Good Morning Tehran
Breakfast is the most important meal, it should be nutritious, appetizing and make you ready for the day. Iranians are famous for being early birds, they cherish a good breakfast and that’s why they tolerate standing in long lines to get Halim. It is a local food worth the effort and time.
This delicious, magnificent dish provides the nutrition they need for the day. Every step in making, serving and consuming Halim comes with a choice. Halim can be made from lamb, chicken or even turkey. It can contain milk, even sometimes cream and some other basic ingredients: wheat, meat (lamb, chicken or turkey), onions, oil and spices.The wheat should be soaked in water overnight.The meat and onions will be slow cooked separately. Wheat, water, milk, oil are cooked in a slow cooking pot and, after a couple of hours, the shredded meat will join them alongside salt, pepper and other spices. The dish is served with a decorative topping of melted butter, cinnamon, sugar or salt.
Rome was not built overnight and with time comes grace. Or as persians say: “If you wait long enough, you can make a sweet dish from sour unripe grapes.”
How Do You Like Your Halim?
Halim can act as some kind of personality test. In Iran, the locals divide people into two groups: people who like Halim with salt and people who like it with sugar. Some people even add sour fruit leather to it. This dish satisfies every pallet, truly making it a dish for all and a local .
When eating time arrives, you have one final choice to make. You may choose to eat the porridge-like substance with a spoon, or you can do it the local way and tear off pieces of flatbread, bend it into an edible spoon, and dive into the Halim.
Halim and Ramadan
Ramadan is a special month in Iran’s culture. Most people fast during Ramadan from sunrise to sunset. Breaking the fast is called Iftar (ef-tar). This is a time when the whole family comes together to enjoy their first meal since sunrise. What could be better than a nutritious bowl of Halim to trigger your appetite.
Halim is the most common local food often used as the go-to meal for Ramadan. It is served at almost all family events and can be prepared in large volumes for large gatherings.
Comment (0)