Hareesa Chicken

An ancient meal made with only a few ingredients, Hareesa is a rich and creamy dish made from wheat and chicken and has the consistency of porridge. This dish is intended to feed a crowd, and simmer for hours on end.

In villages in Syria until today (especially South and Northern East), Hareesa is prepared in a large communal pot on religious occasions and shared with the neighbors and people in the villages.

Traditionally, one of the essential parts of cooking this dish is the extremely long cooking process. Typically, the dish is cooked in a giant pot outdoors with people taking turns stirring and crushing the wheat for hours on end until the wheat has fully cooked and become soft.

The wheat Berries need to be prepared a day in advance before the cooking process. To do so, soak the wheat in a large bowl with very hot water overnight. Change the water at least one time while soaking. The soaking of the wheat berries helps the cooking process and shortens the cooking time.

Lamb or beef can be used instead of chicken if you prefer. Bone-in chicken breast would be a wonderful substitution. We want chicken with fat/bones since all the flavor of the soup is coming from the chicken broth.

Wheat berries are the edible part of the wheat kernel. They are actually the source of all the wheat products we eat on a daily basis before any refinement occurs. Wheat berries are very healthy, loaded with protein, iron and fiber with less calories.

Ingredients

▢5 cups Wheat Berries 500g

▢3 lb. Whole Chicken

▢½ cup Ghee

▢2 tsp. Salt

Cooking Chicken

▢1 sm. Onion

▢3 Bay Leaves

▢4 Cardamom Pods

▢ Salt

▢1 tsp. Black Pepper

Instructions

In a large bowl, add the wheat berries. Heat up a kettle of water and add enough boiling water to cover the wheat and at least a couple of inches above. Soak for a minimum of 6 hours (preferably overnight). Change the water at least once.

In a large pot, add the soaked and drained wheat berries along with enough water to cover at least 2 inches above the wheat. Cook over medium heat for one hour, stirring every few minutes to prevent sticking.

In a separate large pot, add the whole chicken, onion and all the aromatics and seasonings. Cook for 90 minutes until the chicken falls off the bone . Remove the chicken and set aside to cool and shred.

Once the wheat has cooked for 1 hour, start adding the prepared chicken broth, one ladle at a time where you keep adding warm chicken broth as the wheat absorbs it. Using the bottom of the ladle or a potato masher, mash the wheat buds during the cooking process. They don’t need to be fully mashed, but slightly crushed. This process should go on for about 90 minutes or so for a total cooking time of 2.5 hours.

Shred the whole chicken into small bite size pieces.

In a small skillet or saucepan, add ½ cup of ghee (or butter) and warm over medium until JUST melted. Add the warmed ghee and shredded chicken to the hareese. Season with salt and stir to incorporate.

Lara Khouli