Vegetarian Harira Soup Recipe

Published: 2 March 2022

With Ramadan 2022 rapidly approaching, I can’t help but reminisce about the mouthwatering scents of spiced tomatoes and herbs that waft through the air as the sun starts to set on the horizon. Today’s recipe is a deliciously comforting vegetarian harira. Harira is a tomato, chickpea and lentil-based soup that is especially loved by North Africans during the holy month of fasting. This soup holds a variety of ingredients, making it not only extremely flavourful but also very filling. Perfect to break a fast!

Traditional harira recipes don’t contain any carrots but I found that adding some baby carrots to the harira really helps in creating a velvety thick and flavourful soup that is easy on the stomach. It’s really amazing! To my fellow Moroccans, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!

Serving harira with dates is non-negotiable if you ask me. Moroccan cuisine often highlights the beauty of sweet and savoury combinations. And harira with dates is just one of them. I highly recommend pitting your dates and stuffing them with freshly toasted pecans. It’s enchantingly delicious!

Another great addition to harira is honey-soaked chebakia. This sweet and crispy Moroccan pastry is made up of deep-fried strips of dough that are shaped into a flower and coated with honey and sesame seeds. If you are having trouble finding these sweet delicacies, try calling your local arab food shops to inquire about them. Sometimes, they even have the contact of someone in the community who prepares and sells batches of homemade chebakia (especially around the time of Ramadan). Finally, here’s a little trick to make your chebakia taste even better. Right before serving them, toast a generous amount of sesame seeds in a nonstick pan and, while they are still hot, sprinkle them on top of your chebakia. It’s always a hit!

Vegetarian Harira Soup

Meriem Chiadmi

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Course Soup

Servings 12 people

Ingredients

  

• 1 1/2 cups dried lentils
• 1 can tomato sauce (400 ml)
• 3 white onions (roughly 3 cups cut into medium-sized pieces)
• 1 1/2 cups baby carrots (cut into medium-sized pieces)
• 3/4 cup canned chickpeas
• 4 large tomatoes (cut into medium-sized pieces)
• 2 cups celery stalks with leaves (cut into medium-sized pieces)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh coriander  (finely chopped)
• 1 Tbsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• pinch saffron
• salt and pepper (to taste)
• 5 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 4 tsp tomato paste 
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup durum wheat angel-hair pasta
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup fresh parsley (finely chopped)
• 1 egg
• Pinch cinnamon
• 1/2 lemon

Instructions

 

• In a small pot, bring the dried lentils to a boil in 4 1/2 cups of cold water. Let it cook until lentils are tender but not too mushy.
• To a large saucepan, add the tomato sauce, white onions, baby carrots, chickpeas, tomatoes and celery. Add 2,25 L (2250 ml) of hot water and put on high heat until it starts to boil.
• Reduce to medium heat and add the fresh coriander, turmeric, ginger, basil, saffron, salt, pepper and both oils. Stir well and leave it to cook for roughly 45 minutes or until the vegetables are fully cooked.
• Remove from heat and, using a hand blender or regular blender, mix well until the mixture is homogenous and smooth.
• Add 3 cups of cooked lentils and the tomato paste diluted in 500 ml of hot water. Stir well. Put the saucepan on medium-high heat and wait for it to start boiling.

  (We won't need the rest of the lentils. If you don't plan on using them in the next 3 days, you can store them in a ziploc bag in the freezer for up to 3 months).
• In a small bowl, thoroughly mix together the flour and 125 ml of cold water. Slowly add the flour-water mixture to the soup while continuously stirring clockwise.
• Add the angel-hair pasta, butter and fresh parsley to the soup. Stir well and reduce the heat to low. Let it cook for roughly 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the angel-hair pasta softens. Remove from heat.
• In a small bowl, whisk the egg and slowly add it to the soup while stirring.
• Add the cinnamon and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Stir well and serve.

  (Optional) For added texture, stir in some more chickpeas.

Video

Notes

This soup can be served as a main dish or as an entrée. It’s delicious when served with dates stuffed with roasted pecans and chebakia (Moroccan fried pastry covered with honey and sesame seeds).

It tastes even better the next day! If the soup is very thick the next day, simply add some warm water when reheating it to reach the preferred thickness. 

For those who wish to, there is always the option of adding meat such as beef or lamb to make it even hardier.