Homemade Persian Halim Porridge

1. Soak the bulgur wheat in water for 2-3 hours, changing the water 2-3 times.

2. In a pot, add water to the soaked bulgur wheat, bring to a boil, skim off any foam, then simmer on low heat for about 2 hours until fully cooked and split.

3. Optionally, add meat stock or butter to the wheat mixture and stir every half hour.

4. In a separate pot, cook the lamb meat with the onion and cinnamon sticks for 2-3 hours until tender.

5. Add salt to the meat mixture, then remove the onion and cinnamon sticks and shred the meat using a hand masher until stringy.

6. Blend the cooked wheat mixture until smooth with no grains left.

7. Add the shredded meat to the blended wheat mixture.

8. Stir the mixture every 10 minutes on very low heat to prevent sticking, and add salt and boiling water if needed to adjust consistency.

9. Continue stirring; the more you stir, the stringier the halim becomes.

10. For garnish, lightly sauté butter with cinnamon and top the halim, adding sesame seeds and pistachio powder as desired.

Tips

1. Use a hand masher for the meat to achieve a stringy texture instead of an electric blender.

2. Lamb can be substituted with turkey or chicken meat.

3. Do not make the halim too thick during cooking as it will thicken upon cooling.