Summary: Oat Haleem is an excellent food for Ramadan, easy to prepare, light to eat. Noosh-e jān
Haleem is a light and popular porridge-like dish in the Middle Eastern cuisine with only two ingredients; wheat and meat. The process of making traditional Haleem is long and pain-staking. I do not go through such process here because we can cheat here (smile).
Substituting oats for wheat cuts back cooking time tremendously. For the meat, you can use chicken or turkey leftovers.
Oat Haleem is easy to make; It is a nutritious meal with the added benefit of extra protein to keep you fuller longer. Noosh-e jān
Prep time: 5 min.
Cooking time: 30 min.
Ready in: 35 min.
Level: easy
Serves: 4
Oat Haleem
1 cup shredded Turkey meat
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
10 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
Melted butter (optional)
Cinnamon to taste
Sugar (optional)
Directions:
1. In a deep pot, bring water to boil. Add rolled oats. Lower heat to medium and stir occasionally for 10 minutes. It is better not to cover the pot otherwise, it will overflow.
2. At this point, the oats should have “blossomed” and dissolved to some extent. Add the shredded Turkey meat along with salt. Keep stirring occasionally until the liquid has reduced significantly.
3. Using a hand mixer, blend the porridge until all lumps are smoothed out. Add a pinch of cinnamon and stir. The Haleem texture is generally creamy and stretchy. Bear in mind that when it loses its initial temperature, it shrinks considerably. Therefore, if the porridge looks too lumpy, it lacks enough liquid. Add some water to it but not to make it too runny.
Traditionally, Haleem is served for breakfast topped with cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of melted butter and 1 tablespoon of sugar per person. Other toppings include roasted sesame seeds and slivered almonds. Noosh-e jān!