Mloukhiyeh with Chicken, Rice and Pita Chips

Mloukhiyeh with Chicken, Rice and Pita Chips
My mother in law grew this a few times in her garden when a friend brought some mloukhieyeh seeds over from Lebanon, I remember it was quite a successful crop as we spent many weekends tearing off the leaves and putting them away in the freezer. She gave this recipe to me many years ago, it’s one of the family’s favorite meals.  I was interested to discover that  Kamal Al-Faquih’s book, Classic Lebanese Cuisine,  made it exactly the same way. A lovely light, refreshing but tasty dish.

Mloukhiyeh is a green leafy vegetable, sometimes called Jew’s mallow or jute mallow.  You can buy it fresh at the farmer’s market, but most people now buy the frozen chopped variety. Mloukhiyeh can be found in specialty stores (Samir’s in Syracuse). Served with chicken, rice, toasted pita bread and  onions.
This dish can be prepared a day ahead. The chicken, rice, mloukhiyeh, pita bread and chopped onions are all prepared separately.

Ingredients for the Chicken

chicken thighs 4 1/2 lbs(with skins)
4 teaspoons salt
1 stalk celery chopped
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground coriander


Directions for Chicken

Rinse the chicken thighs first in white vinegar for five minutes. Drain . Next, cover the chicken thighs in a large pot with 12 cups water. Leave the skins on. Add 4 teaspoons salt. Place over high heat uncovered and bring to the boil, stir from time to time to make sure the chicken does not stick to the bottom of the pot. When it come to a rolling boil, skim any foam off the top. Add 1 stalk celery chopped, 1 cup chopped onion, 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground allspice, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, bring back to the boil and simmer covered for 45 minutes, stirring from time to time. Remove from heat and place chicken in a pyrex dish to cool uncovered. Strain the broth and return all the broth to the pot.

After the chicken has cooled (about 30 minutes), remove the skin and break  the meat apart from the bone, don’t ever slice with a knife. Leave the chicken in chunks.

Ingredients for the Rice

1 cup rice
2 1/2 cups reserved broth (or Campbell’s Chicken Broth)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter


Directions for the Rice

In a pan, place 1 cup rice, 2 1/2 cups reserved broth (or use canned chicken broth), 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon butter. Bring to a boil, and simmer covered until rice is done.

Ingredients for the mloukhiyeh

2 packages frozen chopped mloukhiyeh (let it thaw a bit, if no time, cut the block up in to wedges)
2 tablespoons coriander
4 cups reserved chicken broth
1/4 cup garlic cloves with 1/2 teaspoon salt mashed
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped cilantro plus 2 tablespoons
3 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions for mloukhiyeh

In a saucepan, put 4 cups reserved chicken broth, slowly heat the water. Once the water starts to bubble, drop the mloukhiyeh in, you may have to shave it if its frozen in a block. Let the mixture come to a boil and shut the heat off and cover the saucepan.
Mash the garlic to a pulp with salt using a pestle or pulse garlic and salt in a food processor (much faster). Melt 2 tablespoons  butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic pulp and saute until the garlic begins to sizzle. Do not let it brown. Remove from heat.
Add 2 tablespoons coriander to the skillet. Mix well with the garlic and add to the mloukhiyeh. Next add 1/2 cup chopped cilantro and 3 tablespoons lemon juice. Reheat the Mloukhiyeh stirring frequently for about 5 minutes. Set aside uncovered.

Ingredients for the toasted Pita
2 slices pita bread

Directions for the toasted pita bread.

Cut the pita bread into 1 inch squares, do not separate the pita halves.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. On a baking sheet lined with silver foil, spread the pita squares and bake, shaking the tray from time to time for 10 minutes or until golden brown. These can be made ahead, but make sure they are completely cooled before storing in a container. I actually popped a couple of pita sections in the toaster and it was fine. Broke it up afterward.

Ingredients for the onion topping

1 large onion
Distilled white vinegar

Directions for the onion topping

Chop the onion finely, place in a glass bowl, cover with apple cider vinegar so the onion is floating in the vinegar.

To serve this dish, each item sits in it’s own serving dish, the guests layer the ingredients. So the chicken would be placed on a platter, the rice in a serving bowl, and the pita chips, the mloukhiyeh stew, and the onions all in their own serving bowls. Traditionally the pita bread would go first but our family puts the bread last  to avoid the bread becoming mushy.



The guests use bowls and help themselves to the rice first,

                                                                              then the chicken,

                                                            then the mloukhiyeh stew,

                                                                   then the onion

                                                               and lastly the pita chips.

Perhaps we all have our own method of layering, clearly David puts his pita chips before the onions and mloukhiyeh! It tasted really wonderful whatever way you put it in your dish.