Moroccan chickpea soup with sautéed garlic prawns

By: Greg Malouf, Lucy Malouf
From: Arabesque
Serves: 6
Photographer: William Meppem

Known as ‘harira’, this soup is a Moroccan favourite, particularly popular during Ramadan, when it is served after a day of fasting. Harira is traditionally eaten with dates and a wedge of lemon or lime. It is often made with lamb in a hearty meat stock. This is a lighter vegetarian version, all lemony and peppery. Garnish, if you like, with grilled seafood – delicate fillets of red mullet or garlicky prawns work well.

Soup

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
60ml	olive oil
1	medium brown onion, diced
2	garlic cloves, crushed
100g	brown lentils
100g	chickpeas, soaked overnight
2 1/2 litres	chicken or vegetable stock
1 can	crushed tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon	ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon	ground ginger
1 pinch	ground saffron, lightly roasted and crushed
	salt
1/2 teaspoon	pepper
60ml	sherry
1	lemon, juiced and zested
1 tablespoon	parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon	coriander, chopped
1 tablespoon	celery leaves, chopped

Garlic prawns

Quantity	Ingredient
1/4 teaspoon	chilli flakes
2	garlic cloves, crushed with 1/2 teaspoon salt
40ml	olive oil
12	king prawns, tails and heads removed

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and gently sweat the onion and garlic until they soften. Add the lentils and soaked chickpeas and 2 litres of the stock.
Simmer for an hour, or until the lentils and chickpeas are soft and beginning to break down. Use a hand-held electric beater on low speed to crush the pulses, but make sure not to turn them into a smooth purée. Add the tomatoes, cinnamon, ginger and saffron. Adjust the consistency with additional stock. Bring the liquid to the boil, season with salt and pepper and finish off with the sherry, lemon juice and zest, parsley, coriander and celery.
Mix the chilli and garlic to a paste and rub it into the prawns. Allow them to sit for half an hour before cooking.
Heat a grill, pan or wok, add the oil and, when it is smoking hot, add the prawns. Cook them on a high heat for 2 minutes. Serve on top of the soup.