Harira Soup

This soup recipe is originally from Morocco.  I tried this recipe during Ramadan 2008 and all my children loved it.  I made this soup again today because it is rainy and cold outside.  This is an excellent cold weather soup. 

I did not have all of the ingredients so I substituted the cubed lamb meat with ground beef.  Also, I did not have the brown lentils so I substituted it with mung beans and the soup still turned out terrific.  Here is the recipe.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo cubed lamb (or 1 pound of cubed lamb or ground beef or ground lamb)

1 teaspoon ground tumeric

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 Maggi stock cubes

a pinch of ground red chili powder (cayenne pepper)

3 tablespoons of cooking oil

1 large onion, chopped

medium tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup cilentro, chopped

8 cups of water

¾ cup brown lentils (or substitute with ¾ cup of mung beans or split green peas)  

 1 15oz can of garbanzo beans, drained

1 cup of vermicelli noodles

Juice of 1 lemon

2 eggs, beaten (optional)

 

In a large cooking pot, heat the cooking oil and saute the lamb until nicely browned.  Add the onions and sauté until the onions are soft and transparent.  Add the tomatoes, all the spices, lentils, and Maggi stock cubes.  Stir well.  Add the water.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until the lamb is tender (about 2 hours).

 

Add the can of drained garbanzo beans and the vermicelli.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 30 minutes.

 

Stir in the lemon juice and the eggs.  Cook for a minute.

 

Serve hot.  This soup is excellent the next day if there are any leftovers!

Chicken Soup

I experimented with this soup during Ramadan 2008 and came up with a soup that has a very rich taste, and silky texture. It is absolutely delicious. Other ingredients can easily be added to it such as corn, diced chicken breast, mixed vegetables, or vermicelli noodles. The stock for this soup comes from the Fried Chicken Emirati Style and Yellow Rice recipes.

Chicken Soup

Strained stock from the above two recipes
5 tablespoons oatmeal
generous pinch of saffron
juice of one lemon
two Maggi chicken stock cubes (optional)
one cup of vermicelli noodles

The stock that you will have from the Yellow Rice recipe will fill a huge pot. Boil the stock until it reduces to half a pot.

Put the oatmeal in grinder to turn it into a powder. Add water to the oatmeal and stir until there are no longer any lumps. It should be smooth and watery. Add this to the chicken stock and stir with a large whisk.

Add the saffron, lemon juice, stock cubes, and noodles (optional but I like to add it). Stir well. Bring to a boil and then turn the fire to low.

At this point, you can feel free to add a cup of diced chicken breast, 1/2 a cup of corn, or 1/2 a cup of mixed vegetables.

Let simmer for at least 10 minutes so the noodles can cook.

That’s it! Very easy and very tasty. I hope that you enjoy it.