Haleem

It's no secret that I love food… I gain weight just looking at something tasty, something delicious. It does not help that I have a ravenous appetite for great (ok, my standards are lower, lets just say good to great) food in great quantities. There are a few things that I am literally afraid of because they could END me as I believe my appetite for them to be infinite. These are (in no particular order):

• Maple Syrup (yes, I can drink it with impunity)
• Sushi (The OceanWise sustainable program has a picture of me with a red X on it on their wall)
• Lasagna (Garfield was an inspiration!)
• And my childhood favourite: Haleem

What is Haleem you ask?

It's essentially a thick, wheat/lentil based stew with meat. Several variations of the dish exist throughout the silk route, with variations ranging from sweet and breakfast-y (thank you Iran) to spicy and very very meat-y (props to Pakistan, India in general, and the Hyderabad region in general). It is warm, cozy and the ultimate fall/winter fattening food. Also, it can be made without meat, so it is versatile. Below is a version that I have iterated on, though nothing beats what my Mum and my Mother-in-Law make, and their versions are ones that I can eat copious amounts, even though this is a fairly heavy dish.

Ingredients

• Grains (these can be substituted with one another if you can't find all of them…it's all good, it's the amount of grain though that is key. But you want to keep the amount of rice less)
  • 1/2 cup cracked wheat
  • 1 cup Split Chickpea lentil
  • 1/2 cup red Split pea lentil
  • 1/2 cup white split urad (black gram) lentil
  • 1/2 cup mung bean lentils
  • 1/2 cup basmati rice
• 1 cup oil
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 6-7 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 cup deep fried onions (get them from an Indian store, or you could make your own…its called barista but its a lot of work so store bought is a good way to go)
• 1 kg beef, chicken or goat/lamb (my personal faves) with bone-in (for vegan, I would sub meaty vegetables here….mushrooms are a good candidate, or you can add another kind of bean like chickpeas, or I have heard people use nuts…its crazy)
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp red chilli powder (add more or less depending on preference. Minimum 1/2 tsp red chilli powder)
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 4-5 cups of water

Directions

1. Soak the Wheat and Lentils for at least 2-3 hours in water. Soak the rice for an hour
2. Heat Oil in a deep stewing pot (or a pressure cooker like the instant pot)
3. When the oil is hot, add the onions, garlic and ginger and cook until the onions are golden (DO NOT caramelize them though)
4. Add the meat and cook till brown and tender
5. Add salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and garam masala and cook till the oil separates.
6. Once the oil has separated from the spices and the meat is cooked (approx. 1.5 hours), add the water till the meat is well covered and cover the pot and cook (at least 45 minutes at high pressure instant pot). The goal is to cook the meat till it is falling apart
7. In a separate pot, add the grains and cook them in about 1.5 volume of water to grains for at least 45 minutes until the grains are completely cooked Once the meat and grains are cooked, take them off the stove
8. There should be a layer of oil in the meat…separate it and set aside the oil (you don’t have to do this, because the oil serves as a topping, but you can just leave it)
9. Use a fork to pull the meat apart like you would for a pulled pork or pulled beef or pulled chicken etc. I generally remove the bones and use an immersion blender on low to break up the meat
10. Add the grains liquid to the meat and then cook on a medium stove while stirring it. It should get nice and thick and stringy…cook for another 1.5 to 2 hours. It should become the consistency of a semi thick porridge Serve in bowls with the fried onions, strips of ginger, coriander and that oil from the other step (or olive oil) as topping. It is customary to have lime or lemon on it too.

This is the more traditional way to make this, though I do use the Instant Pot to whip one up in a couple of hours of high pressure action with some shortcuts (like cooking the grains in the same instant pot once the meat is cooked.

Enjoy and let me know how it goes!