On the heat. Mild

Ingredients

• 600 g lamb neck, cut small
• 200 g chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 150 g brown or green lentils
• 2 onions · 3 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 1 kg tomatoes, blended · 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp each: turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, white pepper
• Large bunches of coriander and flat-leaf parsley
• 100 g vermicelli or broken angel hair
• — THE THICKENER (TADOUIRA)
• 4 tbsp flour whisked into 300 ml water, left 1 h
• Lemon and dates, to serve

Method

1. Brown the lamb, then add the onion, celery, spices and half the herbs. Cook 5 minutes.
2. Blended tomato and paste in, cooked down 15 minutes.
3. Chickpeas, 2 litres water, lid on, 75 minutes. Lentils in for the last 35 minutes.
4. Whisk the rested flour-water and pour it in in a slow stream while stirring. Simmer 15 minutes until it goes velvety. This is what makes harira harira.
5. Vermicelli in for the last 6 minutes.
6. Rest of the herbs in off the heat. Serve with lemon wedges and dates on the side.

Cook's note. Let the flour-water stand for an hour before you use it. It ferments very slightly and gives the soup a faint sourness that plain flour does not.

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