Haleem, an aromatic stew of mutton and lentils, is one of the most sought-after foods during Ramadan in India and Pakistan. Learn how to make a delicious meatless haleem with a mix of lentils, grains and two vegetables that stand in nicely for meat.
Haleem could be one of the most delicious foods you've never heard of. It's a thick, porridge-like stew made by cooking lentils and mutton (goat's meat) for hours, separately at first, and then together. It is not much to look at - the word one might immediately think of is slop - but it tastes so good, you will likely slurp it up AND lick the bowl.
This unique dish doesn't bear much resemblance to most Indian and Pakistani foods. That's because haleem is not intrinsically Indian nor Pakistani: it traveled to south Asia from Persia, modern-day Iran, via Muslim invaders and traders. In Hyderabad, a south Indian city then ruled by Nizams - Muslim rulers with opulent tastes - cooks added spices and other ingredients to haleem, transforming this Persian breakfast dish into a rich, even decadent, meal you could look forward to after a whole day of fasting.
Today in Hyderabad, during Ramadan, restaurants cook up thousands of pounds of haleem in giant pots to feed thousands. Cooks spend hours chopping and prepping the ingredients, and then stand over the hot, bubbling haleem, mashing the meat with long wooden mallets until the stew reaches just the right consistency: thick, a little sticky and very gloppy. While that may not sound appetizing, the slow, long cooking and mashing gives the ingredients time to fuse and meld their flavors and become ultra-delicious.
Table of Contents
Veganizing haleem
Mutton, or goat's meat, is an integral part of haleem, adding to it both flavor and texture. To make my meatless haleem just as desirable, and even more nourishing, I add two vegetables: eggplant and jackfruit. The vegetables, along with four kinds of lentils, make this a healthy dish, which a haleem typically isn't because it uses ladlefuls of ghee and a red meat. Win win. To keep the haleem gluten-free, I substituted the wheat with quinoa.
This vegan haleem doesn't take as long to cook as a regular haleem would, because skipping the meat cuts down significantly on cooking time. However, it is also not a dish you should take on at the end of day because it requires close to three hours to make (most of it is hands-off time). You can make haleem in an Instant Pot, and I'll have more on that for you in the FAQs.
Recipe card
Vegan Haleem
Ingredients
Lentils and grains
- 2 tablespoons chana dal
- 2 tablespoons masoor dal
- 2 tablespoons moong dal
- 2 tablespoons urad dal
- 2 tablespoons quinoa
Vegetables
- 2 large onions (thinly sliced)
- 1 large eggplant (cut into thin strips, 1 inch long and ¼ inch wide)
- 20 oz jackfruit (canned, cut into smaller pieces)
Vegetable marinade ingredients
- ¼ cup vegan yogurt
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 2 green chili peppers (like jalapeno. Deseed if sensitive to heat. Chop finely)
- 1 teaspoon cayenne (or any red chilli powder. You can skip since we already have green chili peppers)
- 2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste
Other ingredients
- 4 tablespoon vegetable oil (plus more for frying onions)
- 10 cloves
- 10 green cardamom pods
- 2 1-inch pieces cinnamon bark
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons raw cashews
- 2 tablespoons almonds (about 8-10)
- 2 heaping tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tablespoon cilantro (chopped)
- 1 tablespoon kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves, crushed in your palms to release the aroma)
- 6 cups mushroom stock
- 1 tablespoon garam masala (optional)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Fry the onions
- Heat enough oil to form a ¼ inch layer in the pot or Dutch oven. Add the thinly sliced onions to the pot along with a generous pinch of salt. Sauté the onions until they are a rich golden-brown. Stir frequently so the onions don't burn. Remove the onions to a plate lined with a paper towel and set aside.
- In the same oil, fry the whole spices: green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves for a minute. Fish them out or strain them out and place them in a bowl or plate to cool.
Soak and blend the lentils
- Place the four lentils and quinoa in a bowl. Add enough water to cover the lentils by an inch. Set aside to soak for at least an hour or preferably two hours.
