A thick hearty soup made of wheat, lentils, meat and spices; the minute I took a sip of this soup I fell head over heels for it…
If I don’t write about haleem, my blog would seem incomplete. It’s been only a few years since haleem has become a part of my diet and now I am totally a slave of this hearty thick soup. I can literally have a bowl of this soup almost everyday. The richness of this soup from the added wheat, lentils, meat and the spiciness and the aroma from the spice powder, makes this not only a complete meal but a nutritious meal too. My cousin introduced this to me, she actually gave me a packet of haleem masala along with the grains and asked me to try it out. I never thought that I would fall head over heels for this one at the first try. After that, this has become a frequent dish in my house. During my lazy days I tend to make this, as this is quite easy to make (if made in pressure cooker) and a bowl of haleem is just enough to make me bouncy.
Haleem is popular in Persian, Pakistani, Hyderabad, Bangladesh cuisine. This is a special dish served during Ramadan in Hyderabad and Pakistan. It is made of wheat, lentil, meat and spices. The traditional way of making haleem is by slow cooking the soaked wheat, lentils, spices along with the meat for six to seven hours, followed by pureeing it into a thick soup constituency.
Honestly, I never make haleem by slow cooking method, as I don’t have the patience to wait this long to take a sip of this soup. Hence, I go with my fast cooking method of preparing this in the pressure cooker. In just 30 minutes, I get to devour this soup.
For making haleem, you first have to buy the haleem masala mix, which is found in most of the Indian or Middle Eastern stores. You can also find the grains/lentils and masala mix together in a packet. If you get this one, you don’t have to get the grains separately. Since I make haleem quite often, I buy the wheat and lentils separately and the masala mix separately. This way I have the flexibility to add whatever grains I like.
So it’s your choice whether to get just the masala mix or both together.
Here, I am sharing the recipe of making haleem in a pressure cooker and using chicken.
Haleem:
Ingredients:
- Wheat- 3/4 cup
- Barley- 1/2 cup
- Red lentil- 2 handfuls
- Urad Dal- 1 handful
- Chana Dal- 1 handful
- Moong Dal- 1 handful
- Chicken, with bones or boneless or beef or mutton (lamb)- 1 lb or 1/2 Kg
- Haleem masala (Shan)- 3 tbsp (initial cooking) + 2 tbsp at the end, or depending upon your spice level
- Water- 4 cups (initial cooking) + 2 cups at the end
- Fried Onion- 1/2 cup
- Cilantro, chopped- 2 handfuls
- Lemon juice- 1 tsp per bowl
- Oil or ghee- 2 tbsp
Instruction:
- Since, I made haleem in the pressure cooker, I didn’t soak the wheat and lentils in water.
- Or buy the Haleem Grains mix from Indian or Middle Eastern stores.
- Rinse the wheat and lentils under running water and keep aside.
- Remove any excess fat from the chicken or beef or lamb, rinse under running water and keep aside.
- Place a pressure cooker over medium heat, add oil to it.
- Add the chicken or your choice of meat into the oil, add 3 tbsp of the haleem masala and saute the chicken for 2 minutes.
- Now, add the washed wheat and lentils and combine with the meat.
- Add 4 cups of water and let it come to a boil.
- Close the pressure cooker with its lid and place the whistle on it.
- Cook until 3 to 4 whistles and remove the cooker from the flame.
- When the pressure has completely subsided, open the lid.
- Let the mixture cool down, if you are using chicken with the bones, remove the bones from the meat.
- Grind the mixture coarsely in a blender , don’t grind to a fine paste.
- Pour the coarse mixture back into the cooker, add 2 more cups of water or enough water to thin down the mixture.
- Taste the soup and add 2 tbsp of haleem masala or depending upon your spice level and combine well.
- Add the fried onions, cilantro and let cook for a few minutes.
- Remove from the heat and serve in soup bowls.
- Drizzle a teaspoon of lemon juice/bowl while serving and give it a stir.
- This can be served along with Naan, toasted Bread or even rice.
Tips:
- Preparing haleem in the pressure cooker is the fastest way of making this.
- Avoid pureeing the cooked lentils and meat to a fine paste, it should be a coarse paste, I love the bite of wheat and barley while having this.
- You could also make with beef or lamb.
- Add the haleem masala according to your spice level. While adding the masala, keep tasting the haleem so that you won’t end up making it really spicy.
- Add water based on the soup constituency you want, haleem is usually a thick soup.
- Wheat- ¾ cup
- Barley- ½ cup
- Red lentil- 2 handfuls
- Urad Dal- 1 handful
- Chana Dal- 1 handful
- Moong Dal- 1 handful
- Chicken, with bones or boneless or beef or mutton (lamb)- 1 lb or ½ Kg
- Haleem masala (Shan)- 3 tbsp (initial cooking) + 2 tbsp at the end, or depending upon your spice level
- Water- 4 cups (initial cooking) + 2 cups at the end
- Fried Onion- ½ cup
- Cilantro, chopped- 2 handfuls
- Lemon juice- ½ tsp per bowl (optional)
- Oil or ghee- 2 tbsp
- Since, I made haleem in the pressure cooker, I didn't soak the wheat and lentils in water.
- Rinse the wheat and lentils under running water and keep aside.
- Remove any excess fat from the chicken or beef or lamb, rinse under running water and keep aside.
- Place a pressure cooker over medium heat, add oil to it.
- Add the chicken or your choice meat to the oil, add 3 tbsp of the haleem masala and saute the chicken for 2 minutes.
- Now, add the rinsed wheat and lentils and combine with the meat.
- Add 4 cups of water and let come to a boil.
- Close the pressure cooker with its lid and place the whistle on it.
- Cook until 3 to 4 whistles and remove from the flame.
- When the pressure has completely subsided, open the lid.
- Let the mixture cool down, if you are using chicken with the bones, remove the bones from the meat.
- Grind the mixture coarsely in the blender, don't make into a fine paste.
- Pour the coarsely ground mix into the cooker, add 2 more cups of water or enough water to thin down the mixture.
- Taste the haleem and add 2 tbsp of haleem masala or depending upon your spice level and combine well.
- Add the fried onions, cilantro and let cook for few minutes.
- Remove from the heat and serve in soup bowls.
- If you prefer, you could even drizzle a tbsp of lemon juice while serving and give it a stir.
- This can be served along with Naan, toasted Bread or even rice.
