Mulukhiyah

“What is happening in Gaza this past week has taken most of my time lately and so I haven’t been fully dedicated to my Food Project. I feel terribly upset and broken-hearted by the massacre and genocide happening in Gaza today, and I pray from the bottom of my heart for the violence to stop immediately and forever.”

On the other hand, food is one of the topics that unites the world together, we all strive to learn new recipes, new food, new taste, to add a new dish to a table that unites families, friends, neighbors, colleagues, social events, private events, public events and the world. What is better than to share, to love, to help, to feel alive, to care, to feel compassionate for one another.

My dish for today, unites the Middle-Eastern & North African cuisine, and it is a dish that is cooked for the world to try and taste. Today I want to tell you more about this famous Mulukhiyah, pronounced in over 10 different accents, and has few different names that all sound similar: ملوخية Mulukhiyah, Mloukhieh (is how I say it), Molokhia, Molokhieh, Molokheyyah Mloukhya, Moroheiya, Mrenda, Murere, Apoth, Kren-Kre or maybe not too much of a similarity 🙂 in the west you might need to ask for Jew’s Mallow or Jute Mellow or Nalta.

Mulukhiya is a truly delicious green leaves used as a vegetable in the Middle-East, they look like mint but taste somewhat like spinach or somewhat nothing like spinach but you know what I mean. Once cooked, Mulukhiyah results looking slimy and greenly and mostly not too appealing. My photographs on the other hand are my enjoyment of creating a piece of art out of this supposedly exquisite dish.

History

Dates back to the ancients – Pharaoh time and comes from the word “Mulokia” which stands for Kingdom or Royal, because it was eaten only by the royals, kings, queens and nobles during the Pharaoh era. Today every one eats Mulukhiah, royal or not, it is even considered a traditional dish to some Egyptians and it for sure is a main Arabian dish to many Palestinians, Jordanians, Lebanese and am assuming the rest of the arab countries, Middle-East and North Africa.

Nutrition

Rich in betacarotene, iron, potassium, calcium, Vitamin C, it also has over 32 vitamins and minerals and is very good for blood circulation.

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How to

At SUZIE|S Kitchen which is also common between the Palestinians and Jordanians, Mulukhiah comes either in leaves and we call it rough Mulukhiah Khishineh “خشنه”or comes as a soup and we call it soft Mulukhiah Na’ameh “ناعمة”, it is also cooked with chicken or beef.

We usually eat it with rice, or pita bread and is usually garnished with lemon.

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Makes enough for 10 people – Total time required: 1hr 30minutes

Mulukhiyah Wara’ Ma’a Jaj – Mloukhieh leaves with Chicken – ملوخية ورق مع جاج

Ingredients

1 large chicken breast

4 Cups of water

1 teaspoon of salt

1 bay leaf

1 bag of Mulukhyah

1 large green onion (finely chopped) – Optional: you can use red onion instead

1 teaspoon of finely shredded fresh ginger

1/4 cup of olive oil

10 small or medium coves of garlic (whole without crushing just peeled)

4 crushed coves of garlic

1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh cilantro

For the Garnish:

2 tablespoon of olive oil

2 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh cilantro

5 large coves of garlic crushed

Recipe for the Rough Leaves Mulukhiah

In a small sauce pan, add the chicken breast with the water, salt and bay leaf and leave to boil for 45Minutes.
Wash the Mulukhyah leaves very well and leave over towel to dry.
Cut the leaves into medium pieces to make the rough leaves dish.
Mix the crushed garlic with the cilantro.
In a separate medium sauce pan, add the 1/4 cup of olive oil, chopped onion, ginger, coves of garlic, mixture of crushed garlic & cilantro and stir until they become a little yellowish.
Add a hand full Mulukhieh leaves into the sauce pan and stir, then add another hand full and stir, keep doing this until all your Mulukhiah leaves are in and mixed well with ingredients.
Once the Mulukhiah leaves turn dark green, add 1cup 1/2 from the chicken broth.
With your hands, start shredding the chicken breast into large pieces on top of the Mulukhieh sauce pan.
Leave for 20 minutes to boil.
Your Mulukhiah is ready to serve.
For Garnish; on a separate frying pan, add 2 tablespoon of olive oil, crushed garlic and 2 tablespoon of cilantro, and cook together for 3 minutes until golden.
Add your Mulukhiah in your serving dish and add the mixture of garlic and cilantro on top for garnish.

Lemon is always served on the side for people to add to taste over their dish.

Optional: Add roasted pine nuts to your serving dish.

A Middle-Eastern Arabian dish Mulukhiah Mloukhieh green leaves vegetables with rice

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