🥬 Egyptian molokhia
Egyptian molokhia is a soup of finely minced jute leaves simmered in chicken broth until glossy and slightly viscous. It is finished with the taqleya, a sizzling mix of garlic and ground coriander fried in ghee and stirred in at the last moment. It is served hot with white rice, and often with the chicken or rabbit used to make the broth.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g minced molokhia (fresh or frozen)
- 1.2 l chicken broth
- 6 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tbsp ghee
- Salt, pepper
- Cooked white rice to serve
Method
- Bring the broth to a simmer and season with salt and pepper.
- Add the molokhia and stir; simmer gently for about 5 minutes without letting it boil hard.
- Fry the garlic and coriander in the ghee until golden and fragrant.
- Pour the sizzling garlic mixture into the molokhia and stir.
- Serve hot with rice.
How to make it lighter
- Use half the ghee for the taqleya; 1 tbsp ghee ≈ 120 kcal.
- Use a skimmed, fat-free chicken broth.
- Keep the rice to a small side and enjoy a larger bowl of the soup.
History
Jute leaves have been eaten in Egypt for a very long time, and molokhia is today one of the country's most everyday home dishes. Stories that a Fatimid caliph once banned it are often repeated but are hard to verify, and the dish is also loved across the Levant and North Africa.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →