Moroccan Harira

  Last year Ramadhan  still remains as fresh as a spring flower,  I  feel like just with a blink of eye we have reached this year Ramadhan, yes  the Holy month of Ramadhan is here in a month time.  Here is a soup which Moroccan's make specially during Ramadhan.

   Harira is a Moroccan soup served during Ramadhan and any special occasions.  It can be served as a meal by itself or you can also serve it as a starter.  Moroccan Cuisine is extremely diverse,  mostly influenced by Arab and Mediterranean cuisine.  When I think of Moroccan Cuisine the first thing which comes to my mind is Moroccan Tajine and when I think of Tajine's, the first think which I remember is , The tajine which I brought from Germany got broken :-(  Any way that's a different story , coming to Moroccan Cuisine, I love the sweetish and rich flavour of their  food.
  The large portion and their well presented food will be a real feast to your eyes when you sit and dine.  I followed this recipe from Cooking With Alia,  I love her recipes a lot . Do check her site for her yummy recipes.  I have made few changes from the original recipes.  Traditionally people use only vermicelli for Harira.  Since I didn't have vermicelli, I used some linguine pasta.  Which was not too bad, so the choice is yours.  Let's hit straight to the recipe now.
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 40  minutes
Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:
Chicken- 200 gm( boneless chopped)
Canned Chickpeas- 200 gm
Vermicelli or pasta-   1 tbsp broken
Puy lentils- 1 tbsp
Tomatoes- 2 big sized( ground into puree)
Onion- 1 medium sized( finely chopped)
Coriander and mint leaves- 1 tbsp( chopped finely)
Grated ginger- 1 tsp
Chilli powder- 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon powder- 1/4 tsp
Vegetable stock- 1 litre
Flour- 1 tbsp
Oil- 1/2 tbsp
Salt - as required

Method:
Wash the puy lentils and soak in water for 1/2 an hour.   Take a large heavy bottomed pan, add  the oil, grated ginger and onion.  Fry it until the onion looks transparent.  Add the chicken, spices, chickpeas, lentils, vermicelli and tomato puree.  Finally add the stock and salt.  Cover the pan and let it boil for about 20 to 25 minutes.
Mix the flour with 2 tbsp of water, slowly add it into the soup.  Add the chopped coriander and mint leaves.  Finally add salt and pepper for taste .  Let it simmer until the soup looks slightly saucy and thick.
Serve the soup warm along with some crusty bread rolls.

Note:
If you couldn't get puy lentils, use masoor dhal or chana dhal.

This recipe goes to Souper Sundays and Savoury Sundays  and What's everyone having for Iftar