This plant seems to be one not widely known of or grown by most forum members. One member @jujubemulberry i beleive grows it. I’m strongly considering growing some. Websites such as this one https://www.caribbeangardenseed.com give this description " This “food of kings” dates back to the time of the pharaohs, when an Egyptian king drank it in soup to recover from an illness. Today, it is the most widely eaten vegetable in Egypt, where it is often cooked with rabbit broth, garlic and coriander and served with baked rabbits and rice. Modern Egyptians also use Molokhia to make a soup prepared since ancient times with the same spices but with lamb, beef or duck. Molokhia is considered to be extremely nutritious.
Warm season annual/perennial
Corchorus olitorius-Egyptian spinach seeds
This “food of kings” dates back to the time of the pharaohs, when an Egyptian king drank it in soup to recover from an illness. Today, it is the most widely eaten vegetable in Egypt, where it is often cooked with rabbit broth, garlic and coriander and served with baked rabbits and rice. Modern Egyptians also use Molokhia to make a soup prepared since ancient times with the same spices but with lamb, beef or duck. Molokhia is considered to be extremely nutritious.
Jute, Egyptian Spinach Also known as, Molokhia , Malu Khia, Melokheya, Meloukia, Salad Mallow, Jew’s mallow, West African sorrel !
Asian names for this vegetable…
India: koshta
Japan: tororo no
Philippines: saluyot
Thailand: po krachao
Vietnam: rau day
his “food of kings” dates back to the time of the pharaohs, when an Egyptian king drank it in soup to recover from an illness. Today, it is the most widely eaten vegetable in Egypt, where it is often cooked with rabbit broth, garlic and coriander and served with baked rabbits and rice. Modern Egyptians also use Molokhia to make a soup prepared since ancient times with the same spices but with lamb, beef or duck. Molokhia is considered to be extremely nutritious.
Corchorus olitorius
A very hardy, fast growing annual . The young leaves used in salad, older leaves and the shoot tips cooked as spinach and are high in protein. It self-sows readily. Sow spring and summer. Suitable for subtropical and tropical areas.
Seed is naturally green in color and is NOT treated. Start seeds in flats or direct sow fairly heavily and thin. The is a hot weather loving green. Plant out after danger of frost is past and soil is getting warm. Does best in good soil for rapid growth, so continue to give compost or nutrients throughout the season. Likes full sun, warm to hot weather and steady moisture - mulch will help keep soil moist. Cut tender top leaves continuously or harvest whole plant and succession-sow.
BOTANICAL NAME: Corchorus olitorius"
These are a few images of seed offerred on ebay and pictures of plants on amazon
Molokhia (the name Egyptian Spinach is misleading, because it has nothing to do with spinach, other than being a leafy vegetable) is a hallmark of the Egyptian cuisine. It is very delicious and guests are usually treated with it when visiting. It is also the most missed Egyptian dish by migrant Egyptians … The recipe has three main components: 1-Broth (made from any meat, but the best are rabbits or chicken) 2-Minced Molokhia leaves 3-Mixture of crushed garlic, coriander leaves or seeds (minced or crushed) seared in butter. The resultant soup is usually thick and is eaten with white rice or pita bread, and the meat used to make the broth.
The plant is very easy to grow, but loves hot weather, so I usually plant it when day temperatures consistently reaches high seventies. You can get multiple harvests in a season; and at the end of the season one can leave a few stalks unharvested to produce seed pods. I have extra seeds that I can send for free to anyone who is interested. Here is a couple of photos from my garden:
Looks great. I’ve become more interested in greens that produce well during the hot Virginia summers, so this looks well worth a try. @Ahmad are there any insects that bother them?
I’m growing bottle gourds this year and discovered from my Bangladeshi neighbors at the community garden how delicious the leaves and shoots are as a sauteed green.
I grew this for a few years, and it used to reseed for a year or so after. I read somewhere it’s in the mallow family, which also includes okra and hibiscus, so the leaves have the mucilage texture but not quite as extreme as okra. With the coriander and cumin, it’s a great dish of greens! @Ahmad, thanks for the recipe!
tortoises are the other ‘pests’ that love them. And human animals like me, lol
just like moringa(the other leafy green i strongly recommend if one’s growing conditions permit) there are anecdotal reports of egyptian spinach being medicinal. While i can’t really vouch for any of moringa and molokhia’s medicinal value, i can definitely vouch for both’s nutritional values.
would also like to add what many websites don’t mention: that molokhia is one of the nutritionally-dense vegies that are the least likely to have side effects when eaten in large amounts.
spinach and carrots are excellent nutritionally but have high oxalate contents which can cause kidney stones
cruciferous vegies as cabbage, bok choi, and broccoli are powerhouses as well, but may cause thyroid issues and should only be eaten moderately.
only caveat with molokhia is that it should be treated as an annual even though it is actually perennial. Once it starts fruiting, glycoside content of foliage increases(maybe not deadly to humans but can be bad for reptiles and rabbits). The pods also have high glycosides. Thankfully in most temperate regions, molokhia die as soon as winter sets in, but will usually have produced enough mature pods that will pop when moistened, spreading seeds all over the place which will survive cold winter(at least vegas’ low temps) then germinate in warmer weather by spring.
if one hasn’t noticed it yet-- me yakking about it should be enough hint that strongly recommend molokhia as much as i do jujubes! And just as have been happily broadcasting juju seeds/budwood/rootcuttings to as many people as i can, am just as happy broadcasting molokhia seeds .
and hopeth that thee who receiveth also giveth them away…
to twice as many people
below are volunteer molokhias that germinated from seeds scattered from last year’s crop that were originally grown at the concrete planter higher up. Take note of its drought- and heat-tolerance, as the partly visible okra --which is itself quite tolerant of heat and dry soil already started getting sad, but the molokhia;s are still riding high and proud
