Moroccan Harira (Lamb, Lentil and Chickpea Soup)

• 75 g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (or about 190 g canned)
• 75 g green lentils, rinsed
• ⅓ cup finely chopped celery (the leaves and upper stalks)
• 1 medium brown onion, diced
• 250 g lamb (or beef), cut into 1 cm cubes
• 1 tbsp butter
• 200 g finely diced tomatoes (canned)
• Cinnamon: 2 small pieces cinnamon bark or ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¾ tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp salt
• 1.5 litres water, plus a splash to deglaze
• 70 g tomato paste
• 25 g (3 tbsp) plain flour
• ¼–½ cup water, for the flour slurry
• 75 g wheat vermicelli
• ¼ cup finely chopped parsley, plus leaves to garnish
• ¼ cup finely chopped coriander
• lemon wedges, to serve

Method

Tap a time to watch that step in the video.

1. Soak the chickpeas overnight. Finely chop the celery, parsley and coriander, dice the onion, cut the lamb into 1 cm cubes and rinse the lentils. 0:56
2. Melt the butter in a large pot over high heat. Add the lamb and let it sear for 2 minutes at a time, stirring in between, until well browned with a brown crust on the pot. 4:15
3. Turn the heat to medium, add the onion and sauté for about 3 minutes, then add a splash of water and scrape up the browned bits. 4:48
4. Add the tomatoes, lentils, drained chickpeas, celery, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, salt and 1.5 litres of water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer on medium for 45 minutes until the chickpeas are soft. 5:09
5. Stir in the tomato paste. Whisk the flour with ¼–½ cup water, pour it in while stirring and cook for 2 minutes until the soup turns silky and thick. 6:18
6. Add the vermicelli, parsley and coriander and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often so nothing catches. Thin with water if needed and serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over. 7:13

Tip. Serves about 6 (our estimate). Time excludes the overnight soak. It freezes well; add the vermicelli when reheating. For a vegetarian version the cook suggests swapping the meat for extra vegetables.

The method is a summary in our words — the video shows every step.