- Strain the lentils and quinoa and place them in a blender along with the cashews, almonds, fried spices and half the fried onions. Add 1 cup mushroom stock and blend to a smooth paste. Reserve the remaining fried onions for garnish later.
Marinate the vegetables
- Place the jackfruit and eggplant in a bowl. Add the vegan yogurt, ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric, cayenne, ginger garlic paste and salt. Mix the marinade ingredients with the veggies and set aside.
Make haleem
- Pour out most of the oil in the Dutch oven you fried the onions in, leaving behind just two tablespoons. Add the marinated vegetables to the oil and sauté them for a couple of minutes. Cover the pot with a lid, adjust heat to the lowest level on your stove, and let the vegetables cook for about 8-10 minutes or until they are quite tender. Stir frequently to make sure the vegetables don't stick too much to the bottom of the pot.
- Add the lentil paste to the vegetables and mix it in. Add the remaining five cups of mushroom stock and mix everything well.
- Stir in the tomato paste and mix it in.
- Mix in the cilantro and kasoori methi. Bring to a boil, then cover the haleem, adjust heat to low, and let the haleem cook for an hour. You don't need to stir constantly but check a couple of times during cooking to make sure the lentils don't sink to the bottom of the pot and stick.
- After an hour the haleem should have reduced quite a bit and thickened with some oil rising to the top. At this point use a wooden ladle or a masher to mash the vegetables in the pot. They should be very tender at this point and should mash easily. You can add a couple of tablespoons more of the oil you fried the onions in if you wish, to add more flavor. Continue mashing for a few minutes until the haleem becomes very thick and acquires a sheen on top. It should take about 15 minutes.
- Stir in the garam masala and mix well. Check for salt and add more as needed. Garnish the haleem with the remaining fried onions and, if you wish, with some lightly fried cashews and more cilantro before serving.
Nutrition Information
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Ingredient notes
- Lentils: Using a mix of lentils adds more flavor to the haleem. You will need four types of lentils: urad dal, chana dal, moong dal and masoor dal. You can read more about the unique flavor and texture of each of these lentils in my guide to Indian pulses.
- Quinoa: I used quinoa instead of wheat in this recipe to keep it gluten-free. The quinoa also contributes a nutty flavor to the haleem. You can substitute the quinoa with an equal amount of bulgur or cracked wheat.
- Vegetables: Eggplant and jackfruit are both "meaty" vegetables that contribute lots of flavor and some texture to the vegan haleem. Marinating them first with spices and yogurt helps infuse them with more flavor.
- Spices: Haleem uses quite a lot of spices, but the lentils and vegetables mellow them down so what you get in the end is the aroma and not much heat at all. You can tweak the spices to your palate but don't add too little because you want the haleem to be nicely seasoned.
- Umami ingredients: The tomato paste adds umami to this vegan haleem along with the mushroom stock, so try and use both if possible.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. You will need to fry the onions and spices first and you can do that either on the sauté function of the IP or on the stove top. After adding the cilantro and kasoori methi in step 4, cover the Instant Pot with the lid and set it to pressure cook for 20 minutes. Ten minutes after cooking has ended, release the pressure and return the IP to the sauté function. Mash the veggies with a ladle or potato masher and cook until the haleem has thickened and is shiny on top. Add the garam masala, salt and turn off heat.
You can use mushrooms (chop them very fine) instead of the eggplants or jackfruit. I would stay away from veggies like zucchini that lose all texture when cooked.
Leave out the cashews and almonds and substitute with an equal amount of melon seeds of pumpkin seeds.
Store the vegan haleem in the fridge for up to four days. Store in the freezer for up to four months. Reheat on stovetop or in microwave before serving, adding more mushroom stock if necessary to thin out.
Shruti says
Hi! Thank you for posting the recipe. I do have one question. Instead of using eggplant and jackfruit, can I use crumbled/shredded extra firm tofu?
Vaishali says
Hi Shruti, you can use tofu in this recipe and it'll taste good but you won't get the texture you would from using eggplant and jackfruit, even if you use extra firm.
Valerie says
I am trying to use my lentils before they get too old. This was the perfect recipe. Delicioous and easy.
Vaishali says
Yay!! So happy you loved it.