Haleem, is a stew or a porridge made by slow cooking the lentils, meat and broken wheat together. Its one of the most nutritous one-dish meals anyone can have. Its perfect for a cold weather, or a starving stomach.
Murgh/Chicken Haleem garnished with fried onion slices, halved lime and sliced green chillies
It is mostly a Hyderabadi dish, usually had by Hyderabadi muslims at Iftaar or dinner in the holy month of Ramadhan. I remember back in India, stalls and shops, especially for the month of Ramadhan would be set up and people would gather in big crowds to have it then and there, or parcel it and take home for everyone at home. The crowds and the stalls which would especially be seen in the month of Ramadhan in Hyderabad was a sight to watch, remember and recollect always. Missing India and my Dear Parents now ! sob
This dish needs some pre-planning and is a little bit time consuming. But you will definitely love it once you try it. It is a balanced, delicious and famous Hyderabadi one dish meal.
I have been trying out many ways of preparing this delicious one dish meal and here is my modified simpler version of the dish. Do give it a try friends..
Haleem – Slow Cooked Lentils, Wheat and Meat/Vegetables Porridge
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients:
For Nonvegetarian Version-
Lamb Meat, boneless or with bone - 300 gms, washed and cubed (or) Chicken meat, boneless or with bone – 300 gms washed and cubed (I suggest using meat with bone) (you could also use minced chicken or lamb/veal meat)
For Vegetarian Version-
Fresh/Frozen chopped mixed Vegetables -300gms (you can use chopped vegetables like Cauliflower/PhulGobi, Peas/Matar, Carrots/Gajar, Capsicums/Shimla Mirch, Green Beans/Phalli)
Remaining Ingredients:
Broken Wheat/Bulgar Wheat/Dalia – 1 1/2 cups
Split Bengal Gram/Chana Dal – 2 tbsp
Split Yellow Lentils/Masoor dal – 2 tbsp
Split Yellow Lentils/Toor dal – 4 tbsp
Salt – to taste
Turmeric/Haldi – 1/2 tsp
Canola oil - 1 tbsp
Butter – 1 tbsp
Deep Fried Crisp Onions/Tali huwi pyaz – 1 cup
Ginger-Garlic paste - 4 tbsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Coriander seeds – 2 tsp, dry roasted and powdered
Cumin seeds – 2 tsp, dry roasted and powdered
Garam masala – 1 tsp
For Garnish:
Mint leaves/Pudina – a few
Cilantro/Kothmir – 4 tbsp
Green chillies/Hari Mirch - 4, finely chopped of slit
Fried Onion/Pyaz – 1 cup
Juicy Lemon/Lime – 4, halved
Butter – 2 tbsp (optional)
Method:
-Wash and soak the Bulgar wheat and the lentils seperately overnight or for atleast 3 hours, in generous amount of water.
-For a Non-vegetarian version, pressure cook the meat in surplus amount of water with a pinch of salt and turmeric till tender. Chicken Meat will cook faster than Lamb meat. Once the meat is tender, shred the meat and keep aside in a bowl, Throw away the bones and measure and reserve the stock. If using minced meat, cook it in a little oil, salt and red chilli powder until browned evenly. Keep aside.
-In a non-stick 7 quart Dutch oven at medium heat, pour oil and butter. As it gets warmed up throw in the fried onion. Add ginger-garlic paste, coriander and cumin seed powder, red chilli powder, salt and turmeric. Add the drained broken wheat and lentils and mix well. Pour in the reserved meat stock. If you are preparing a vegetarian version, you can add vegetable stock or just plain water. You need to add a total of 8 cups of liquid to the saucepan. Let it boil once then simmer and let it cook covered, until the lentils are tender and the wheat mushy, about 1 1/2 hours, stirring it once in a while taking care it doesnt stick to the bottom of the dish.
-Stir in the garam masala and add the frozen/fresh chopped vegetables, or for a non-vegetarian version, the reserved shredded meat or minced meat, and mix well. Let it cook covered till the vegetables are tender and oil comes to surface, about 5 -8 minutes. You can add a little water if needed. Remove the dutch oven from heat. Let it cool down slightly.
-Once cool, pour the entire thing into a food processor and process for a minute. Pour back into the dutch oven, add a little water, and let simmer covered for 5 more minutes.
-To serve pour the Haleem into individual plates with a laddle and garnish each plate with a few mint leaves, cilantro, green chillies, fried onion, halved lemon and a dollop of butter(optional) for a deliciously nutritious meal.
Luv,
Mona
