I can’t tell you how long I searched for the perfect harira. Well, actually I probably can. About a year and a half, countless recipes, many gorgeous soups guzzled down but they were never quite like the one I’d tried a year and a half ago in a veggie café on a day out. I’m not usually a fan of tomato base soup but I’m a huge lover of Moroccan cuisine in general. The earthy ,smoky, sweet spices, the use of chickpeas in nearly everything, the slight warmth on the palate without tear inducing heat…….. so when I tried this richly spiced soup with tons of vegetables, a little kick to it and of course, our family favourite chickpeas, I was immediately in love and spent a long time trying to replicate it. None of them hit the spot quite right until I found this recipe which seemed to have all the elements I loved. I was right! Savoury and slightly sweet , warm spices and full of hearty healthy vegetables perfect for a cold Autumn day ( even though this soup is traditionally served after Ramadan). Topped with a handful of raisins which complement the spice perfectly. I choose to leave off the harissa paste when serving Coppertop as it has too much heat for her but I like to stir in a little for my own bowl. I also didn’t add the caraway seeds or saffron as I didn’t have them and I’m not a fan of buying spices for one recipe, plus I can’t justify spending that much on one spice, keeping things simple and all that 😉
MOROCCAN HARIRA SOUP
Ingredients
- 1 large onion,diced
- 1/2 cup celery,chopped
- 2 large carrots,chopped
- 1 medium potato,cubed
- 1 large courgette,diced
- 1 cup of tomato passata
- 1 tbsp. tomato puree
- 1/2 cup lentils
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1/4 cup orzo ( or other small pasta/rice)
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger/freshly grated
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- pinch of caraway seeds
- pinch of saffron
- 1/2 cup of fresh coriander roughly chopped
- fistful of fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 5 cups ( 1 litre) vegetable stock
- harissa paste and raisins to garnish
Method
Saute the onion and celery until slightly brown. Add the lentils, potato, courgette, carrots and spices. Stir over a medium heat until there is a smoky aroma, be careful not to burn. Add the stock, passata, tomato puree, chickpeas and orzo ( I use rice as it’s what I have on hand. Cover and cook on a medium heat for 15-20 minutes. Whisk the flour into 1/2 cup of water. Add to the soup. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. stir through the parsley and coriander then serve, garnished with a dollop of harissa paste and a handful of raisins.
This is my ‘happy soup’ which says a lot as we practically live on soup in this house, I hope you love it as much as we do 🙂
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