I’ll start by admitting that I’m incredibly cold. So much so that when winter arrives, I typically don an onion-like protection system of an undershirt, long sleeved shirt, sweater, and jacket (or robe if I’m at home). However, there is no permanent harm because only during the winter can one experience several delicacies in their full splendor: I’m speaking about foods that, in addition to satisfying and pleasing the tongue, warm you up and, one could almost say, help you recover from the cold. We’ll learn how to make Moroccan tomato soup today. A dish that not only satisfies the criteria outlined above, but is also incredibly straightforward.

Moroccan Harira
Picture from Wikipedia

Ingredients of the Morocccan Soup (Harira):

  • One kilogram of ripe tomatoes
  • Two large onions
  • Paprika
  • 2 tablespoons Lemon juice
  • 1/5 cup cumin
  • One splash each of vinegar, oil, and salt
  • One bunch of cilantro

Preparation:

  1. We combine the oil, finely chopped onions, and all the seasonings (cumin and paprika). If you don’t have paprika, you can use paprika instead. We thoroughly remove everything and let it sit in the pan covered for about seven minutes. When the suggested time comes, we’ll watch to see when the onions start to get bad as a tip. At that point, the pan needs to be taken off the heat.
  2. The entire tomatoes are placed in a saucepan and put through a blender; if we want a spoon dish (as it looks in the images), we simply beat until we get a particular homogeneity and texture, or we beat longer if we want to drink it in a glass.
  3. Cook the ingredients we’ve put aside in the pan—the tomato juice we’ve whipped, the vinegar, salt, and half a lemon’s juice—over low heat for 20 minutes. I typically only use a portion of the coriander leaves when adding it as a personal touch, leaving the rest to garnish the dish.

 

All that’s left to do is put the food on the plates and, if at all possible, eat it alongside the newly made soup. Although some people like to let food rest and have it cold, I firmly believe that this meal is at its best when it is served hot. You will simply need to adhere to these straightforward guidelines the next time you want to combat the cold on a winter night without spending a lot of effort.

Read more about Moroccan food, how to stay healthy, and more travel tips about Morocco.