SETH: Dina.

Nice to meet you.

DINA: Very nice meeting you too.

Thank you so much for coming to Fava Pot.

SETH: Well, thank you for having me, and I gotta say, Middle Eastern cuisine's something I know pretty well, but Egyptian food maybe not so much.

DINA: You'll be impressed today to know more about the Egyptian culture, hospitality, and our cuisine.

Let us go to the kitchen to show you our signature dish.

SETH: All right.

Sounds great.

DINA: So now I will show you one of our most popular dishes, and it's a signature dish, which is molokheya.

SETH: All right.

Well, I'm looking at a bowl at what looks like maybe some frozen spinach?

DINA: No, it is not.

Look very much like the spinach, but it i...

It's called molokheya, and it is known since pharaohs days.

This is how we get it from Egypt, and because it is not available anywhere.

The molokheya itself, it's mild.

The key things of it...

There are three key ingredients, so it is coriander, and coriander, we ground it fresh, so this is how it looks after we finish it, and fresh garlic, and ghee.

So the mix of these three, and the process of cooking it, it's what make our molokheya is really unique.

SETH: All right.

Well, I'm excited to try it.

So how do you get started here?

DINA: So it's really easy.

Uh, now the water's boiling, we'll take the molokheya while it's still frozen, and this is key, because it's grown in Egypt so it's fresh, but because here it is frozen, I have to add it while it's still frozen to have the same, like, structure, the same taste with same freshness, while it's still melting.

First we'll add some more salt, and now we will go with the fun part of it.

We call it in Egypt taqliya.

SETH: And this is the ghee?

DINA: This is ghee, and we prepare our ghee in-house three times a week.

SETH: And, Dina, why do you use ghee for the... for the cooking?

DINA: Actually, this is how we do um, with my grandma, my ma everyone, and from health perspective, ghee is more healthy than butter.

SETH: Healthy or not, I'm just... DINA: Yeah.

SETH: Happy if it's tasty.

DINA: It's so tasty.

Like, people when they have breakfast here, they ask me, "Why your eggs is different?"

I'm telling them, "It's not only because of it's organic but because of the ghee."

Adding now the garlic, and we'll fry the garlic first.

SETH: Uh-huh.

DINA: Before we will add the coriander.

SETH: Wow.

(laughs) DINA: Yes, and you know what, what is funny?

In Egypt, any apartment, any condos coo...

Uh, cooking molokheya, you smell it from the entrance of the, the building.

Now I add the coriander.

Now you will smell a different aroma.

SETH: This garlic and this coriander together.

Wow.

DINA: Yes.

SETH: When you're frying in that much ghee, it doesn't take long to really.... DINA: And I will show you an Egyptian trick.

Only people who grow up to my generation know about it.

So when they are adding the taqliya to molokheya, it is, it is something like traditional, you have to do it, is... (gasps) Yeah.

Do you think the molokheya come so delicious if you do this.

SETH: That brings it to life?

DINA: Yeah.

SETH: All right.

DINA: Yeah.

SETH: Should I try as well?

Should I try...?

DINA: Uh, I don't think, uh, the American... (gasp) Would work like the Egyptian one.

And this is our Egyptian trick adding the taqliya.

SETH: Okay.

DINA: Ooh.

(laughs) Oh, gosh.

This is delicious.

Now will come the turn for the chicken.

SETH: And this is chicken that's already been, uh... DINA: Yeah.

SETH: Partially cooked?

DINA: Yeah.

It is...

It is cooked for one hour, and then we fry it.

(sizzling) SETH: Whoa.

DINA: I use Cornish hen only here at the restaurant.

So, um, the meat is really tender.

The taste of chicken in Egyptian, really... SETH: Uh-huh.

DINA: Is different than here, so... SETH: And so you're just looking to get a little color on the outside?

DINA: It's not only color.

You want to have it little bit crispy.

So when people asking me, "What is the Egyptian fried chicken?"

It is like the American one but not breaded, and made with ghee... SETH: Right.

DINA: Not oil.

SETH: Oh, so healthy again, right?

DINA: Exactly.

So now as chicken is golden and done, we are ready to put the rice, add bit of molokheya on top of the rice, add the chicken to it, and have a bowl of molokheya with our fresh-baked bread.

SETH: Dina, this molokheya, this is a dish I'd never heard of before but it looks amazing.

DINA: You will love it.

SETH: So how does even get started here?

DINA: So I give you the traditional way of how we eat it in Egypt.

So you take the pita, which we call it aish baladi.

We make it fresh.

You cut it.

And we have something called cat's ear.

SETH: Cat's ear?

DINA: Yes.

You get piece of bread, and then you dip it in the molokheya, and then... SETH: You eat.

DINA: Oh my gosh.

SETH: Scoop?

DINA: Yeah.

SETH: It's wonderful.

DINA: Yes.

SETH: A flavor that I can't really even place, 'cause I don't think I've ever had anything quite like it before.

DINA: And this is, like, a very traditional dish in Egypt.

It's like, uh, when you have turkey in the Thanksgiving, so our molokheya, it's in any feast in Egypt, it's the main dish.

SETH: Well, I love when a special occasion dish becomes available every day.

DINA: Yes.

SETH: Like here.

And it's so good.

I'm gonna try it with the rice, too.

DINA: Sure.

Let us have some with rice.

SETH: Yeah.

DINA: Mm.

SETH: And getting those little crispy bits like the garlic and the coriander that you fried in the ghee, so good.

And the texture.

Just like I can't really place the flavor, the texture, too, is a little bit unusual.

DINA: Yeah, the texture is little bit like okra, however it tastes totally different.

It's not about having the recipe.

It's about the know-how and the talent and the passion when you're cooking the molokheya.

(laughs) SETH: That moment made all the difference.

Now, of course, I've gotta try the Cornish hen as well here.

DINA: 100%.

SETH: That's awesome.

And, Dina, you started with a food truck, and now you have two more restaurants in DC.

Do you feel like the word has gotten out there about Egyptian cuisine?

DINA: Yes.

We have put the first stone, first step.

Actually, it is not only the Egyptian food.

It's the Egyptian culture, food, and hospitality, because for most of the American, the Egyptian culture is the pyramids and pharaohs, so our goal, when you walk in, you are welcomed very warm.

You eat like an Egyptian.

And when you leave and you feel that we are your new family and friends.

SETH: Well, I definitely feel that way.

Thank you again, Dina.

I really appreciate it.

DINA: Thank you for having me.