Mulukhiyah bil Arnab — Print Recipe

A silky, intensely green soup made from finely chopped jute mallow leaves, finished with a pungent garlic-coriander sizzle and served over rice with tender rabbit. A pharaonic delicacy still cherished today.

Ingredients

1 whole rabbit, cut into pieces
500g fresh mulukhiyah leaves or 200g dried
10 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp ground coriander
3 tbsp ghee
1 liter chicken broth
2 cups Egyptian rice
1 large onion, quartered
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions

1 Simmer the rabbit pieces with onion, bay leaves, salt, and pepper in water for one hour until the meat is extremely tender and falling off the bone.
2 Strip mulukhiyah leaves from stems, wash thoroughly, and chop very finely with a mezzaluna or sharp knife until the leaves become almost paste-like in texture.
3 Bring the strained rabbit broth to a boil and add the finely chopped mulukhiyah. Stir constantly as it returns to a boil to prevent clumping together.
4 Prepare the ta'leyah by heating ghee in a small pan and frying the minced garlic with ground coriander until deeply golden and intensely fragrant throughout.
5 Pour the sizzling garlic-coriander ta'leyah directly into the bubbling mulukhiyah soup. The dramatic sizzle releases incredible aroma throughout the entire kitchen.
6 Serve the silky green soup over fluffy white rice with the tender rabbit pieces alongside. Finish each bowl with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Did You Know?

Legend says the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim once banned mulukhiyah, making it a forbidden dish. Egyptians defiantly continued eating it, and it remains their national soup.