Harira Powder Food

HARIRA

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large flameproof casserole over a medium heat. Add the meat, onion and spices with 1½ tsp salt. Leave for 5-10 mins to lightly brown the meat, stirring occasionally. Add the rest of the ingredients except the lentils, cornflour, coriander and lemon wedges. Add 1 litre of boiling water, bring to the boil, cover with a lid and reduce the heat to low. Leave to simmer for 1 hr.
• Add the lentils to the casserole, cover with a lid and cook for a further 20 mins. When the chickpeas, meat and lentils are cooked, mix the cornflour in a small bowl with 3 tbsp water, and stir until smooth. Stir the cornflour mixture into the casserole. Simmer for 5 mins until the harira thickens and takes on a velvety texture.
• Scatter over the coriander, then serve hot with lemon wedges on the side for squeezing over.

HARIRA POWDER

Steps:

• All the dried fruits should be UNSALTED.
• the almonds maybe ground with their skins on, but the pistas need to have their skins removed. Just bunch them in a muslin cloth and rub them and viola no skin!
• If time permits roast the seeds slightly; cool them completely then grind and store.
• Poppy seeds are tricky to grind - make sure you roast them and then grind them; or better still look for ground poppy seeds in grocery stores.
• If it's too time consuming for you, include the skins of the green cardamom - though these fibrous buds don't grind fine and surface up on the palette - in curries ground skins don't stand out, here in a shake they just might to a discerning palette.
• Could be made into warm milkshakes or into frozen milk lollies as a teatime nutritious snack. Sweeten with sugar though.
• For an additional punch, you may add a dash of cinnamon powder or 1 tsp dried vanilla powder.

MOROCCAN HARIRA

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large non-stick sauté pan over a medium heat and fry the onions and garlic until starting to soften. Tip in the spices and chilli, stir briefly, then pour in the passata and stock. Add the lentils, carrots, sweet potato and celery, and bring to the boil.
• Cover the pan and leave to simmer for 30 mins, then cook uncovered for a further 5-10 mins until the vegetables and lentils are tender. Stir in the chopped coriander and serve in bowls with lemon wedges for squeezing over, and the reserved coriander sprinkled over.