Mloukhieh

Ingredients

• 1 chicken, about 1.5kg, or 6 chicken thighs
• 1kg frozen chopped mloukhieh leaves
• 1 onion, for the broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 8 garlic cloves
• 50g fresh coriander
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp fine salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 small red onion, to serve
• 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 lemons
• Vermicelli rice, to serve
• 2 pita breads, to serve

Before you cook

• Take the mloukhieh out of the freezer to thaw
• Quarter the broth onion
• Crush the garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt
• Chop the fresh coriander finely
• Dice the red onion very small and steep it in the vinegar with a pinch of salt
• Cut the lemons into wedges

Steps

1. Put the chicken into a large pot with the quartered onion, bay leaves, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and 2 litres of cold water.
2. Bring it to a boil and skim off the foam that rises to the surface.
3. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the broth tastes of it.
4. Lift the chicken out onto a board and strain the broth into a jug, discarding the aromatics.
5. Pull the chicken meat off the bones in large pieces once it is cool enough to handle, and discard the skin.
6. Wipe out the pot and melt the ghee in it over medium heat.
7. Add the garlic paste and fry for 20 seconds, until it smells sweet.
8. Throw in the chopped fresh coriander, ground coriander and cumin, and fry for 90 seconds, until the pan turns dark green and intensely fragrant.
9. Pour in 1.5 litres of the strained broth and bring it to a simmer.
10. Add the thawed mloukhieh, the salt and the pepper.
11. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the leaves are silky and the broth has thickened slightly but is still soupy enough to ladle.
12. Return the chicken pieces to the pot and warm them through for 5 minutes.
13. Toast the pita until crisp and break it into shards.
14. Ladle the mloukhieh over bowls of vermicelli rice.
15. Let each person add vinegared onion, a squeeze of lemon and a handful of crisp pita to their own bowl.