This is based on the Moroccan soup, harira, which is traditionally eaten every day throughout the month of Ramadan. Friends tell me that they never get sick of it, so it’s a good recipe to scale up for future meals.
It’s very adaptable: I have substituted dried fava beans (not easily available here) for frozen broad beans.
Timings
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Serves
2 hungry people or 4 with poached eggs
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 300g frozen chopped celery, onion and carrot (such as Waitrose Cook’s Ingredients Soffrito, or Asda’s Scratch Cook Vegetable Base Mix), or 100g each chopped fresh celery, onion and carrot
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 750ml water
- 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 100g dried green lentils
- 1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained
- 200g frozen broad beans
- 2-4 poached eggs (optional)
- Fresh coriander (optional)
Method
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the celery, onion and carrot until tender.
- Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add the turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and ginger and cook for a few seconds, before adding the water, tinned tomatoes, lentils and chickpeas, plus half a teaspoon of salt.
- Simmer for 20 minutes until the lentils are done.
- Stir in the broad beans and heat through to defrost them.
- Slip a few bright green beans out of their grey skins, if you feel like it.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding a good grinding of black pepper.
- Serve as it is, or with poached eggs on top to make a more substantial meal, with a scattering of fresh coriander if you like.