Haleem Recipe

Haleem served in a bowl with blue floral border.

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5 from 6 votes

A warm bowl of Beef Haleem with fried onions, lemon wedges, mint, and chat masala can win anyone’s heart.

Course Dinner Recipes

Cuisine Hyderabadi, Indian, Pakistani

Keyword beef haleem recipe, haleem recipe

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 30

Soaking time (non active) 4

Total Time 5 40

Servings Servings

Calories 374kcal

Author Mariam Sodawater

Ingredients

For grains and lentils

¾ cup whole wheat kernels (gehoon)
¼ cup barley or oats (jau)
2 tablespoons rice
2 tablespoons red lentil (masoor dal)
2 tablespoons yellow lentil (moong dal)
⅓ cup bengal gram (chana dal)
1½ tablespoons green chilli
1 tablespoons ginger
1 tablespoons garlic paste
½ teaspoon salt

For meat curry

4 tablespoons oil
1 large onion
2½ tablespoons haleem masala
½ kg boneless beef plus extra bones
2 cup water

Tempering

2 tablespoons oil use oil used to fry sliced onions
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
4 round button chilles

For Garnish

3 medium onions skip if using ready-made fried onions.
ginger sliced
mint leaves
chat masala
green chillies sliced, less spicy variety

Instructions

For wheat and lentils

Take wheat and barley in a pot. Wash and soak for 4 hours at least or preferably overnight.
Combine lentil and rice in another pot. Wash and soak for 2 hours.
Take soaked lentils, wheat and barley in a large heavy bottomed pot. Add salt, ginger, garlic, green chilli paste and water. The level of water should be 2 inch above the grains.
Bring it to a boil then reduce heat to slow, cover the lid tightly and cook for 60 minutes until wheat grains are soft and mushy. Keep stirring at intervals.

For Meat Curry

In another pot fry thinly sliced onions until golden.
Now add meat and haleem spice mix to it. Mix well and stir fry on high heat for 2-3 minutes until the color of meat changes. Then fill the pot with just enough to barely cover the meat.
Bring it to boil, then cover the pot tightly and cook for 30-45 minutes until tender. Meat curry is ready, let it cool.
Remove meat (and bones, if using) from the curry with a slotted spoon, set aside.
Add the remaining gravy to the grains and lentil and blend it with an immersion blender. ( Add cold water if the mixture is too thick to avoid too much strain on the machine.) Set aside.
Shred the meat in the food processor in batches. (Discard the bones, if used.) Set aside.

For Tempering

In the meat pot heat oil and fry garlic until lightly golden. Then all the ingredients of tempering and fry for one minute.
Add the blended grain and lentil, shredded meat and yogurt in the tempering and mix well. Continue to cook on slow heat.

Ghotna

If the haleem is thick add water and adjust consistency. Stir with a ghotna or a sturdy wooden spatula in a circular motion for 5-10 minutes with intervals for sticky and homogenised texture.
Do a taste test and adjust salt. Adjust heat if needed by adding more haleem spice mix.

For Garnish

Fry sliced onion in pan until golden. Work in two batches. Spread onions on kitchen towel so it gets crispy.( Skip this step if using store brought fried onions.)

Serve Haleem

Fill a large bowl with hot haleem. Garnish with fried onions, mint, and ginger slices.
This step is optional. Heat 2-3 tablespoon of oil until smoking hot and drizzle over the bowl of haleem. Serve with lemon wedges and a place of condiment on the side.

Video

Notes

Wheat: Authentically whole wheat kernel (gehoon) without the skin is used for Haleem recipe. Broken wheat can be used as well.

Barley: It is optional and can be substituted with oats. Barley (jau) grains help to give the sticky texture to Haleem so I recommend adding it.

Lentils and rice: Bengal gram (Chana dal) gives the best taste to the Haleem and I have also use a number of lentils like yellow (moong), red (masoor), for increased nutritional value.

Meat option: Use beef shank for best result and this cut gives those thread of meat in the final dish. Haleem can be made with red meat in the form of beef, lamb, and mutton or camel.

Bones: Fats from bones greatly increase the taste of haleem, specially the ones with bone marrow. Add up to 1 kg bone (weigh boneless meat separately) in meat curry. When curry is cooked separate bones and discard. Follow the rest of instructions in the recipe.

Haleem Spice Mix: You can get ready-made Haleem spice mix which is an easy way to do it. Or here is my haleem spice mix recipe with simple Indian spices.

Nutrition