Wild Jute Soup
'“Mulukhieh” or Wild Jute is a plant with a mucilaginous, sticky texture similar to that of Okra when cooked. Reportedly used as 'Cleopatra's secret to youth', this anti-aging plant is rich in Vitamins C & E, Calcium, Beta Carotene and has a high concentration of Alkaloids, Lipids and other Phytochemical Compounds. The list of benefits for this ancient, underused "Never die leaf of life" is plentiful and you'd be good to familiarize yourselves and your families with it!
This popular Middle Eastern Recipe, originating in Egypt, prepares the leaf into a delicious and highly nutritious stew that is served as a Soup or over Rice and is ever so easy to make.
Start your adventure in a Middle Eastern speciality food shop, where you can buy Frozen Jew's Mallow Leaves…make sure you buy them chopped. The rest of the ingredients can be bought at your local grocery store. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find this Organic.
Organic Ingredients serves 8
For Chicken & Stock:
1 Whole Pastured Chicken
10 Cups drinking Water
1 Onion, peeled & quartered
1 Tsp. Coriander Powder & Paprika Powder
1/2 Tsp. Turmeric Powder, Cinnamon Powder & Black Pepper
1/8 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
Sea Salt
For Soup:3 Packs of Frozen Chopped Jew's Mallow Leaves
1 Head of Garlic (the whole thing, peeled)
1 Onion, peeled & quartered
1 Bunch or 2 Cups Cilantro/Coriander (the whole bunch), washed, de stemmed and dried (to remove moisture for frying)
1 Sweet Red Pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
Juice of 3 Lemons
Ground Spices: 2 Tsp. Coriander Powder, 2 Tsp. Paprika, 1 Tsp. Garlic Powder, 1 Tsp. Onion Powder
1 Tsp. Sea Salt
Extra Virging Olive Oil for cooking
A splash of Apple Cider Vinegar
Method
Place Stock ingredients in a large stainless steel pot. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer for two hours. Sift Stock, set aside. Discard Onions. Remove Chicken Meat from Bone. Discard Skin & Bones. Using your fingers break Chicken into bite size shreds.
Peel and chop onion as small as you can. In a large non stick pot with some Oil sauté Onion until translucent on high heat.
In a Pestle & Mortar, crush peeled Garlic to a paste, using a teaspoon of Salt to help. Add to Onions, cook for a minute.
Blitz Cilantro and Sweet Red Pepper in a food processor until finely diced. Add to sautéed Onions and Garlic. Add Spices and Salt. Fry for a minute or two and then deglaze your pan with a splash of Apple Cider Vinegar. Let Vinegar cook out for a minute.
Add 10 cups Chicken Stock and frozen Jews Mallow leaves. Add in Chicken and Lemon Juice. Cover and let simmer for about 45 minutes. Taste and adjust Salt/Pepper/Lemon.
Serve alone or with Basmati Rice.
