Mulukhiyah

Mulukhiyah,  is the leaves of Corchorus olitorius commonly known as Nalta

jute, tossa jute, and Jew's mallow  used as a vegetable. It is popular in Middle East and North African countries. Mulukhiyyah is rather bitter, and when boiled, the resulting liquid is a thick, highly mucilaginous broth; it is often described as "slimy," rather like cooked okra. Mulukhiyyah is generally eaten cooked, not raw, and is most frequently turned into a kind of soup or stew, typically bearing the same name as the vegetable in the local language.

Mloukhiya is also the Moroccan term for okra, which goes by gnāwiyah (قناوية) in Algeria and Tunisia and bāmyah (بامية) elsewhere in the Arabic-speaking world and the Eastern Mediterranean.

As used in Egyptian cuisine, molokheyyah, (Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [moloˈxejjæ]) is prepared by removing the central spine from the leaves, and then chopping the leaves finely with garlic and coriander. The dish generally includes some sort of meat; in Egypt this is usually chicken or beef but rabbit or lamb are preferred when available, particularly in Cairo. Cooks in Alexandria often opt to use shrimp in the soup, while Port Said is famous for using fish. The resulting soup is then served over rice. It is also often served with a tomato, onion, and vinegar-based topping.

Molokheyyah was consumed in Ancient Egyptian cuisine, where the name "Molokheyyah" originates

Many Egyptians consider molokheyyah to be the national Egyptian dish along with Ful Medammes and Koshari.

In Cyprus the dish is known as Molohiya. It is popular among the Turkish Cypriots. The Jute leaves are cultivated and grown in the spring months leading up to the summer wherein they are harvested and the leaves are separated from the stem and dried whole. Cooked in a tomato based broth with onions and garlic. Lamb on the bone or Chicken with bone may also be added. For optimal results lemon and potato are also used to help keep the consistency from becoming too mucilaginous or slimy. It is served with a nice broth consistency with sour dough bread.

North Levantine cuisine (Syria and Lebanon) differs from the remaining style in that the leaves are generally used whole, lending a different texture to the dish.

The leaf is a common food in many tropical West African countries. It is believed that the "drip tips" on the leaves serve to shed excess water from the leaf from the heavy rains in the tropics. In Sierra Leone it is called Kren-Kre (krain krain or crain crain), and is eaten in a palm oil sauce served with rice or cassava fufu (a traditional food made from cassava), or is steamed and mixed into rice just before eating a non-palm oil sauce.

The leaves are rich in betacarotene, iron, calcium, Vitamin C and more than 32 vitamins, minerals and trace elements. The plant has a potent antioxidant activity with a significant α-tocopherol equivalent Vitamin E.

The word for the plant is found in ancient Mediterranean languages such as Hebrew and Greek. Cognates of the word include Ancient Greek μαλάχη (malákhē) or μολόχη (molókhē), Modern Greek μολόχα (molóha), modern Arabic: ملوخية‎‎ (mulukhiyah) and modern Hebrew: מלוחיה‎‎ (malukhia).

The Book of Job, in the King James translation of the Hebrew Bible mentions this vegetable potherb as "Jew's mallow".

Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah banned mulukhiyah sometime during his reign (996-1021 CE). He believed that the dish would lead women to debauchery.

In an episode of the murder mystery yarn Murder She Wrote entitled Death n' Denial, sleuth Jessica Fletcher is coerced into eating a full serving of mulukhiyah after posing as the victim's mother in order to suss out a clue. She is shocked by the spicy nature of the dish but it is explained that she must finish the entire course or it would be considered an insult. The dish serves as somewhat of joke throughout the episode and when Jessica is offered the dish again in the final scene she is quick to decline.