KitchenMusa Dagh & Anjar

Harissa

Name: Harissa
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 4 h 30 min
Total time: 5 h
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Armenian
Ingredients: 2 cups (370 g) hulled wheat berries, soaked overnight; 3 lb (1400 g) bone-in chicken thighs and legs; 12 cups (2800 ml) water, plus more as needed; 2 tsp salt, or to taste; 4 tbsp (55 g) butter; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp Aleppo pepper or paprika

Wheat and chicken cooked for hours until they fall apart, then beaten smooth and finished with browned butter and cumin.

Հարիսաharisa

Time5 hr

Hands-on30 min

LevelWeekend

Serves8

Not the North African chili paste: Armenian harissa is a thick wheat-and-meat porridge, and every September in Anjar the descendants of the Musa Dagh villagers cook it together in huge pots to mark the stand on the mountain in 1915.

At home it takes an afternoon of slow simmering and some arm work at the end. The beating is what turns grains and chicken into one smooth, stretchy whole.

Ingredients

2 cups (370 g) hulled wheat berries, soaked overnight
3 lb (1400 g) bone-in chicken thighs and legs
12 cups (2800 ml) water, plus more as needed
2 tsp salt, or to taste
4 tbsp (55 g) butter
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Aleppo pepper or paprika

Tools

Large heavy pot
Wooden spoon
Immersion blender (optional)
Small pan

Steps

Put the chicken, water and salt in a large heavy pot and bring to a boil. Skim the foam, then simmer gently until the meat falls off the bone.
Lift out the chicken. When it's cool enough to handle, pull the meat into shreds and throw away the skin and bones.
Drain the soaked wheat and add it to the broth with the shredded chicken. Bring back to a simmer.
Cook on the lowest heat, partly covered, stirring every 15 minutes and more often toward the end, until the wheat has burst and the pot is thick. Add boiling water whenever it gets too stiff to stir.
Beat the harissa hard with a wooden spoon, or a few short pulses of an immersion blender, until the wheat and chicken melt together into a smooth, slightly stretchy porridge. Taste for salt.
Melt the butter in a small pan until it smells nutty and turns golden, then stir in the cumin and Aleppo pepper.
Spoon the harissa into bowls, make a well in each and pour in the spiced butter.

Good to know

The wheat: Look for hulled whole wheat, sometimes sold as korkot or for ashure. Pearl barley works but cooks faster and turns out softer.
Slow cooker: After step 3, cook on low overnight, then beat it in the morning.
Lamb: Some families use lamb, or lamb and chicken together.

Ask your grandparents

Did the family cook harissa together in September?
Who did the beating, and with what?
Chicken or lamb?