Molokhia cooked in lamb meat, ready to eat, with Injera. South Sudanese Cuisine.
Molokhia
Molokhia is a meal made of Molokhia leaves cooked in a meat based soup. The scientific name of the plant is Corchorus Olitorus, also known as Jews mallow, or tossa Jute pant. The word Molokhia is translated from Arabic. Therefore other spellings found are Mulukhiya, molohiya. It is classically eaten with Kisra(origin Sudan) or Injera(origin Eritrea) as shown above. Both are a type of thin, flat unleavened bread. Watch Taste of South Sudan youtube channel video at the end of this post demonstrating how to cook molokhia.
How to cook Molokhia
First, acquire Molokhia plant from your garden or the market. Remove the stems, and wash thoroughly. Classic cooking calls for boiling meat and onions to a soup, onto which the Molokhia leaves are added. There are two ways to add the Molokhia to this meal. In one method the molokhia leaves are minced before adding to the soup. In another method the leaves are added to the soup, then blended using the Lofrega – the South Sudanese Wooden Ladle. Essential seasonings for this meal are garlic and fresh dill.
I am a strong advocate of fresh ingredients to achieve authentic taste. For this meal I make an exception and present a recipe using frozen minced Molokhia. For folks living abroad where Molokhia is not commercially grown, frozen Molokhia presents an alternative.