Traditionally, it is cooked in the month of Muharram to mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussain Ibn Ali. Apart from that haleem is delicious and unique food enjoyed all year round by all South Asians. Now, I want to clear one thing first. In Bohra terminology Haleem is made with wheat, barley, meat and spices. This recipe also seems a healthy fusion of Arabic Harees with Indian spices. The regular haleem with wheat, meat, lentils, barley, rice and spices is called khichra as per bohra terminology. This recipe is of traditional bohra Haleem served in Jumaat khana with Kadhi, bharta (eggplant salad) and Karak double roti. The kadhi is the regular yogurt and gram curry that South Asians make for Pakora curry. The combo of haleem and curry is yummy. The taste is different from Pakistani Haleem but delicious for sure. Do try it and let me know the feedback in comments. Traditionally, haleem is made with beef but I’m using mutton in step by step pictorial. You can use any meat (except chicken) with the same recipe. Haleem is a feast and should be served with all accompaniments. You can serve samosa on side and soji halwa as dessert.
How to make it?
Grind ginger, garlic and green chilli into a paste. Hara Masala is ready. Set aside. (Please follow measures in recipe card above picture shows a little less than mentioned.) Soak wheat and barley overnight. Discard the water in morning. (Tip:My mom would soak grain in the day and cook grains whole night on slowest flame. So she can proceed with cooking quickly next day. A little longer but convenient way.) Take soaked grains in a heavy bottomed pot and fill water. The water level should be 2 inch above the grains. Add salt and Hara masala. Cook for 1-2 hours on medium-slow flame. Add more water if needed. This step is important, the grain should be very soft and fully cooked. Let the grain cool then blend with immersion blender or in jug. (Add water as required since the grains get really heavy on the motor adding a little water helps ease the blending process.) The wheat is ready. Cumin, turmeric,pepper, cloves, coriander powder, red chilli powder, cinnamon and black cardamom; we’ll use these spices in meat. While wheats cooks wash meat and add all above spices and hara masala. Also fill pot with 1 ½ cup of water. Mix well and cook for 30-40 minutes until tender on medium slow flame. Press the meat with fork to check tenderness. The meat should shred easily with fork. Drain excess gravy of meat in wheat pot. (I grinned my wheat after mixing this gravy as visible in photo. More liquid makes it easy to grind.) Here’s the cook meat with bone. Separate the bone from meat. Pound the meat so it becomes shredded. Mix meat in wheat that is already grinned. Now resume cook of slow flame with occasional stirring. Add water if required. This is the most important step. You need to pound haleem in circular motion (clockwise and anti-clockwise) for at least 10 minutes. You can use a traditional haleem pounder or ghotna. If you don’t have one. Then use a sturdy thick spatula. (This is the step where brothers, husbands and sons move in to put there share in cooking.) We do this pounding to create a sticky smooth texture in haleem. Fry onion on medium flame in 2-3 batches. Save the oil in the end for tempering. For crispest onions, add a pinch of salt while frying. Drain oil of each batch in strainer. Strainer also allow more exposure to air. Then spread the onion on kitchen towel. Repeat with all batches. Ground aniseeds into fine powder. Use this aniseed powder along with other spices for tempering. For frying use leftover oil from onions. Add the tempering to the haleem. Mix well and adjust spices and salt now. (Last tips, since we’ll mix haleem with Kadhi so keep haleem slightly thick and not runny. ) Finally serve with all accompaniments. You can cut this recipe to half but usually haleem is something you share with friends, neighbours and relatives. And you can freeze it too for later use. Lastly, you can make Haleem paratha just like Leftover Daal paratha.
📖 Recipe
