Harira

My boyfriend is from Morocco in northern Africa. During the Muslim holiday of Ramadan Harira a Moroccan soup is eaten regularly. Since he has moved to the United States he has not had Harira for a couple of years. After looking up the recipe online, I was able to easily make this delicious soup for him to enjoy.

Makes: 6-8 bowls
Cook: 50 minutes

Ingredients:
2 onions
3 tomatoes
1 cup of chopped parsley
1 cup of chopped cilantro
½ cup of lentils
½ cup of chickpeas
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 ½ teaspoon of ginger powder
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon saffron
2 vegetable bouillons
2 tbsp of corn starch
4 tablespoons of olive oil
6 cups of water
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg (optional)
1 cup of meat cubes lamb or beef (optional)

Steps:
Put the lentils and chickpeas in a bowl of water for 1 hour to soften them up. If you are using dried chickpeas instead of canned ones, you should put them in the water the night before.
Finely chop the onions. Peel the tomatoes and cut them into dices. In a food processor or blender, blend the tomatoes with half of the cilantro and half of the parsley. In your cooking pan, drizzle the olive oil. Add the onions and after few minutes add the rest of the cilantro and parsley. Once the onions acquire a lighter color after few minutes of cooking, add the tomato blend. If you are cooking your soup with meat, add the meat cubes to the onion, tomato mixture and let them cook for 15 minutes. Add all the spices (ginger powder, pepper, salt and saffron) and thoroughly mix the ingredients. Add the water and the vegetable bouillon cubes. Add the lentils and chickpeas. Cover the pan and let the soup cook for 30 minutes. Stir from time to time. After 30 minutes, dissolve the corn starch in a little bit of water and add it to the soup. Add tomato paste and butter.Let the soup boil for another 10 minutes. At the end, add the egg and stir. Serve with bread.

Enjoy this wonderful Moroccan dish!