Haleem recipe
A wheat and meat porridge beaten for hours until the grains dissolve and the beef breaks into long strands that fall from the spoon in thick ribbons.
Ingredients
- 250 g cracked wheat
- 1000 g beef shank
- 100 g barley
- 150 g split yellow lentils
- 3 onions
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp red chili powder
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 150 g ghee
- 30 g fresh ginger
- 2 tsp salt
How to make Haleem
- Soak 250 g of cracked wheat, 150 g of barley and 150 g of split yellow lentils in cold water overnight.
- Fry 3 sliced onions in 150 g of ghee until deep brown and set half aside for serving as birista.
- In the same ghee fry 2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste, then add 1 kg of beef shank with 2 tsp turmeric, 2 tbsp red chili powder, 1 tbsp garam masala and 2 tsp salt.
- Cover with 1.5 litres of water and cook 2 hours on low heat until the meat pulls apart with a fork.
- In a second pot cook the drained grains in 2.5 litres of water for 2 hours until they collapse, then blend them into a smooth paste.
- Lift out the meat and shred it by hand or with a masher into long strands. Never blend the meat; those strands are the whole dish.
- Combine the grain paste, the shredded meat and the cooking broth and beat constantly over very low heat for 1 to 2 hours with a flat wooden pounder.
- It is ready when it falls from the spoon in a thick glossy ribbon rather than in drops. Allow 5 to 6 hours in total.
- Serve topped with the reserved fried onions, julienned fresh ginger, a spoon of melted ghee and a squeeze of lemon.
What is Haleem?
Haleem is a traditional dish from Pakistan, cooked in a pan, and takes about 18 hours from start to finish. It is built around beef shank, cracked wheat and split yellow lentils. The recipe below uses 12 ingredients and is written out step by step.
How long does Haleem take?
At 1080 minutes it is slower than 95% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. Copper's atlas has 6 dishes built on beef shank. The method runs to 9 steps.
Any tips for making Haleem?
Shred the meat by hand into long strands and never blend it, then beat the pot until it falls from the spoon in a thick glossy ribbon.
How Haleem compares
Hard to find elsewhere: barley (1), split yellow lentils (1) and ginger garlic paste (2).
Copper documents Pakistan alongside 197 other countries. Every recipe is free to read, with the full ingredient list and every step.
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