Foods of the Prophet (pbuh)

February has been a busy month! I guess I haven't been cooking all that much or I would have posted something :) I did make some awesome chicken wings from Mark Bittman's book which I will post soon. But a friend had a really fun party at her house this past weekend where the theme for the food was things that the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) enjoyed eating. There was a whole range of things, from dates and honey to cucumbers, lentils, and tomato-basil salad (I think tomatos were big back then :)). While I was googling for things to make, I came across "tharid", which is a dish that the Prophet mentioned was at the top of the list of best meals. I'd never heard of it before but it sounded delicious when I looked up recipes, so I decided to try it.

I read that the original tharid is so thick with bread that you can actually pull it apart with your hands, no spoon required. I toned down the bread crumbs since I know people enjoy stews and so did the Prophet (pbuh). This recipe below makes a lot, so cut down if you're making for just a few people. I also used 3 cans of canned chickpeas, so I added them after the stew had been cooking for about 30 min on lower heat.

Tharid Lamb & Chickpea Stew
This recipe is adapted from a 13th century Andalusian cookbook.
http://www.superluminal.com/cookbook/substantial_tharid_lamb.html


Soaking: Overnight
Total second-day time: 2 hours

Ingredients:
3 cups chickpeas
3 lbs. lamb, cut into bite-sized cubes
8 cups water
6 cups finely chopped onion
2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coriander
2 tsp. caraway seeds
2 tsp. pepper
6 eggs
1 tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. saffron in 2 tbsp. water
1/2 cup honey
Enough stale bread for 2 cups of crumbs
6 rounds pita bread, quartered

1. Put the chickpeas into a large bowl, cover them with cold water and let soak overnight. The next day, drain the chickpeas and set them aside.

2. Put the lamb into a large stew pot and cover it with cold water. Bring to a boil and skim off the foam that rises to the top. Add the chickpeas, onion, ground and fresh coriander, caraway seeds and pepper; return to a boil, then reduce the heat.

3. Break the eggs directly into the pot so that they will poach along with the stew. Let the stew cook for an hour to an hour and a half, until the chickpeas are done and the lamb is tender.

4. Add salt and saffron, then remove 1/2 cup of broth from the pot, mix it together with the honey, and pour it back into the pot. Return to a boil and boil vigorously for 3 minutes. Add the bread crumbs to the pot.

5. Put the pita wedges in the bottom of the serving bowl and pour the tharid over them; or serve the pita wedges alongside the tharid and so that guests may put a few in the bottom of an individual soup bowl, then spoon the stew over the bread.