Moroccan harira
A thick, fragrant Moroccan soup of lentils, chickpeas and tomato, warm with cinnamon, ginger and turmeric and bright with fresh herbs and lemon.
- 60 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 6
- About $1.15 a serving
- 250 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped, divided
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped, divided
- ¾ cup lentils, brown or green, rinsed
- 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can diced tomatoes, with the juice
- 3 vegetable bouillon cubes, check the box: most cubes make 2 cups each
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 6 cups water
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 250 calories, 12 g protein, 37 g carbs and 7 g fat, and costs about $1.15 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the onion and celery, the garlic, the ginger, the herbs, rinse the lentils and drain the chickpeas.
Dice. Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook the onion and celery for 6 minutes, until soft.
Medium heatTimer: 6 min
Stir in the garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin, paprika, cinnamon and tomato paste for 1 minute, .
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Add half the cilantro and parsley, the lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, water, bouillon cubes and pepper and over high heat.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Turn the heat to low, set the and for 35 minutes, until the lentils are soft and the soup has .
Lid ajar. Lid ajar means resting the lid on the pot slightly off-center, leaving a small gap. Some steam escapes, so the sauce thickens and doesn’t boil over, while most of the heat stays in.
How you’ll know: A thin wisp of steam drifts out of the gap, and the pot bubbles gently without spilling.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Low heatTimer: 35 min
Stir in the rest of the herbs, taste for salt, and serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over each bowl.
Dolly’s tip: The squeeze of lemon at the table is part of the dish. It brightens all the warm spices.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
