The silky, spiced broth comes together while the rice cooks and the onions quick-pickle.
My family is loud. New boyfriends, girlfriends, and “just friends" who are visiting get advance warning about what to expect when joining us for a large gathering: It’s going to be loud and you will be asked a lot of questions. A normal conversation between my uncles about whether or not the lamb is done will come across as a shouting match between four guys all doing their best to impersonate Tony Soprano. There is just one thing that we don’t argue about: How much we all love food.
While I have never approached the decibel level of the generation above me, I certainly have a genetic predisposition to asking people a lot of questions, particularly when they are as into food as I am. So it wasn’t weird, at least to me, that when I met my cousin Sarah’s Lebanese boyfriend, Albert, for the first time at our most recent family wedding, I talked to him non-stop about food for an hour, then continued the conversation by text message for weeks after that.
There was one dish in particular that she described as particularly vibrant and delicious: braised chicken with some type of green that apparently had a back story. I needed to know more. Naturally I went right to the source, and, if Albert was confused or even concerned about his girlfriend’s cousin texting him about a meal he made for somebody else, he hid it really well.
Molokhia is the dish. It is also the name of the green leaves that had such beguiling texture and intensity. The molokhia leaves are also known as jute or Jew’s mallow . Most likely originating in Egypt, where it is still widely consumed, versions of the dish are also popular in Lebanon and in many parts of Africa. Molokhia as a dish can take many forms, but usually involves a braised meat. Albert braises the leaves with chicken and garlic and tops it with onion and pita chips, served over rice.
Next you'll add the chicken and just a couple cups of water. You might think you should use stock here, but you can accomplish so much flavor-wise, by just putting lots of aromatics, some fat in the form of oil or butter, and a good amount of meat in whatever you're cooking. Simmer the soup until the chicken shreds easily while you make the rice.
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