Haleem
Haleem is one of the most sought after dish, especially during the holy month of Ramadan. It is a highly nutritious dish comprising of meat, wheat and lentils and cooked with spices for a few hours. The result is a paste-like dish, which is served with coriander leaves, mint leaves, fried onion and lemon juice.
The first time I tasted this was during our stay in Secunderabad. During Ramadan, quite a number of stalls sell Haleem. The taste varies from stall to stall. It has been a while since I had Haleem. This time, I decided to try making it at home. I chose the recipe by Fauzia’s Pakistani Recipes. I reduced the quantity proportionately and used Chicken in place of Mutton/ Beef. The lentils I used aregreen gram lentils, black gram lentils, bengal gram lentils, red lentils and pigeon pea lentils.
Haleem
Ingredients
- 500 gms Chicken Minced
- 160 gms Wheat grains
- 1/3 Gram lentils - cup
- 1 onion Thinly sliced
- 1 - 1/2 teaspoons Garlic paste
- 1 - 1/2 teaspoons Ginger paste
- 1/2 Garam Masala Powder - teapoon
- 2 - 1/2 teaspoons Chilli powder - (or less)
- 2 teaspoons Coriander powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
- to taste Salt
- pinch Soda Cooking soda bi carbonate / - a
- 1/3 cup Butter Ghee Clarified / - less
For Garnish
- Mint leaves Chopped
- Coriander leaves Chopped
- onion Fried thinly sliced
- Lemon juice
- green chillies Finely chopped
Instructions
- Wash the wheat grains well and drain.
- Crush them slightly. You could blitz in a grinder as well.
- Soak in water for 1-1/2 hours.
- Cook the crushed wheat grains with salt, lots of water and a pinch of soda till tender and mushy. Keep aside.
- Rinse all the lentils and cook till done.
- Allow to cool.
- Once cool, grind the mixture to a fine, smooth paste. Add adequate water while grinding.
- Keep this paste aside.
- Heat clarified butter in a pan.
- Fry the sliced onion to golden brown colour.
- Drain onto an absorbant paper. Keep aside.
- In the remaining ghee, add the ginger- garlic pastes and chopped chilli and saute till raw smell goes.
- Tip in the coriander powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder and turmeric powder and fry for a few seconds.
- Add the minced chicken or meat and stir well.
- Add salt to taste. Cover and cook till the chicken is cooked through.
- Add the cooked wheat and the lentil paste into the chicken mixture.
- Mix well.
- Cook the mixture on low heat for at least an hour or till the mixture is well blended and has the desired consistency.
- Switch off heat.
- You may grind the mixture to a paste if you wish.
- Serve Haleem with lemon juice, fried onion, coriander leaves, mint leaves and chopped green chilli.