Killer Soup - Harira

I am reading Mourad Lalou's book, New Moroccan right now and in the first part where he describes his upbringing in Marrakech, he mentions a vegetarian soup common to the region, Harira...but he fails to include a recipe!

I looked on Epicurious and found one on Epicurious with 4/4 rating and 98% would make it again, very, very high rating.

Here it is:

Harira - Spiced Moroccan Vegetable Soup (8-10 servings)

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups)
3 stalks celery, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 large carrots, peeled and cut in rounds
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 to 1 teaspoon harissa or dried red chile flakes, plus more for serving
Salt to taste
1 bunch parsley, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups/75 grams), divided
1 bunch cilantro, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups/75 grams), divided
1 (15-ounce/425-gram) can tomatoes, crushed, or 2 cups (450 grams) tomato sauce
7 cups (1 2/3 liters) chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup (200 grams) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked or 1 (15-ounce/425-gram) can chickpeas, drained
1 cup (370 grams) green lentils
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose unbleached flour
1 large egg
Juice of 2 lemons (about 1/4 cup)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion, celery, and carrots until the onion turns translucent and begin to brown, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add the turmeric, cumin, harissa or chile flakes, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 cup each of the parsley and cilantro, tomatoes, and the stock or water and bring to a boil. If using the soaked chickpeas, drain them and add to the pot. Simmer uncovered for 25 minutes, then add the lentils, another teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper and continue simmering until the chickpeas and lentils are cooked, about 20 minutes more. If using canned chickpeas omit the first 25 minutes of simmering and add with the lentils.

Whisk the flour, egg, and lemon juice into 2 cups (470 ml) of water. Stir into the soup. Simmer the soup about 5 minutes more and serve, sprinkled with the remaining cilantro and parsley. And don’t forget to have some extra harissa in a plate on the side.

What makes it special is the lemon juice added at the end, with an egg and flour to thicken it and the harissa that gives it a subtle heat.

This one is going into the regular file and will get used again and again.

We opened a modest white Bordeaux with it nd it was a great match.

Credit to http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/ ... mon-harira

There are as many recipes for Harira as there are families. The exact translation is silky and is apt due to the flour and egg thickening. As with many other soups of the Levant lemon juice just before serving is typical and terrific. Do not add the lemon juice and then heat. Simply not the same.
That cookbook opened the door for me to Palestinian, Yemini, Israeli and East African foods. I am so fortunate to have a grocery with all of the necessary ingredients and staff to give me tips on regional variations.

[Jenise]

Bill, I'm checking out the window to see if pigs are flying. You--YOU!--lovin' on a vegetarian recipe!

It sounds great, btw. Thanks for the post.

If you make it you have to have the harissa paste on hand - it makes a huge difference. If you do it, let us know what you think.

Looks good. I will try that soon.

I love soups and often have them away from home. My wife likes them, but she hardly cooks any more. Being very lazy, at home I often just heat up a red bell pepper with tomato soup for both of us, and we both really like it. Richard L

I hope you ate it with a spork, Bill -- the pointy bits are handy to use against a killer soup.

Yup - those wild lentils can get a bit rambunctious!

There are leguminous references in the literature of the dangers of engaging with feral kohlrabi...

I think that the really evil ones are the Brassicas and of those, Brussels sprouts are particularly unreliable and should only be eaten with a surfeit of bacon!

Totally agree about barding Brussels Sprouts!

Why is broccoli rabe always prepared with red pepper flakes? Is it not compatible with any other seasoning?

[Jenise]

Or to look at it another way: why aren't red pepper flakes served on everything? Broccoli rabe's not the only thing that's made better with contrast. (But forget the red pepper flakes, go for lemon juice and feta cheese.)

[Jenise]

Oh, and back to the original topic: I'm making this soup today!

I look forward to hearing what you think of it.

[Jenise]

I can tell from here I'll love it. That's why I'm making it! But of course, I'll report back.

Well, if you don't, then we know the soup put another notch in its deadly spoon.

[Jenise]

The soup was delicious. I have never thickened anything with egg like that and was very curious about how that would turn out. I was almost surprised that the lemon juice didn't curdle the egg.

Some deviations I took: I honestly didn't think it was seasoned enough. IMO 1/2 tsp turmeric would hardly have made any difference to almost three quarts of broth and vegetables, so I immediately rounded it up to 1, then after tasting through the first cook (before lentils) I added another teaspoon of turmeric PLUS 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp of cumin seed (which has a very different flavor from ground cumin), and four or five curry leaves. Of course I also added a hot chili component, not harissa but similar to, but I wanted more richer complexity than just heat hence the other stuff. Also, I only used one lemon--this is definitely an area where all things aren't equal, and I would recommend against blindly using two. The lemons I currently have on hand are extra large and very juicy, so I went with one to start and it was plenty sour, so I didn't add more. We loved it; a perfect meatless Monday dinner. Thanks for posting, Bill.

Are you going to use the aquafaba for anything?

Cumin does take on many different roles and it is worthwhile to experiment with popping it into hot oil till it sizzles vs adding later without heat release of flavor vs plain ground vs roasted seeds that are then ground. I currently am roasting and grinding fresh and love the additional layer of flavor.

Jenise, I will be making this again next week and will bear your comments in mind!