Tangy Harak Osbao Recipe

Harak osabo is a fantastic middle-eastern stew, also known as horaa osbao or harra’ esbao’o. The dish is naturally vegetarian and can be made vegan easily. A thick, beautifully garnished stew is made with lentils and pasta as base ingredients and packed with tons of flavour from herbs and other ingredients. Using pomegranate molasses and tamarind paste, harak osbao has a deliciously sweet, sour and salty taste, with multiple colours and textures. This balance and contrast make this dish an unforgettable experience to eat.

Ingredients for Harak Osbao 

• Pasta (rigatoni)
• Green or brown lentils
• Olive oil
• Cilantro
• Garlic
• Pomegranate seeds
• Big white onion
• Tamarind paste
• Pomegranate molasses
• Maple syrup
• Thin Lebanese pita
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Sadly, I haven’t grown up with middle eastern family members cooking me these recipes. So, I have taken inspiration from various sources and given them tweaks until satisfied. The middle eats channel has been an invaluable inspiration for this one! To make harak osbao, you will need pasta and lentils as your main ingredients. Usually, it features homemade dough, but many adaptions of the recipe prepare it using store-bought pasta. The dish is often prepared using fettuccine, but I’ve tried a different type of pasta. Personally, I like a bit more texture for this dish, so I went with a rigatoni type, but ditalini works well too. To bring the flavour to the stew, you will need tamarind paste and pomegranate molasses, which are beautifully tangy. Depending on where you live, you might want to check out a middle-eastern store to find these ingredients. To balance the tang with sweetness, I am including maple syrup in my adaption, which is untraditional but tastes fantastic. Next, you will need lots of garlic, two bunches of cilantro, thin pita bread, and a big onion. Oh, let’s not forget about a generous amount of olive oil! 

How to make Harak Osbao:

Wash the lentils thoroughly, and put them into a pot. Add three times the amount of water, and simmer for 20 minutes until tender. If you have a dried tamarind block, you will want to soak it in hot water now too. Wash the cilantro and crush and finely mince your garlic cloves. While the lentils are simmering, we can prepare the toppings for our harak osbao. Take one bunch of the cilantro and chop it finely, including the stems. While the lentils are simmering, we can prepare the toppings for our harak osbao.  For that, cut or tear the flatbread into bite-sized chunks and set aside. Next, slice your onion into thin slices. You want to aim for equally thin slices, so this is a good time to practise your knife skills or to use a mandolin if you have one.

Making the Harak Osbao Toppings:

Fried Pita Bread:

Heat a pan, and add half of the olive oil. Keep the heat below its smoke point, and shallow-fry the flatbread until golden brown. Take the bread out of the oil, give them a pinch of salt, and rest them on a paper towel so they stay nice and crispy. Alternatively, you can brush the bread with olive oil and bake the bread until turning crispy, but shallow-frying will give better results. Be careful, as they like to burn pretty much from one second to the other. They also continue browning a bit after you have taken them out of the pan. For a more in-depth guide on how to turn flat pita bread into the most delicious chips, check out this recipe here.

Fried Onion:

Next, we want to make homemade fried onion as a beautiful topping. Add fresh olive oil to your pan, and fry the onions gently. I want to infuse the olive oil, so I am only shallow-frying the onions. Be patient but careful to achieve nicely fried onions without any burning. Again, salt them and allow them to rest on a paper towel. 

Bringing the Harak Osbao together:

When your lentils are approximately 10 minutes out from being tender, add your choice of pasta to boiling water, and cook to almost al dente. While the pasta is cooking, sauté your cilantro and garlic with a sip of the infused olive oil for five minutes. 

Now, drain the lentils and the pasta, and reserve a cup of the pasta water. Add the pasta to the lentils with the pomegranate molasses, tamarind puree, maple syrup, and cilantro-garlic mix. Next, add a bit of pasta water, mix well, and allow simmering gently for a few more minutes until it comes together nicely as a stew. Dress with a generous sip of the onion-infused olive oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer the hot stew to a deep dish. Now, you will get a feel for where the name “harak osbao” comes from. It translates to something like “so hot that he burned his fingers” as the hot stew smells dangerously delicious. So, exercise restraint, don’t burn your fingers, and allow the dish to cool. While the harak osbao is cooling, you can finish preparing the beautiful and colourful toppings.

Having our crispy flatbread and fried onions sorted already, we want to introduce some more beautiful colour and freshness. For that, strip the leaves from the remaining cilantro, which I like to keep whole. Next, take the seeds out of the pomegranate, and we are ready to go.

Serving the Dish:

By now, the harak osbao should have firmed up nicely. Dress it in patterns of your choice with the toppings. I went for strips, but don’t let that hinder your creativity. And that’s it. Now you can enjoy this deliciously tangy dish. Let me know what you think! I can recommend checking out this hassle-free hack to remove pomegranate seeds.

If you want to go for a middle-eastern feast, why not serve some mezze beforehand? Have some flatbread with hummus, baba ganoush or ful medames, or enjoy some refreshing tabbouleh as a starter!

Other Recipe Inspirations:

• Muhammara makes a fantastic meze!
• This fava bean spread is easy to make and super nutritious!
• Fattoush is such a fantastic salad.
• This vegetable tajine is super satisfying to eat.
• This healthy vegan couscous salad is a staple of mine!
• Tahini stuffed dates make a fantastic dessert.
• Vegan fesenjan is a luxurious Persian stew.