Molokhia — Egyptian Jute Leaf Soup
Egyptian jute leaf soup, finished with garlic and coriander fried in ghee and poured sizzling into the pot.
Method
- Poach the chicken with the onion, bay leaves, cardamom and cinnamon in water for 45 minutes until cooked through. Strain the stock and keep it hot; shred or joint the chicken and set aside.
- Measure 1.5 litres of hot stock into a clean pot and taste it. It must be well seasoned on its own, because the leaves add almost no salt.
- Add the molokhia to the hot, not boiling, stock and stir gently to disperse it.
- Heat to a bare simmer and cook for 5 to 7 minutes only. Molokhia must never reach a rolling boil: hard boiling separates it and the leaves sink, leaving a watery broth.
- While it simmers, make the taqliya. Heat the ghee in a small pan over medium heat, add the crushed garlic and fry for 60 to 90 seconds until it just turns pale gold and smells sweet rather than sharp. Burnt garlic ruins the pot.
- Stir in the ground coriander and chilli flakes and cook for 10 seconds more.
- Pour the sizzling taqliya into the molokhia; it should hiss loudly on contact. Stir once, cover immediately and take off the heat.
- Let it stand covered for 5 minutes so the garlic perfume settles into the soup, then add lemon juice and taste for salt.
- Serve in bowls with the chicken, Egyptian rice and bread alongside.
How to make Molokhia — Egyptian Jute Leaf Soup
Molokhia divides opinion like few other dishes. Made from jute leaves cooked into a green, slightly viscous soup, it is a dish people grow up with and then crave, served over rice with chicken or rabbit and eaten with bread.
Never let it boil
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This is the one rule every Egyptian cook repeats. Once the leaves are in the stock, keep it at a bare simmer for a few minutes only. A rolling boil breaks the texture, the leaves separate from the broth, and the dish cannot be recovered.
The taqliya is the flavour
Garlic fried in ghee with coriander, poured in while still sizzling, is what makes molokhia taste the way it should. Fry the garlic only until pale gold; a few seconds too long and the bitterness carries through the entire pot.
Stock first
Because the leaves themselves are mild, the stock does the work. Make it properly with chicken or rabbit, aromatics and whole spices, and season it fully before the molokhia goes anywhere near it.
Regional differences
Egyptians keep it fine-chopped and soupy; Levantine versions often use whole leaves and add lemon and onion in vinegar at the table. Both are served with rice, and the frozen chopped leaves sold in Middle Eastern shops are what most home cooks use.
Traditional Egyptian cookery; molokhia is eaten across Egypt and the Levant, with regional differences in texture and accompaniment. Editorially researched from widely documented preparations, and not kitchen-tested by Axadle.
Contains dairy from ghee; use oil to avoid it. Naturally gluten-free, egg-free and nut-free. Check stock for wheat and celery.
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