Iconic to South African Ramadan, Haleem is a dish that always makes an appearance in this Month. Its a hearty, thick stew packed with meat (either lamb or chicken) and a variety of wheats – Oats, barley, lentils.
Haleem is a staple for Iftaar, and is perfect to break the day long fast as it is wholesome, rich in protein and is easily digestible. I’ve made it a few times but always with Shan pre-mix, which comes with all the spices and grains already. It’s typically a huge effort to make because it takes so long to cook, well not anymore.
I made my own Haleem, in my Instant Pot, from scratch. Yup, you read right, no pre-mix in sight! I honestly never knew it was so easy, for all of these years I have been ordering my Haleem or using the mixes.
I prefer chicken haleem, though traditionally its made with lamb, served with lemon wedges to lift it up. Depending on were you are form there are variations of it, some prefer it thicker, like a stew but in South Africa, most people prefer to serve it like a soup.
Instant Pot Haleem
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup jungle oats
- 1/4 cup pearled barley
- 1 1/2 litres water
- 1 onion finely diced
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 1/2 tsp ginger/garlic
- 1/2 chicken cut up
- 3 whole peppercorns
- 2 cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin/coriander
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp green chillies
For the Wagar
- 1 tsp ghee
- 1 small onion sliced
- 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
- 2 whole green chillies split
- 1/2 tsp garam masala optional
- chopped coriander
Instructions
- Start by pre-boiling your oats with salt and water until thick (you can do this in your instant pot in a separate insert as well)
- Par cook pearled barley as well (I popped mine in water in the microwave for 5 minutes)
- Select saute function and braise onion in ghee until translucent. Add the chicken and spices and saute further, adding in 1 cup of water. Put lid on and select soup function for 15 minutes.
- Add oats and barley to the chicken, replace the lid and cook for approx another 6 minutes (on soup still).
- If you are using chicken on the bone, now is the time to remove the bones and whole spices like cloves, cinnamon etc
- If you like it smoother, use an immersion blender to gently blend it (Haleem is nice with a bit of chunk). Add more water if need be.
- In a separate pan, heat the ghee for the Wagar and fry the onion, chilli, cumin seeds and garam masala until onion is crisp.
- Pour this mixture over the top of your soup, with some fresh coriander to serve.
- This post was written in collaboration with Instant Pot South Africa.
