Harira —A Soothing Bowl of Wonder for Everyone

Ramadan begins tomorrow at sundown, so I’ve got a pot of harira simmering now.  Harira is more than the traditional soup served to break the daily fast at Ramadan, it’s just the ticket to nurse you through a cold or lift you out of a bad mood.  Brimming with vegetables, beans and noodles and graced with haunting spice, harira is a soothing bowl of wonder for everyone.  

Along with Easter and Passover, the Muslim holiday of Ramadan is a time of renewal, reflection and rededication to who we want to be. The kicker with Ramadan is that observance is marked by 30 days of fasting from daybreak to sundown. Harira at the end of the day is a welcome sight.

How to Make Harira

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water or vegetable broth.  Set aside.
2. In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and turmeric. Sauté a few minutes, until onion softens and turns golden. Add chopped squash, red pepper and celery.
3. Continue cooking, stirring often, for another 5 minutes.
4. Stir in tomatoes, chickpeas, broth and saffron or ras en hanout. Reduce heat to medium-low and let harira simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes to an hour.  Give it an occasional stir, but it’s mostly okay on its own.
5. Add broken noodles and dissolved yeast. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Season with sea salt and pepper. Stir in chopped cilantro just before serving.
6. Serve with extra lemon wedges if desired.

The warming, not spicy, taste of harira comes from a few crumbled stamens of saffron or a spoonful of ras en hanout, an elaborate spice blend. There’s a reason saffron is the world’s most expensive spice.  This is an instance where going cheap doesn’t serve you well.  I’ve been enjoying saffron and other spices from Heray Spice.  There’s no affiliation, just affection and respect for their spices — high-performing and sustainably sourced.  Saffron’s floral notes and blush tone blooms in warm liquid, so add it only when the broth is heated through.  

Ras en hanout means top of the shop in Arabic. The idea is it’s the finest spices a spice merchant has, up to two dozen spices and botanicals.  Ras en hanout may include any or all of the following:  cardamom, cumin, coriander, nutmeg, mace, allspice, cinnamon, clove, ginger, chiles, peppercorns, paprika, turmeric, anise, rose buds, and lavender. 

The addition of yeast may seem weird, but it’s an easy riff on a traditionally Moroccan thickener called tedouira,  It gives the harira a little tanginess and body and a silky texture. I used to make it at the end, but now I make it before I even start the soup, so it’s good and fermenty.

Harira is loaded with beans, vermicelli and vegetables, but make sure you spoon up every drop of the broth.  It’s delectable, restorative but don’t forget hydrating.  Not only is eating forbidden during daylight, so is drinking.  By the end of the day, you’re powerfully thirsty.

Some households use rice, some use vermicelli or angel hair or vermicelli broken into small pieces.I’m firmly in the vermicelli camp and like to use whole wheat pasta.

One reader looked at my recipe and said, what, no lentils?  Honey, add lentils, about half a cup.  This is yet another case where you can make a recipe your own. Everyone has their own harira recipe, It’s madly versatile.  

Many harira recipes include meat, but the haunting spices, beans and vegetables give you everything you need.  

Serve harira with bowls of dates and olives, the traditional nutrient-dense foods to break a day of fasting. Harira sustains the body because it’s made with ingredients that are humble but whole, nourishing and recognizable. It sustains the soul because it has a rich cultural and culinary history that goes back centuries. It connects us to each other, This is the real meaning of soul food. It’s food that’s meant to be shared, that lets us know we’re not alone in the universe. Okay, shut up Ellen, and ladle up some harira.

Wishing everyone Ramadan Mubarak (blessed Ramadan).

Harira

Harira is more than the traditional soup served to break the daily fast at Ramadan, it’s just the ticket to nurse you through a cold or lift you out of a bad mood. 

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Ingredients

  

• 1 tablespoon yeast dissolved in 1/4 cup warm vegetable broth or water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion chopped
• teaspoon turmeric
• 3 zucchini or yellow squash or a combination chopped
• 2 red peppers chopped
• 2 celery stalks chopped
• 1 28- ounce box or can diced tomatoes or 2 pounds gorgeous ripe tomatoes
• 1 15- ounce can chickpeas rinsed and drained
• 6 cups vegetable broth
• 1 pinch saffron or ras en hanout optional but very nice
• 1 small handful whole wheat vermicelli or angel hair broken into pieces
• juice of 1 lemon
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1 handful fresh cilantro chopped
• extra lemon wedges for serving if desired

Instructions

 

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water or vegetable broth. Set aside.
• In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and turmeric. Sauté a few minutes, until onion softens and turns golden. Add chopped squash, red pepper and celery.
• Continue cooking, stirring often, for another 5 minutes.
• Stir in tomatoes, chickpeas, broth and saffron or ras en hanout. Reduce heat to medium-low and let harira simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes to an hour. Give it an occasional stir, but it’s mostly okay on its own.
• Add broken noodles and dissolved yeast. Squeeze in the lemon juice. Season with sea salt and pepper. Stir in chopped cilantro just before serving.
• Serve with extra lemon wedges if desired.

Other Ramadan-worthy recipes

• Iftar Quinoa with Olives, Dates and Dukkah
• Tunisian roasted vegetables
• Magic Fruit (fresh fruit plate dusted with magic dust) 
• Fattoush (Middle Eastern bread salad) from the incomparable José Andrés
• Smoothies from Lila Baig

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