This delicious Moroccan soup is traditionally served during Ramadan. It's a thick and hearty soup, that in many cuisines would be regarded as a stew.
Although my version is vegan, it often contains small pieces of beef, lamb or chicken. Recipes vary widely, with some using fresh tomatoes as I have done; whilst others use passata, tinned tomatoes or tomato puree and water.
Chickpeas are a staple ingredient, which are often supplemented with green or puy lentils, and occasionally red. Onions, carrots and celery are commonplace, but I have also seen vegetables such as sweet potato added.
In terms of the heat element, then fresh chillies, dried chillies, cayenne or harissa are used interchangeably. My preference is smoked chilli harissa.
Serves 4-6
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large or 200g white onion
1 or 100g carrot
2 sticks or 150g celery
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of ground cinammon
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground turmeric
1 heaped teaspoon of smoked chilli harissa paste
600g ripe tomatoes
500ml vegetable or chicken stock
1 400g tin of chickpeas
Seasoning
Optional ingredients (not included in the recipe)
1 teaspoon of dried ginger
40g long grain rice or broken vermicelli
200g beef, lamb or chicken
100g green lentils
Thickening agent (egg or flour and water)
To garnish:
Fresh coriander and/or parsley
Lemon
- Peel the carrots, onion and garlic cloves.
- Cut the carrots, onion and celery into small dice (see second image).
- Cut a cross in the skin of the bottom of each tomato.
- Place the tomatoes in a layer at the bottom of a heatproof container and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes. (Alternatively you can blanch the tomatoes but be careful not to overcook them).
- Remove the tomatoes from the boiling water and peel off the skin. This will be much easier if the tomatoes are ripe.
- Dice the tomatoes and place in a bowl.
- Heat the olive oil in a lidded casserole dish and once the oil is up to temperature, add the vegetables. Sauté until the onion is translucent and the vegetables have softened.
- Stir in the garlic, spices and harissa paste. Cook for a further 2-3 minutes, stirring all of the time to avoid the spices burning.
- Pour in the stock, tomatoes and seasoning.
- Add the drained chickpeas. Stir well to combine.
- Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat. Cover the casserole and simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve with chopped coriander and/or parsley and a squeeze of lemon.
