Rice or Cat's ear?

 

How can some green leaves turn into an essential dish in every Egyptian kitchen?.

The most important question is do you prefer it with rice or do you do the famous "Cat's ear"?.

I think you all guessed what is the dish that I'm going to talk about, Of course it is "MOLOKHIA". Molokhia is known since the Ancient Egyptians as it was known for being a green leaf that is poisonous so, they decided to name it Khia then at the days of the Hyksos invasion, Egyptians knew that it has many benefits when the Hyksos forced the Egyptians to eat so they can kill them and that's when they found out that it is not toxic and they can eat it.

As I'm always keen to bring you guys the weirdest and the most interesting stories about food from all around the world, let me tell you some interesting stories about the famous Molokhia. In the 19th century, Egyptians were banned from eating Molokhia at the time of Muawiya Ibn Abu Sufyan because he liked so much and he wanted all for himself so, he decided to tell the Egyptians that its forbidden because it can lead men and women to commit sins.

There's a question that we all keep wondering about from the day we were born. Why do Egyptians gasp which is the famous "Shahe't el molokhia" while they're cooking this dish?. Well, I came to you guys with the answer and it is quite funny. There's a legend that says that there was a king who loved Molokhia so much that he would kill the chef if he made it bad or not on time for him to eat. So, one day the chef was in the kitchen preparing the dish and then the guard of the king yelled at him because he was late so, he gasped while adding the spices out of fear and by that the famous "Shahe't el molokhia" was made.

After you knew all of these stories, you must know this delicious recipe. All you need is:

-Molokhia leaves

-1 medium onion

-1 teaspoon of salt

-15 gm chopped cilantro

-5 pieces of green cardamom

-Quarter teaspoon of black pepper

-4 tablespoons of corn oil

-4 cloves of garlic

-A whole chicken

-6 cups of chicken broth

Firstly, you'll chop the molokhia leaves until it is close to be a paste. Then, we'll put the chicken in a pot and add water until the water is boiled. Cut the onion and put it in the pot. Add the salt, cilantro, garlic cloves, cardamom and a stick of cinnamon for flavor and leave it for an hour.  Then, you'll take the chicken out and put in the oven and leave the broth. Next is to put 2 sliced garlic cloves in a pan with the corn oil until it has a brown color. Then, add the chopped molokhia with the broth with the garlic in a pot. Add the black pepper and leave it to simmer for 30 minutes then chop some garlic and some cilantro and fry them in a frying pan until they're brown then put them in the molokhia and leave it until it is fully cooked. Take the chicken out of the oven. You can serve it with rice or with bread. It can even be made with chicken, rabbit and shrimps. 

Bon Appetit!