Lentil & Chickpea Harira

📝 Ingredients

• 400 g chicken breast
• 150 g green lentils
• 1 tin chickpeas (265 g drained)
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400 g) + 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 brown onion + 2 celery sticks (about 100 g)
• 30 g fresh coriander + 20 g fresh parsley
• 1 tsp ground ginger + 1 tsp turmeric + 1 tsp ground cumin + ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 chicken stock cube + 1.5 L hot water
• 80 g wheat vermicelli
• 40 g plain wheat flour + 200 ml cold water
• 1 lemon
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large casserole dish with lid
• Colander
• Chopping board
• Knife
• Whisk
• Ladle

📖 Steps

1. Rinse the lentils in a sieve, picking out any small stones, then rinse the drained chickpeas. Finely chop the onion, dice the celery, chop the coriander and parsley (stalks included) and cut the chicken into 1.5 cm cubes.
2. In a large stockpot, heat the oil over a medium heat and fry the chicken for 3 to 4 minutes until it turns white. Add the onion and celery and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until softened, then add the spices and cook for 30 seconds to release their aromas.
3. Stir in the tomato purée and chopped tomatoes, then the lentils, half the chopped herbs, the crumbled stock cube and 1.5 L hot water. Bring to the boil, partially cover and simmer over a low heat for 35 to 40 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
4. Add the chickpeas and vermicelli and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly so the vermicelli doesn't stick to the bottom. If the soup already seems too thick, add a glass of hot water.
5. Meanwhile, whisk the flour into the 200 ml cold water until you have a perfectly smooth liquid with no lumps at all: this is the “tadouira”, which will thicken the soup.
6. Pour this mixture in a thin stream into the simmering soup, stirring constantly, then cook for 5 minutes over a low heat, scraping the bottom, until the harira is velvety and coats the back of a spoon.
7. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, stir in the rest of the herbs off the heat and serve piping hot, with a lemon wedge to squeeze into each bowl at the last moment.