Harira

Harira holds a special place in Moroccan cuisine, as the dish that brings families together to break the fast during the month of Ramadan. Its origins are lost in the history of popular Maghreb kitchens, where the aim was to generously feed a family with legumes, a few vegetables, and basic spices. Each household, each neighborhood, each city has ultimately left its own mark on this soup, passed down orally from mother to daughter for generations. It embodies everyday cooking where the simplicity of ingredients never prevents depth of flavor, patiently built through long, gentle cooking. It is said that its very name, derived from the Arabic word for silk, evokes the silky texture the broth takes on once thickened.

• 200 g brown lentils
• 200 g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 400 g fresh or crushed tomatoes
• 2 onions
• 2 celery stalks with their leaves
• 1 bunch fresh coriander and parsley
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons flour mixed with water for thickening

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight, then cook them in water until they begin to soften.
2. In a large pot, gently sauté the sliced onions with the celery, then add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste.
3. Add the lentils, drained chickpeas, spices, and a generous amount of water, then simmer gently over low heat.
4. Add the chopped coriander and parsley at the end of cooking to flavor the broth.
5. Mix the flour with a little cold water until smooth, then pour it in a thin stream into the hot soup while stirring continuously.
6. Continue cooking for a few more minutes until the broth thickens slightly and takes on its characteristic silky texture.

Harira offers a tomato-based broth, mild and lightly spiced, where the roundness of lentils mingles with the tenderness of long-simmered chickpeas. Ginger and cinnamon bring subtle warmth, while fresh coriander lifts the whole with a bright note. The texture, once thickened with flour, becomes velvety and enveloping, almost silky on the palate, without ever becoming heavy.