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⚠️ Heads-up: 3 of these ingredients (Egyptian Rice, Ghee, Fresh chicken/rabbit (UK butcher)) are not in our shop yet. Request them → or grab from a UK supermarket while we source.
“Molokhiya is a green you cannot fake. The leaves should ribbon, the broth should be glossy, the takleya (garlic-coriander tarka) should hit at the very last second so it crackles when it lands. With rabbit, with chicken, with rice and Egyptian bread — non-negotiable.”
— Dr Hany, Zambahola
— Dr Hany, Zambahola
🎤 Recipe credit: The video below is by Aya Habib — we don’t reproduce the chef’s recipe text. Our notes are written from scratch with metric/cup conversions and UK substitutes for our diaspora and UK readers. Watch the original on the Aya Habib – آية حبيب channel. · 1.5M views.
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Metric | UK Cups | Notes / UK substitute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frozen minced molokhiyaملوخية مفرومة مثلجة | 400 g | ColdAlex frozen is what most Egyptians use abroad. Defrost slowly. | |
| Chicken stock, hot | 1 L | Made by simmering a small chicken or rabbit with onion, bay, cardamom — the meat is served alongside. | |
| Garlic, crushed | 8 cloves | ||
| Ground coriander | 2 tsp | ||
| Ghee or butter | 2 tbsp | ||
| Lemon juice | 1 tbsp | ||
| Salt | to taste | ||
| Chilli (optional) | to taste |
Method
- Make a rich chicken or rabbit stock first. Reserve the meat to serve alongside.
- Defrost the molokhiya gently. Don’t boil-defrost — you want the leaves to keep their bright green.
- Bring the strained stock to a bare simmer. Stir in the molokhiya. Cook 5–7 min — do not boil hard or it will split.
- In a small pan, melt ghee. Sizzle crushed garlic + ground coriander + chilli for 30 seconds — until fragrant but not brown. This is the takleya.
- Pour the takleya into the molokhiya at the last moment. It will hiss. That hiss is why we eat molokhiya.
- Add lemon, salt. Serve over Egyptian rice with the chicken/rabbit and warm baladi bread.
🛒 Shop the ingredients on Zambahola
Most of what you need is on the shelf. Items still being sourced are flagged below.
Minced Molokhia
ColdAlex 400g
Ground Coriander
100g
Garlic Powder
75g
Egyptian Rice
Coming soon · request
Ghee
Coming soon · request
Fresh chicken/rabbit (UK butcher)
Coming soon · request
🎤 Listen instead — the Molokhiyah podcast
A few minutes on the history, the ratios, and the chef’s little secret — generated with NotebookLM.
Audio coming — we will embed the NotebookLM podcast here within 24 hours.
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