Today, our students had an end of the year celebration. Here is just some of the goodies you missed out in. - Vanny

Harira (Hah-ree-rah)

by: Ouafaa Al jadidi, Hasna Makane, and Najia Belfakih

Marhababikom! (Welcome!)  We are students of the level 2 English class at WEE, Inc. In our class we talked about a popular dish in our country. We are from Morocco. Harira is a original soup from Morroco. It is a popular dish to make especially during Ramadan. Ramadan is a Muslim holiday in which we do not do bad things. We practice Ramadan one month out of the year. During Ramadan, we cannot eat or drink before sunset.  However after magrid(sunset), it is common to eat harira, dates, and halwa chabakia(Moroccan sesame cookies shaped like a flower). We usually invite our family and friends to eat with us during this time to share this meal.

Cultural Note: Sometimes “harira” is synonymous to a “big problem” because of the amount of ingredients that are used to make it.

Here is a list of common ingredients in harira:

1.      2 cups of Chickpeas
2.      2 lbs of fresh crushed tomatoes sauce
3.      1 bunch of parsley (minced)
4.      1 stalk of celery (dices)
5.      1 onion (dices)
6.      1 cup of lentils
7.      1 cup of orzo or rice
8.      4 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
9.      Any choice of sliced meat or beef bones but no fish
10.  Optional 1 egg
11.  Optional Smen (Flavored Morrocan butter)
12.  Water and oil
13.   Spices (ginger, salt, saffron, black pepper, and cinnamon)

First you will put chickpeas, tomato sauce, parsley, celery, onions, lentils, meat and the spices into the pot with a little bit of oil. Then you pour water into the pot and cover it. Cook this soup for 45 minutes. Afterwards, add 1 cup of orzo or rice into the pot and let it cook for another 5 minutes.  In a small bowl, mix the flour with 1 cup of water. Then pour the flour mixture into the soup pot. Stir the soup and let it cook for another 5 minutes. You may add smen and egg to the soup if you want. If not, the soup is ready to be eaten with dates, halwa chabakia, and boiled eggs. Enjoy!