Haleem "King of Curries"

I finally attempted Haleem "King of Curries" - my absolute favourite at Faheem's. While it wasn't quite as good as the original I thought it turned out pretty well and my husband was delighted to come home to it as he's working the weekend. Its basically a heavily spiced dhal with beef or lamb which is cooked for at least 4 hours so that the meat begins to almost dissolve into the dhal. The garnishes add extra heat and freshness to the dish.




I simplified the recipe from Food Safari http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipe/118/Haleem as I didn't fancy trying to find all those types of lentils! Also I had rump steak rather than meat on the bone which would certainly be better if you can be bothered to remove the bones halfway through.

Ingredients - Serves 4 as a main curry with rice

500g beef (stewing steak or similar)
3 cups channa dhal or yellow split peas
2 tbsp garlic, crushed
2 tbsp ginger, crushed
10 cups of water - approx - I replaced 2 cups with beef stock to bolster the flavour as I didn't include bones
Salt to taste
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp dried red chilli
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp garam masala
2 onions, peeled, sliced and fried in ½ cup of vegetable oil
Fresh coriander leaves
1 Green chilli, finely sliced
1 lemon

1. In a large heavy based pan or a slow cooker (much easier as its so hard to get the heat low enough for dhal on the stovetop unless you have electric), add dhal/split peas, garlic, ginger, and 8 cups of boiling water/stock. Bring to the boil and cook for about 3 hours - until the meat starts to fall apart. Check on it every half hour or so to see if the lentils have sucked up all the water as you may need.
2. Add the salt and spices (except the Garam Masala) and cook for another hour.
3. Add fried onions (keep some for garnish) and garam masala. Cook for a further 15 minutes.
4. Serve with green chilli, coriander, fried onions and lemon.