Molokhia – Egyptian jute mallow soupfeatured
Molokhia Egyptian style- minced jute mallow greens cooked in an aromatic broth. This highly nutritious green soup is often served alongside a protein and rice to make a comforting full meal beloved by families in Egypt and beyond.
Jump to RecipeWhat is molokhia?
Molokhia is a dish that originated in Ancient Egypt, and remains a staple food to this day. It is made from the leaves of a jute plant of the same name in Arabic.
Today, it is commonly eaten throughout the Middle East and North and West Africa, in many variations. Some use whole leaves, some minced. Some recipes use fresh molokhia, and some dried.
In this Egyptian version, the leaves are minced and cooked in an aromatic broth. This method embraces molokhia’s naturally mucilagenous texture, similar to okra, which is in the same family.
Molokhia is highly nutritious- chocked full of fiber and rich in vitamins A and C, Calcium, Iron, Potassium. It is known to be a huge hit with kids, and its definitely a dish to add to your family’s rotation.
And as an added bonus, anyone who has tried will tell you, it really keeps you regular.
No wonder we’ve been eating it for thousands of years.
How to make Egyptian molokhia
Making Egyptian molokhia might seem intimidating at first, but its is pretty straightforward.
The main steps to preparing a full molokhia meal from scratch are preparing your broth, cooking the greens in the broth, and preparing accompaniments of your choice.
Here I will show you how to make molokhia with chicken broth from scratch. Then, the molokhia is served alongside the chicken, typically over Egyptian rice with vermicelli. This is how my mama and teta always prepared it though when guests came from Egypt, rabbit was always used.
If you want to use broth that you have on hand this will be a way faster endeavor, and you can skip over the broth making process.
You can also use a vegetarian stock to make a vegetarian or vegan version of this dish.
Making the broth
This chicken broth recipe is the base for many Egyptian dishes and makes a great broth for chicken soup as well.
To make, place your chicken in a large stock pot along with the water and bring it to a boil. You will allow the chicken to boil on its own for five minutes before adding any aromatics. During this time the chicken will release scum that can cloud your broth. Skim that off.
Next, add in your onion, garlic, carrot and spices and simmer on low, covered, for 45 minutes.
Then set your chicken aside, we will sear that up later! Strain the broth and get ready to make the molokhia.
Incorporating the molokhia
Since Egyptian recipes utilize minced molokhia, you can either use fresh leaves and mince them yourself, or use frozen leaves .
Where I live, fresh molokhia is only available briefly in the summer, so we are using frozen here, in true diasporic fashion.
Frozen molokhia is pretty ubiquitous in Middle Eastern grocery stores. Just make sure you are buying the minced and not whole leaves. I typically buy the Montana brand, but use what’s available to you.
If you made homemade chicken broth you will strain out four cups and add two packs of molokhia to it over medium-high heat.
Now the frozen block of leaves will melt into the broth. Simple right? Well yes and no.
You don’t have to do much at this point, but you do have to babysit that pot. At this stage you can find me hovering over my pot, bathing frozen chunks in hot broth and watching it closely, because…
There are two rules to molokhia club:
- do not cover the pot, and
- do not let the molokhia come to a boil!
Committing either of those sins can cause the leaves to separate from the broth. And like I said earlier, we are going for a thick viscous texture. We are embracing the naturally slimy and thick texture produced by the minced molokhia.
So, make sure that your pot is hot enough to melt the blocks of leaves. But, if you see it begin to bubble, turn down the heat immediately. Stir occasionally, or continuously like I like to do, until completely melted.
Adding the tasssshhhhhhhhhha
Once your molokhia is fully incorporated into the stock, its time to amp up the flavor by adding what’s known as the tasha or taqliya.
This simply means you will fry up some pounded or minced garlic along with a generous amount of ground coriander in ghee, butter, or oil, and add that to the pot.
You want your garlic and coriander mixture to reach a nice golden color, but do not let it brown or it will impart a bitter flavor.
When the hot and fragrant duo hit the soup you should hear it say taaassssshhhhhhhhh, hence the name tasha.
Stir the tasha thorugh the molokhia, and then adjust your seasoning with salt and pepper. It can withstand a generous amount of salt, but taste as you go until you get it well seasoned.
Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into your pot to brighten the flavors, and you’re done!
Serving Egyptian molokhia
Your molokhia can be served as is, like a soup, alongside other dishes. Or, my preference, is to serve it as the star of its own show- alongside a protein, over a big bowl of Egyptian rice with vermicelli.
If you made your own chicken broth, you can sear the chicken pieces in some oil in a frying pan, or crisp them up in the oven under the broiler.
Your ratio is your choice, but I like a LOT of molokhia poured over a small amount of rice, and some torn up (by hand, but you can use a fork and knife) pieces of chicken in my bowl.
For the finishing touch, add some quick pickled minced onions for a nice acidic punch and bel hana wel shifa! time to enjoy!
Egyptian molokhia
Ingredients
For the chicken stock
- 3 lbs bone in skin on chicken I prefer using legs, but any chicken parts or a whole chicken will work
- 6 cups water
- 1 onion halved, skin on and washed thoroughly
- 1/2 head garlic left intact
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp whole coriander seeds
- 1 tsp allspice berries
- 6-8 cardamom pods
- 1 TBS kosher salt, Diamond brand or half amount table salt or Morton kosher salt
- 1/2 carrot, or handful baby cut carrots optional
For the molokhia
- 2 packages frozen minced molokhia 400 gm each
- 4 cups homemade chicken stock recipe included
- 3 TBS butter or ghee
- 10 cloves garlic minced or pounded in mortar and pestle
- 1 TBS ground coriander
- salt to taste
- 1/2 lemon or to taste, optional
Onion topping
- 1 red onion minced
- apple cider vinegar white or rice vinegar can be used
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
For the chicken broth
- Place your chicken in a large stock pot along with the water. Bring to a boil on stove over high heat.
- Once it reaches a boil, allow to boil for five minutes. During this time. skim off any scum that rises to the surface of the water.
- After skimming the water, add the rest of the broth ingredients.
- Reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Remove chicken and set aside, and strain your chicken broth.
Adding the molokhia
- Measure out 4 cups of broth and add back to pot. Heat over medium-high flame.
- Add frozen blocks of molokhia to broth. Cook until melted, stirring often, until fully incorporated into broth. Do not allow it to boil and do not cover the pot.
- Once fully melted, turn heat down to low.
- In a small frying pan, heat your ghee (or butter or oil) on medium-high heat. Add garlic and fry, stirring continuously to avoid burning. Once the garlic becomes fragrant, add ground coriander and continue stirring until it reaches a golden color.
- Qiuckly add tasha to the molokhia by pouring it in, and then adding molokhia to your frying pan and swirling it around to make sure you get it all.
- Stir in thoroughly.
- Add juice of half lemon, and salt and pepper to taste. Turn off heat.
Making quick pickled onions
- Mince onions and put in a bowl or small container. Add a pinch of salt. Cover with vinegar and set aside.
Prepare the chicken
- Your chicken is fully cooked, but you will want to brown the skin before serving. Sprinkle with salt and additional spices if desired (like baharat/ 7 spice) and then pan fry in ghee, butter or oil until golden brown or brush with oil and cook under the broiler, watching carefully so it doesn’t burn. .
