Mulukhia: Egyptian Style

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mulukhia, you should know that it comes in two forms. Mulukhia is either made in full-leaf form (Syrian mulukhia), or it can be made with a more liquid, soup like texture (Egyptian mulukhia).  I've tried to look up the English word for the mulukhiya leaf--I believe it's called the "Jute leaf" but I'm not sure about this. I was never a fan of the large leaf mulukhia, so I decided to learn the Egyptian one instead. Growing up, mulukhia alawys seemed like the most daunting possible meal to make. It looked and tasted like something that would take hours to prepare! To my pleasant surprise, this turned out to be one of those -"I spent 20 minutes on this, but it looks like I slaved away for hours"-kind of meals. If only I had known sooner in med school.

First step:
Preparing the chicken + chicken stock:

• After thoroughly washing 4 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts with salt and flour, place the chicken in a pot filled with enough water to cover the chicken. 
• Add one large peeled onion, 2 bay leaves, 3-4 cardamom pieces, 1/2 teaspoon of whole black pepper, a small piece of ginger, and a teaspoon of salt. 
• Boil the water for as long as it takes for the chicken to become tender. 
• Once the chicken is tender, drain the chicken stock and place aside. 
• Cut the chicken into small pieces.

Mulukhia:
For this meal, I used fresh leaves just because I had the luxury of being at home and having free time. If you're not as free, you can buy a package of frozen mulukhia from any supermarket.

• If you're using fresh leaves, you'll have to prepare the leaves a few hours earlier  by washing thoroughly, removing stems, and drying over a towel. I used about 3 cups of Jute leaves.
• Once the mulukhia has dried, chop the mulukhia into small pieces using a mulukhia chopper (an arched blade with two handles). Alternatively you could just place the mulukhia leaves in a food processor until minced finely.
• Fry about half a cup of coriander with 4 cloves of garlic in olive oil.
• After draining the chicken stock (make sure you remove the onions & spices!), reboil the chicken stock, and add the mulukhia leaves to the chicken stock.
• Add the fried garlic and coriander to the mulukhia--stir well
• Add the chicken pieces to the mulukhia
• Stir the ingredients for about 2-3 minutes. 

Serve with white rice. Add lemon juice to your own taste :).

--Syrians and Lebanese people have their own variation of the soupy Mulukhia. As an extra, we like to top the mulukhia with deep fried cut up pieces of flat bread, and vinegar mixed with finely chopped pieces of onion (as in the picture).