Morocco's Ramadan soup, built on the bone the way it was meant to be

Harira is the soup Morocco breaks its fast with — tomato, chickpeas and lentils, warm with cinnamon and ginger, thickened at the very end into something between a soup and a stew. The traditional pots start with lamb bones simmering, and that's exactly what this one does. The bones build a fragrant broth for the first hour, then the whole spice drawer, the pulses and a finish of fresh herbs and lemon turn it into a bowl that feeds a crowd for next to nothing. Better on day two, as every good spiced pot is.

2 hrs 30 mins 6 servings Prep 20 minsCook 2 hrs 10 minsSoupMoroccan

Ingredients

  • 1kg Your Farmer lamb bones
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large brown onion, finely diced
  • 2 sticks celery, finely diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 400g tin crushed tomatoes
  • 2.5 litres cold water
  • 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 100g brown or green lentils, rinsed
  • 50g long-grain rice or broken vermicelli
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Large handful each of fresh coriander and parsley, chopped
  • Salt and pepper to season

Instructions

Heat the oil in your biggest heavy pot over medium-high heat and brown the bones on all sides for 5 to 6 minutes — the colour here becomes flavour later.

1kg lamb bones2 tbsp olive oil

Drop the heat to medium, add the onion and celery and cook for 6 to 7 minutes until soft. Stir in the garlic, ginger, cumin, turmeric, paprika and cinnamon stick and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

1 onion2 sticks celery3 cloves garlic1 tbsp ginger

Add the tomatoes and water, bring to a gentle simmer and skim off any foam that rises in the first 10 minutes. Partly cover and let it blip away for 1 hour.

400g tomatoes2.5L cold water

Lift out the bones with tongs. Pick off any meat, shred it, and set it aside; discard the bare bones.

Add the chickpeas, lentils and rice and simmer for 30 to 35 minutes, until the lentils and rice are tender and the soup has thickened. Stir the shredded meat back in.

400g chickpeas100g lentils50g rice

Fish out the cinnamon stick, then stir through the lemon juice and most of the herbs. Season generously and serve in deep bowls, scattered with the last of the coriander and parsley and lemon wedges alongside.

juice of 1 lemoncoriander and parsley

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What Makes a Harira a Harira

Harira is Morocco's most famous soup, the one that traditionally ends the day's fast during Ramadan, and its backbone is exactly what you'd expect from an old, thrifty recipe: a bone in the pot, pulses to fill it out, and a spice blend that leans warm rather than hot. The lamb bones do two jobs here. As they simmer, their connective tissue melts into gelatine that gives the broth a real body no stock cube can fake, and the little meat clinging to them shreds back in as a bonus. The lentils and chickpeas thicken the soup from within, and the rice or vermicelli finishes the job — a proper harira should be spoon-thick, not watery. That fragrant, filling pot starts with a bag of Your Farmer® grass-fed lamb bones.

Swaps and Variations

Two tablespoons of ras el hanout can replace the individual spices if your drawer runs that way. A tin of brown lentils saves the 30-minute lentil cook if you're short on time — add them with the chickpeas just to warm through. For the classic silky finish, whisk a tablespoon of plain flour into a splash of cold water and stir it in for the last 10 minutes; it thickens the broth the traditional way. Our beef bones make a deeper, darker pot on the same method, and a couple of forequarter chops dropped in with the bones give you a genuinely meaty bowl, shredded in at the picking stage.

Storage and Leftovers

Harira is firmly in the better-on-day-two camp — the spices settle and the flavours deepen overnight. It keeps 4 days in the fridge and freezes for up to 3 months, though the rice softens and the soup thickens as it sits, so loosen it with a splash of water when you reheat gently. Leftover idea: reheat it very thick, spoon it over rice or into a bowl with a soft-boiled egg on top, and it eats as a full meal rather than a starter.

The bones are one tick on the order form of our pasture-raised lamb share — the cheapest route to a pot that feeds six.

Frequently asked questions

Do the lentils need soaking first?

No — brown and green lentils cook through in about 30 minutes straight from the packet. A quick rinse is all they need before they go in with the chickpeas and rice.

How do I get the classic silky, thickened texture?

Traditional harira is thickened at the end with a flour-and-water slurry called tadouira. Whisk a tablespoon of plain flour into a splash of cold water, stir it into the simmering pot for the last 10 minutes, and it turns the broth velvety.

Is it spicy?

No — it's warm-spiced, not hot. Cumin, turmeric, paprika and cinnamon bring aroma and depth without any chilli. Add harissa at the table if your crew likes heat.

Can I make it vegetarian?

The chickpeas, lentils and spices carry plenty of flavour on their own, so yes — skip the bones and use a good vegetable stock instead of water. You'll lose the body the bones bring, so lean harder on the flour thickening at the end.

Can I use beef bones instead?

Absolutely. Beef bones make a deeper, beefier version on the same timings. Give them the same browning at the start and, if you have time, an extra half hour of simmering before the pulses go in.

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