Harissa is a traditional Armenian dish made with veal. It is served at weddings and celebrations, and is incredibly rich.
Sirvart Bakmazian showed us her recipe, which she makes with a mix of veal and chicken, to lighten it. Harissa can take us a long time to cook, but she showed us how it can be made in a few hours.
Sirvart walked us through the recipe in her native Armenian. To watch our video with the original Armenian follow this link: https://youtu.be/cjCQtYYLLcc
Watch the English version below.
Sirvart’s Harissa tips
Sirvart’s harissa recipe uses half chicken and half veal, and a large variety of spices, compared to traditional recipes. She says you can use all veal or lamb for a richer version.
First, she prepares her skinned wheat by soaking it. She fills her wheat bowl with water to about an inch above the level of the wheat.
Usually, she would recommend doing this overnight. But if time is tight, it can be soaked for about an hour and then used, as long as the water is kept during cooking.
She boils the meat in a pot of water for about an hour. Once softened, it forms a foam on the top of the pot, which she scrapes off and drains.
With her hands, she pulls the meat, and mixes in her spices and onion. She squishes the mixture with her hands to coat the meat fully and crush the onions in. This could be done with a spoon, but doing it by hand lets you be more thorough.
She adds her meat to the pot with the wheat still soaking. She keeps the water in which the wheat had been soaking to allow it to absorb more while cooking.
Once her chicken broth is added, there is a lot of liquid in the pot. She brings it to a boil, and cooks for a full hour to absorb, stirring frequently to make sure the wheat doesn’t settle and burn.
Sirvart adds her spices in two stages, half when mixing the meat, and the other half once the meat and wheat have boiled. It may not be entirely necessary, but she thinks it lets the spices infuse more thoroughly.
Once the harissa has absorbed and thickened, she melts butter in a saucepan, adds spices, and serves the harissa with the butter on top.
She hopes that you enjoy your harissa!
Dietary Notes
Dairy free, nut free, peanut free
What you’ll need:
2 ½ cups (600 mL) skinless wheat
2 ½ lbs (750 g) veal (substitute half with chicken for a lighter Harissa)
2 cups (480 mL) chicken broth
1 onion, minced
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon (15 mL) salt
2 teaspoon (10 mL) black pepper
2 teaspoon (10 mL) cumin
1 teaspoon (5 mL) paprika
1 teaspoon (5 mL) red pepper spice
3 tablespoons (45 mL) butter, melted
Steps:
Place the skinless wheat in a bowl and add water until it covers the wheat. Let it soak overnight.
Dice the meat into 1 inch (2 cm) chunks and place it in a pot of water with the bay leaves. Heat the water on medium, for about an hour. A froth will form on the water when the meat is nearly ready.
Remove the meat from the heat, remove the froth that has formed, and drain it. Once cool, pull the meat to rip it into strips.
Mix in cumin, black pepper, the onions, and salt.
Combine the now softened wheat and the meat and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 30-60 minutes, until the liquid has integrated, and the mixture is thickened.
In a small saucepan, melt butter and add paprika and red pepper spice.
Plate your harissa portion, and drizzle on some butter to serve.
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