Harira

Before you start

• soak the chickpeas overnight, or use a drained tin

Ingredients

Serves 2 · dimmer marks are storecupboard

• 70gred lentils
• 35gdried chickpeas — or half a drained tin
• 1 tintinned tomatoes
• 25gvermicelli — broken small
• 20gplain flour
• 1 tbspolive oil
• 1onion
• 2celery sticks
• 1 bunchcoriander and parsley
• 2 tspginger, turmeric and cinnamon
• 1lemon

Method

8 steps

1. soak · 8 hours walk away

   Chickpeas in cold water overnight, unless a tin is doing the work.

2. chop · 8m

   Onion and celery diced small, the herb stalks chopped fine and kept separate from the leaves.

3. fry · 8m

   Onion, celery and herb stalks softened in the oil with the spices until everything smells warm rather than raw.

4. simmer · 50m walk away

   Tomatoes, chickpeas and a litre of water in, lid on, at a low bubble until the chickpeas are properly soft.

5. simmer · 20m walk away

   Lentils in for the last twenty minutes, then the vermicelli for the last five.

6. fold · 5m

   The tedouira: flour whisked into 150ml of cold water until there is not a single lump, then poured into the boiling soup in a thin steady stream while stirring the whole time.

7. simmer · 10m

   Another ten minutes at a bubble so the flour cooks out, or it tastes pasty.

8. finish · 3m

   Herb leaves in off the heat, salt, and a wedge of lemon squeezed into each bowl at the table.