If you use coriander seeds instead of powder, grind the seeds.

Now it's time to cook

First, stew the onions in a pan with a little bit of water or olive oil until translucent. If you use coriander seeds, add them now. Then add the tomato paste. Now also add 1 - 2 tsp of each of the powdered spices and the garlic and stew for a few minutes. Always add a small sip of water so that the paste won't burn.

Now add the blended tomatoes, the blended celery stalks, the carrot pieces, the lentils and the celery leaves. Add the vegetable broth dissolved in about 500 ml of water. Bring it to boiling temperature once and then let it simmer with the cover for about 30 min.

Add the chickpeas, fresh parsley or cilantro and another 1 tsp of all the powdered spices. Simmer for another 10 minutes.

At the very end of the cooking time, add the fideo. These should only simmer for a few minutes, otherwise they will become mushy. Round off with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Serve:

Once on the plate, decorate with fresh parsley/coriander and drizzle with another squeeze of lemon juice if desired.

In Morocco, harira is often served with a pastry called chubakia, made from dough coated with honey and sesame seeds. In Andalusia, you can find the treat in Arabic stores (or pastelerías, but there it is often coated with sugar). At first, I was a bit skeptical about combining a savory soup with something sweet. But it is this mix of all flavors that makes the soup a very special experience. The combination immediately reminded me of my time in Morocco.