Harees recipe

Wheat and chicken simmered for hours then beaten with a pestle until grain and meat can no longer be told apart.

16 hours and 30 minutesmedium6 ingredients

Ingredients

• 500 g wheat berries
• 1000 g chicken
• 100 g ghee
• 2500 ml water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

How to make Harees

1. Soak 500 g of whole wheat berries in cold water overnight; they swell a lot, so use a large bowl.
2. Drain them into a heavy pot with 1 kg of bone-in chicken, 2.5 litres of water and 2 teaspoons of salt.
3. Bring to a boil, skim, cover and simmer on the lowest heat for 3 to 4 hours, topping up with hot water, until the grains burst and the meat falls off the bone.
4. Lift out the bones and the skin and leave everything else in the pot.
5. Beat the mixture hard against the side of the pot with a wooden pestle for 15 to 20 minutes, until no grain and no fibre can be made out and the mass is a single pale, glossy cream. This beating is what the word harees means; a blender is faster but gives a flatter texture.
6. Stir in 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and check the salt.
7. Spread the harees in a shallow dish, pour 100 g of melted ghee over the top and serve hot.

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