Lamb Harira

So I am on to my fourth weekly soup recipe, and this time i thought i'd try something with a bit more Eastern influence: Harira. A Moroccan soup of complex flavours, it is the soup traditionally used to break the Muslim Ramadan fast. The version i've cooked below is lamb harira however you can omit the lamb and make an equally delicious vegetarian dish.

Ingredients: (Serves 6)

• 500gm diced lamb
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tins diced tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped celery head (include leaves)
• 2 chopped onions
• 2 litres water
• 1/2 cup thin noodles
• 1 tsp has el hanout
• 1 tsp tumeric powder
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 cinnamon quills
• 1/4 cup chopped coriander
• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp corn flour
• Salt to taste
• 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight, or 2 cans chickpeas drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup green or brown lentils soaked overnight or 1 can lentils drained and rinsed

Method

Melt the butter in a large pot over low heat
Add the onions, celery and lamb and saute on low heat for 5 minutes

Add the tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes

Add the water, spices, lentils and chickpeas, reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours

Crack out the barmix or blender and blend into a very coarse puree
Add the cornflour, mixed with a little bit of water
Add the noodles, broken up into 1 inch pieces
Break the eggs into a bowl and add the juice of the lemon. Whisk together

Slowly pour the egg mixture into the soup, stirring to form long egg strands.
Serve the soup with fresh lemon wedges.