Haleem - Persian Breakfast

 

One evening, while we had dinner, my husband told us about his childhood memory - it always fun to hear about Persian custom from him; and one of his story was about 'Haleem' - a type of breakfast dish , which is so popular until today. Haleem is a thick Persian high calorie dish. It is a special dish prepared for breakfast or during Ramadan since its good for the stomach.  This dish is slow cooked for some hours which results in a paste like consistency.  *in fact the other side of story was, he kind of missed this dish too , but he won't even bother to tell me to make this dish for him *eh, is this typical of man ?  *

Anyway, short story I search for the recipe and next day, I visited one biggest International food store in my city which sell (almost) every products from different country. I'm sure, everybody there know me, since I always go there once at least once a month. I picked some stuff to make this dish, but not tell my husband until ready to serve *oooh, what a nice wife *wink*

I admit, this dish is not (so) appealing and I'm not blame on you if you don't feel like to try but as my little one always say 'don't judge by the cover' - the dish it self absolutely delicious!! . As my husband recommend the original recipe is using lamb shoulder but I couldn't find the lamb at the store that day, I substitute with turkey tight.

I let my little one, involved in a cooking process , *well.. this is part of trick to make her eat a new kind of food too* . She read the product label, (oh.. turkey!! - she loves turkey meat) , wash the turkey , put in the slow cooker pot etc. Hey, I'm not surprise when she asked the porridge for breakfast and even dinner LOL

 

Haleem (A Wheat and Meat Persian Breakfast)

Recipe : from Azita - Turmeric & Saffron - with a little change from me

 

Ingredients:
3 cups pelted wheat, rinsed, soaked overnight in 4-5 cups of water, drain before cooking
2 pounds meat (preferably lamb shoulder or turkey breasts) - in fact I chose turkey tight
enough water

1 sliced onion

3 cups of milk
Salt , Pepper to taste

Toppings:
Cinnamon
Butter, melted
Sugar *I'm skip this one*

Method:
Place the lamb or turkey in a medium sized pan, add salt, pepper, onion slice and enough water to cover. Cover and cook for about 1-1/2 hours on medium heat or until the meat is tender. Stir occasionally, to prevent the formation of a crust on the bottom of the pan.  If juices evaporate before turkey is done, add 1/4 cup water. Remove from heat and let cool. Remove and separate meat from bones if using turkey tight like mine and shred into small pieces. Reserved the liquid for next step

Place wheat in a heavy bottom large stew pot on medium heat, pour in about  6cups of water and some of liquid from the meat, bring to a gentle boil for a few minutes, reduce heat to low and cook for about 1-1/2 hours. - if you like to use a slow cooker pot, it will work too - trust me, no mess in the kitchen.

Pour the cooked wheat in a food processor in small batches and pulse till it becomes of a creamy and smooth texture. Using a wooden spoon is recommended.

 

Combine the meat and the wheat mixture and return back to the heavy bottom pot on medium to low heat. Add the milk one cup at a time. Simmer for an additional 30-40 minutes till it reaches the desired consistency and becomes sort of supple and stretchy. Taste and add salt if needed. If you don't like to add milk to your haleem substitute it by adding water instead.

To test the stretchiness, use a wooden spoon and gently scoop some haleem. If there is some stretch as you are lifting the scoop then that's the perfect haleem. Your chances of reaching the desired pull of the haleem is better if turkey breasts are used instead of using lamb.

Serve warm in individual bowls or place it in one big bowl. Top with cinnamon, sugar and drizzle with melted butter. If there are any left overs you may freeze them in small plastic containers.