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Slow-Cooker Haleem
Haleem put on before you sleep and ready when you wake: beef, wheat, barley and lentils melt together overnight into a thick, porridge-like stew. One bowl is famously sustaining — it is the suhoor of choice for very long fasts.
Suhoor · Pakistan · Ready in 480 minutes · Serves 6
Slow-Cooker Haleem comes from Pakistan and belongs on the suhoor table. The quantities below are written for 6 servings and scale cleanly: double them for a family iftar or halve them for a quiet suhoor for two, keeping the proportions — and especially the seasoning — in the same balance. It is tagged slow-cooker, make-ahead, high-protein.
Suhoor is the meal that carries the fast, so this recipe leans on slow-release energy, protein and hydration: eat it as late as you comfortably can before Fajr, drink water alongside it, and keep a glass by the bed for the moment you wake.
Timing matters in a Ramadan kitchen, and this recipe asks for 480 minutes from start to finish. This is a recipe to start well ahead: beginning it 480 minutes before you serve means the work is done before the house fills and the last hour of the fast begins, and most dishes of this kind only improve for resting while they wait. For a gathering, multiply every quantity by the number of guests divided by 6, round spices down very slightly on large batches, and taste before serving — big pots season differently from small ones.
Serve it straight away, while it is fresh, and follow it with water rather than tea or coffee if you can — the fast ahead is long, and hydration banked at suhoor is worth more than caffeine. Anything left over keeps covered in the fridge for the next morning; reheat gently and check the seasoning again before serving.
Ingredients
- 500 g beef chuck
- 150 g cracked wheat
- 75 g barley
- 75 g chana dal
- 50 g masoor dal (red lentils)
- 2 piece onions
- 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 3 tbsp haleem masala
- 60 ml oil
- 1 piece lemon
Method
- Rinse the wheat, barley and dals, then soak them together in plenty of water for at least 2 hours (or from the evening).
- Brown the beef in the oil with the sliced onions and ginger-garlic paste until the onions are deep golden.
- Add the haleem masala, the drained grains and dals, and about 1.5 litres of water; bring to a boil.
- Transfer everything to a slow cooker on low for 7–8 hours overnight (or simmer on the stove for 3–4 hours, stirring often).
- Shred the beef with two forks, return it to the pot and beat the haleem with a wooden spoon — or a few pulses of a stick blender — until thick and stringy.
- Rest 10 minutes, then serve with lemon wedges, extra fried onions and green chillies on the side.
Tips
- Haleem tastes even better the next day and freezes well — make a double batch for the last ten nights.
- If it thickens too much on reheating, loosen it with hot water a little at a time.