On three different occasions my editors have coerced me into removing this melokheya recipe from three of my books claiming the dish was too "far out" What a pity because as I can see from this forum there are a lot of people who love it as much as I do. Allow me to share with you some notes and the recipe and the special onion-cinnamon-vinegar dressing served alongside. In this dish only the carefully stemmed leaves are simmered with a captivating mixture of cinnamon, cardamom, mastic and garlic in a rich chicken broth. I learned the recipe from Nora George, author of Nora's Recipes From Egypt. She had come up to visit her son in Walnut Creek and offered to teach me the ins and out of the dish. You might enjoy her book which can be purchased on amazon.com.It is filled with wonderful recipes translated from her mother's personal cookbook handwritten in Arabic. In those days, cooks didn't bother to write down quantities, so Nora spent a number of years using her taste-memory to calculate amounts in teaspoons and cups, a process akin, she told me, to solving a mystery with clues. Luckily she had great taste-memories of meals in Cairo and summers spent along Egypt's Mediterranean coast. Nora made this dish for me using the chopped frozen molokhiya leaves imported from Egypt which she bought at a local Middle Eastern grocery. Frozen molokhiya is available nationwide in such stores. "This is a typical Egyptian Sunday midday family-get-together dish," she told me as she demonstrated how to make it. "Molokhiya is soupy so you'll need a bowl for each diner. I think it's a perfect dish for your book on slow careful cooking." She told me. Ever-thoughtful Nora! Gray-haired with large Egyptian eyes like the ones you see in ancient paintings, she's a Christian Arab and a dynamo whose self-published book is among the very best Egyptian cookbooks that I've seen. Molokhiya, she informed me, usually provokes a siesta because Egyptians, loving it, tend to eat too much. To my query:"Can you make it in advance," she responded: ""Molokhiya is more presentable and delicious when cooked right away while it retains its lovely green color. But it is still very tasty the second and third day but it's color is dark and no longer green." Her rice for the soup looks similar to Chinese white rice. "We Egyptians like our rice slightly sticky, we're able to get a nice brown crust on the bottom of the pot. We call this hekaka, cut it up and give a little piece to each person at table. It's so good no one ever refuses it." With the molokhiya, Nora served a bowl of chopped onions which had been marinated in vinegar. "This," she explained, "must be made at the last minute, otherwise it gets too mushy." I was barely seated before she started encouraging me to eat. "Hurry, Paula! Eat it before it gets cold. It's at its best when hot." "How many does this feed?" I asked as I examined the enormous platter on the table. "Four Egyptians or eight Americans," she told me with a wink. (serves 4) 2 pound chicken parts 1 small onion, quartered Spice packet: 1 stick cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon mastic, 1 teaspoon peppercorns and 3 cardamom pods wrapped in cheesecloth 1 teaspoon salt 6 cup water Pinch each of sumac and dried thyme Olive oil Onion-Cinnamon-Vinegar Dressing: 1 cup cider vinegar 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion Pinch of ground cinnamon l pound chopped frozen Molokhiya imported from Egypt (available at Middle Eastern grocers) 1 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon crushed garlic 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons ground coriander Accompaniments: 2 pita breads, cut into triangles and toasted until brown in the oven 2 cups freshly cooked white rice 1. Place the chicken, onion, spice packet, and 1 teaspoon salt in a 4-quart casserole. Add 6 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook at the simmer for 45 minutes, skimming from time to time. Remove the chicken to an oiled baking pan, sprinkle with a pinch of sumac and thyme; moisten with 1/4 cup of the broth and keep covered with a foil tent. 2. About 1-1/2 hours before serving, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 3. Strain the chicken broth; discard the fat, measure the broth and add more water if necessary to make 4 cups. Return to the saucepan and bring to the boil. In a skillet heat the butter to sizzling, add the garlic and 1 teaspoon salt and the coriander and fry, stirring, until the texture is sandy and the color brown, but not burnt. Add to the boiling broth and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. 4. An hour before mealtime bring soup to a boil, add frozen molokhia and cook uncovered over medium heat until it completely defrosts, without undue stirring. (If using fresh or dried molokhiya, see notes to cook.) Makes about 3 cups sauce. Meanwhile, set the chicken in the oven to brown. Make the onion- vinegar-cinnamon dressing and let stand 30 minutes. 5. To serve in layers in individual cereal bowls: place toasted pocket bread triangle on the bottom; add a few spoonfuls of plain rice, the chicken, a ladleful of sauce and top with a spoonful of the onion-vinegar-cinnamon dressing. Notes to the Cook: One-half pound dried molokhiya can be substituted for fresh or frozen: rub the leaves between hands until finely crushed. Forty minutes before serving, rinse quickly in a strainer, drain, soak in enough hot broth to cover for half an hour, then add to the boiling soup and cook uncovered for about 10 minutes. If using fresh molokhiya: Rinse and carefully dry. Use a mezzaluna or half-moon chopper to finely chop then set aside until ready to add to the boiling liquid 10 minutes before serving. Don't worry if it feels a little slimy to the touch. (A food processor can be used for the chopping.) Add the fresh molokhiya to the boiling soup, immediately reduce heat and cook, uncovered, (to retain its green color) for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat as soon as it starts to boil. Seeds for growing molokhiya are available at some Middle Eastern grocers in the spring.
