Halim, the soup that warms the Mauritian winter

When the southern winter settles in — June, July, August — and the wind comes down from the plateaus, Mauritius has its answer: halim. This thick soup of beef, dholl and barley, inherited from Indo-Muslim cooking, is sold steaming outside mosques and on the markets of Port-Louis, and simmered at home on Sunday evenings. It is, quite simply, the island's comfort dish.

The short answer: Mauritian halim is a thick soup of slow-cooked beef (shin or oxtail, bone in for the broth), yellow split peas (dholl) and pearl barley, scented with gentle spices (cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, garlic) and served piping hot with coriander, fried onions and a squeeze of lemon. Cooking time: a good 2 hours — the bone and the time make the halim.

Which meat for halim?

• Bone-in beef shin: the classic choice — the bone enriches the broth, the collagen thickens the soup, the meat shreds beautifully.
• Oxtail: the richest version, for special occasions.
• A mix of both: many families' secret — marrow bone for the stock, shin for the bite.

Halim is traditionally prepared with halal meat. This recipe uses bone-in shin, with an oxtail option; neither cut is listed in the current catalogue. Ask about availability and confirm the selected cut’s origin, halal documentation and preparation before ordering.

What makes a real halim

1. The bone in the pot. A halim without bone is just a soup. Marrow and collagen give that silky texture that coats the spoon.
2. The dholl + barley duo. Dholl (yellow split peas) melts and binds the soup; pearl barley keeps a light bite. Some add cracked wheat — every family has its ratio.
3. Gentle spices, not fire. Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger, garlic — halim perfumes, it doesn't burn. Chilli goes in the bowl, not in the pot.
4. The finishing touches at serving: fresh coriander, crispy fried onions, a squeeze of lemon. That trio wakes the soup up.

Halim in Mauritius, a whole story

A cousin of Indian and Pakistani haleem, Mauritian halim has creolised over generations: less wheat, more dholl, a clearer broth than the paste-like version of the subcontinent. You find it at street vendors in winter, at weddings, and during Ramadan for breaking the fast. Making it at home is a Sunday afternoon well spent — the pot perfumes the whole house.

The ingredients (8 bowls)

• 1 kg bone-in beef shin (or 700 g shin + 300 g oxtail)
• 250 g dholl (yellow split peas), soaked 1 h
• 150 g pearl barley, rinsed
• 2 onions, sliced + 1 fried onion to serve
• 5 garlic cloves and 4 cm ginger, pounded
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 cardamom pods
• 3 cloves
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 3 tbsp oil or ghee
• 2.5 litres water
• Salt, pepper
• Fresh coriander, lemon and chilli to serve

The recipe step by step

1. Prepare the bases. Soak the dholl for 1 hour. Rinse the barley. Pound the garlic and ginger into a paste. Slice the onions.
2. Start the broth. In a large pot, soften the onions in the oil with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Add the garlic-ginger paste, turmeric and cumin, then the shin pieces. Coat for 5 minutes.
3. Simmer the meat. Cover with 2.5 litres of water, season, bring to a gentle simmer and cook covered for 1 hour.
4. Add dholl and barley. Add the drained dholl and the barley. Cook for another hour over low heat, stirring regularly — the soup thickens as the dholl melts into the broth.
5. Shred and bind. Remove the bones, shred the meat with a fork and return it to the pot. Roughly crush with a whisk or pestle to bind. Adjust the water: halim should coat the spoon without being a purée.
6. Serve piping hot. Serve in bowls with fresh coriander, fried onions, a squeeze of lemon — and chilli for those who like it.

Frequently asked questions