Mloukhiyeh I
March 19th, 2010
Mloukhiyeh is Jew’s mellow. It is available in summer in July, therefore it is used fresh. For winter, mloukhiyeh is dried and stored in the freezer. This post is about how to preserve mloukhiyeh for winter use, and the next post will be about how to cook mloukhiyeh.
How to preserve Mloukhiyeh:
1, 2. This is a whole bunch of mloukhiyeh.
3,4. Pick the leaves.
5,6. Put the leaves in a colander.
7,8. Wash the leaves under running water, then lift from the water and transfer to another bowl so dirt and grit remain in the water. Pour out the water and repeat the washing process in clean water until dirt and grit are gone and the water is clear, then keep in the colander and drain for two hours.
9. Put a clean white cloth on a stand clothes drier, and put the drier under a fan, then spread the leaves, and let them dry under the fan for 12 – 15 hours.
10. After 12 – 15 hours, collect the leaves (whole leaves), but before collecting them make sure that no water remains and they are dry, so you collect them and keep them in a bag, close and put in the freezer.
11. This is after freezing
Mloukhiyeh I
From: Family Techniques / Servings:
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| Mloukhiyeh, Jew’s Mallow |
This is a whole bunch of mloukhiyeh.
Pick the leaves. Put the leaves in a colander. Wash the leaves under running water, then lift from the water and transfer to another bowl so dirt and grit remain in the water. Pour out the water and repeat the washing process in clean water until dirt and grit are gone and the water is clear, then keep in the colander and drain for two hours. Put a clean white cloth on a stand clothes drier, and put the drier under a fan, then spread the leaves, and let them dry under the fan for 12 -15 hours. After 12 – 15 hours, collect the leaves (whole leaves), but before collecting them make sure that no water remains and they are dry, so you collect them and keep them in a bag, close and put in the freezer. This is after freezing. |
Notes and Tips
The photos in this post were taken last summer.
A whole bunch that equals to 4 kg will give 1 kg fresh leaves.
1 kg fresh leaves will give 600 g dried leaves.
In Syria, either you buy whole bunches of mloukhiyeh (stems and leaves) and do the step of picking the leaves, or there are women who work at their home to earn money, they pick leaves of mloukhiyeh and sell the leaves only, you buy the leaves then you have to wash them, dry, and store in the freezer.
In my family, we buy the leaves only, because for winter we need to preserve about 7.5 kg of fresh leaves which becomes after drying about 4.5 kg dried leaves (30 kg whole bunches = 7.5 kg fresh leaves = 4.5 kg dried leaves).
In summer, before using mloukhiyeh in cooking we do all the steps in the pictures above from (1 – 10) except freezing and the drying time is less than 12 hours (picture 10), for winter the additional step is the freezing and the drying time is from 12 – 15 hours.
this is very interesting post..
I did a post about preparing the mloukhieh and because I live in canada I cannot find it in the stores where I live, so in the summer I plant and dry and freeze for the winter…
Rizkallah alla ayam al mouneh