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Being Egyptian means that you have to be completely mad about certain dishes. These dishes are not up for discussion. Molokhia is one of them, maybe even the cornerstone of them all. Our forefathers, the Ancient Egyptians, builders of the Pyramids and whatnot, ate molokhia.
For about four years now, I have had a household ban on requests for molokhia. The first time I made molokhia it was too watery. The second time I burned it. Let's pause for a second here so I can explain: molokhia is a stew... a soup... I burned soup. Not just any soup... Ancient Egyptian soup. The shame.
Finally--it took four years--I worked up the courage to try again. I am so glad I did because it's one of my favorite foods, and I now live 700 miles away from my mama and my teta (grandma). Who's going to make it for my family if I don't?
There's nothing weird or unusual about molokhia. It doesn't even have any strange flavors. If you like garlic and/or have ever been willing to try any Asian soup, you will love molokhia.
Molokhia (Vegan)
3 cups veggie/chicken/beef broth*
1 package frozen minced molokhia (mincing your own? you'll need this)*
5-6 garlic gloves, crushed
1 Tbs oil
coriander, powdered (optional)
Bring the broth to a rolling boiling and drop in the molokhia frozen slowly. Be careful: there's the outside colorful package then a clear tight plastic wrapping. Remove both (now why would I think I need to tell you that...). And don't let the boiling water splash you!
Turn down the heat to let it simmer until the molokhia is completely thawed. In a frying pan, saute the crushed garlic until golden, stir in a dash of coriander and dump into the molokhia. Bring to a boil one more time, and you're done!
Serve over rice or make a fattah by dropping pieces of pita bread into your bowl and fishing it out with a spoon to enjoy it soaked in yummy garlicky goodness.
1. Most people eat this fitari with a chicken broth from an entire roast chicken that they serve next to it. However, for the fast days, I make my own broth by boiling an onion, a potato, and a carrot for about 20 minutes. I scoop them out and then add two Maggi vegetable bouillon cubes to the water. Notice that then I don't need to add any salt or pepper. It's perfect!
2. You can find molokhia at your local Middle Eastern grocery store.
What a coincidence! I hear Teta just made this yesterday. You made this Saturday, she made it Sunday; I'm seeing some sort of craving connection going on here
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, I could go for some too right about now :)
I made it Friday (b/c I was definitely barafa3 on Saturday in anticipation of St. Mary's Fast). It is pretty much the best thing ever... second only to cheese ;). But seeing as it's St. Mary's fast now, I'll be having molokhia and not cheese. Day 1 and I miss it already.
DeleteThank you Tasoni
ReplyDeleteWhat does the herb taster like? We love soup- and garlic
ReplyDeleteI want to say "it has no taste" but I know that can't be true! It tastes "fresh"... and is much milder than, say, spinach. Find the nearest Coptic church, the cutest tante (auntie) and demand a tub of it prepared :p.
ReplyDeleteTasoni, I love your blogs and just saw this post on molokheia. Believe it or not I am a half egyptian male, who loves to cook and I happen to Love making molokheia. You are absolutely right in saying that it is a go to dish for all egyptians and might I also just as easy to get wrong!
ReplyDeleteI would make a couple of suggestions to your already enticing Recipe.
1 - Ensure your stock is boiled and drop it down to low heat before adding the frozen molokheia leaves. This allows the molokheia to slowly melt and dissolve in the stock and prevents the leave from splitting from the soup.
2 - take some stock out of the pot and add it as needed, this prevents you from getting a super watery molokheia and allows you to manage the thickness of the soup.
3 - In Fasts where seafood is permitted, the new trend is to have a Prawn/Shrimp Molokheia. Im from the land down under so we refer to them as Prawns, dont ask why. In this case, we swap out the chicken /veggie/beef broth for Seafood stock. An easy way is to use Seafood buillon cubes instead of the veggie ones on your stock base. We then take our fresh prawns/shrimp and we sautee them quickly in olive oil, fresh garlic, ground cumin (to taste), smoked paprika and dry/fresh chilli( again to taste its not necessary). Make sure you only 3/4 of the way cook the shrimp as they will cook more in the soup.
Once you have your molokheia soup ready and you've added your corianger/garlic mix then you drop your prawns and cook on low for a little longer.
try these and Im sure youll come back super satisfied :)
LOVE your ideas, Remi! SEAFOOD molokhia??? Abouna loves prawns/shrimp, so I'll bet he'll be excited to try that :)! The blog has moved over to CopticDadandMom.com! I hope you join us over there too with more delicious ideas.
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