Harira North African Vegetable Soup Recipes

VEGETARIAN MOROCCAN HARIRA

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, chickpeas, cilantro, parsley, mint, paprika, turmeric, ginger, harissa, and saffron. Add water and cook over medium heat until flavors have combined, about 30 minutes.
• Mix a few tablespoons of soup liquid with flour and cornstarch in a small bowl and return to the soup, stirring in well. Add cherry tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer over low heat until soup thickens, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

SLOW COOKER MOROCCAN CHICKPEA SOUP (HARIRA)

Steps:

• Soak chickpeas in water to cover by 2 inches 8 to 12 hours. Drain chickpeas and rinse well. Add to crock pot with onion and celery. Add turmeric, pepper, and cinnamon. Stir in tomatoes, half the cilantro, vegetable broth, and lentils. Cook for 8 to 10 hours. Stir in pasta and continue to cook on low until tender. Stir in parsley, remaining cilantro, and salt to taste.

CLASSIC MOROCCAN HARIRA: TOMATO, LENTIL, AND CHICKPEA SOUP

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Heat up the cooking oil in a 6-quart or larger pressure cooker. Add the meat.
• Cook for a few minutes, stirring to brown all sides.
• Add the pureed tomatoes, kosher salt, turmeric, parsley, cilantro, celery, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, onion, chickpeas, and smen (if using). Stir and add 3 cups of the water.
• Cover tightly and heat over high heat until pressure is achieved. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and release the pressure.
• Add the lentils, tomato paste mixture, and the remaining 8 cups (2 quarts) of water. If at any point there's an oily surface forming on top of the soup, simply skim it off and discard. This can happen because of the meat's fat, if left on.
• Have the rice or vermicelli at hand, if using, but don't add yet.
• Cover the pot and heat the soup over high heat until pressure is achieved. Reduce the heat to medium and continue cooking. If adding rice, cook the soup on pressure for 30 minutes. Release the pressure and add the rice. Cover and cook with pressure for an additional 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if desired. If using vermicelli, cook the soup on pressure for 45 minutes. Release the pressure, and add the vermicelli. Simmer the soup, uncovered, for 5 to 10 minutes or until the vermicelli is plump and cooked. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if desired.
• While the soup is cooking, make a soup thickener by mixing together the flour and water.
• Mix well, but if the mixture is not smooth, pass it through a sieve to remove lumps.
• Bring the soup to a full simmer. Slowly, and in a thin stream, pour in 1/4 of the flour mixture. Stir constantly and keep the soup simmering so the flour doesn't stick to the bottom or cooks up in lumps.
• Add another 1/4 of the flour thickener. You will notice the soup beginning to thicken when you've used approximately half the flour mixture. The thickness of harira is up to you.
• Simmer the thickened soup, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes to cook off the taste of the flour. Remove the soup from the heat, serve, and garnish with some chopped parsley. Enjoy.

HARIRA (SPICED MOROCCAN VEGETABLE SOUP WITH CHICKPEAS, CILANTRO, AND LEMON)

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion, celery, and carrots until the onion turns translucent and begin to brown, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the turmeric, cumin, harissa or chile flakes, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 cup each of the parsley and cilantro, tomatoes, and the stock or water and bring to a boil. If using the soaked chickpeas, drain them and add to the pot. Simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, then add the lentils, another teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper and continue simmering until the chickpeas and lentils are cooked, about 20 minutes more. If using canned chickpeas omit the first 25 minutes of simmering and add with the lentils.
• Whisk the flour, egg, and lemon juice into 2 cups (470 ml) of water. Stir into the soup. Simmer the soup about 5 minutes more and serve, sprinkled with the remaining cilantro and parsley. And don't forget to have some extra harissa in a plate on the side.

HARIRA - NORTH AFRICAN VEGETABLE SOUP

Steps:

• Set a large pot over med to med-high flame. Add veg oil, when hot, sauté onions and celery until onions are translucent. Add the spices, potatoes, and carrots and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Mix in tomatoes and juice and the 4cups liquid. Bring to a boil on high then lower heat to simmering (small bubbles). Cover and let cook (10-20 minutes, depending on size of veggies and the reliability of my memory) until vegetables are almost tender. Add the vermicelli and zucchini and simmer 5 minutes more until tender. Mix in the chick peas and add salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze in lemon juice and add garnish.

HARIRA

Steps:

• Fry onion in oil until beginning to soften then add garlic, cooking for a few minutes more.
• Add cinnamon, turmeric, ground coriander and ginger, cooking for 2 minutes then add carrot, courgette, tomatoes, potato, lentils and stock. Bring to boil then simmer for 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly then liquidize and return to pan.
• Bring back to simmer, add chick peas, burghul and chopped coriander and cook for 3 minutes.
• To serve, squeeze in lemon juice and stir.