Maqluba Recipes

UPSIDE DOWN (MAQLUBA)

Steps:

• Bring to a boil the water, onion, garlic, cinnamon, turmeric, garam masala, salt, and pepper in a large pot. Add the lamb; reduce the heat to low and simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Separate the lamb from the liquid and set aside. Transfer the liquid to a bowl.
• While the lamb mixture simmers, heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Fry the eggplant slices in the hot oil, assuring the pieces do not touch, until brown on both sides; remove to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Use the same procedure to fry the zucchini and the cauliflower. Cook the broccoli in the oil until hot and remove to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
• Layer the lamb into the bottom of the large pot. Arrange the eggplant, zucchini, broccoli, and cauliflower on top of the lamb in layers. Pour the rice over the meat and vegetables, shaking the pot gently to allow the rice to settle into the dish. Pour the reserved cooking liquid from the lamb over the mixture until it is completely covered. Add water if needed.
• Cover the pot and simmer over low heat until the rice is soft and the liquid is absorbed, 30 to 45 minutes. Remove the lid from the pot. Place a large platter over the pot and flip the pot so the dish is "upside down" on the platter. Serve with yogurt on the side.

MALOOBA

Steps:

• Place chicken in a large pot with 6 cups water, onion, 2 tablespoons allspice, ground cardamom, cardamom seeds, whole cloves and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, and cook until chicken is tender, about 40 minutes. Remove chicken, strain and reserve broth.
• Soak the rice in water while waiting for the chicken to cook. When the chicken is almost done, drain the water off, and stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons of allspice.
• Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the potatoes and cauliflower in the hot oil until browned. They do not need to fully cook.
• In a separate pot, layer fried potatoes on the bottom. This is done so that the rice will not stick to the bottom of the pan. Add the cauliflower and tomatoes, and sprinkle a handful of rice over the vegetables. Remove the bones from the chicken and place the chicken in the pot. Cover with the rest of the rice. Pour in the reserved broth until it reaches a level about 1/2 inch above the level of the rice. Cover the pot, and cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour, until rice is tender.
• When the liquid has absorbed, have a large round tray ready. Uncover the pot, and place the tray over the top. Invert so that the pan is upside down on top of the tray. Let stand for 5 minutes like this, then slowly remove the pot to let the food fall onto the tray.

MAHA SARSOUR'S MAQLUBA (UPSIDE-DOWN CHICKEN AND RICE)

Steps:

• Cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch-thick half-moons. Season well with salt, and let sit 30 minutes. Place the chicken in a large pot (a 10-inch, 5-quart size is ideal), and season well with salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper, ground cumin, cloves, cardamom pods and bay leaves (ideally, do this the day before). Pour 3 cups of boiling water over the rice. Soak for 10 minutes, then drain well.
• To the chicken, add the onion wedges, 1 tablespoon salt and 4 1/2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, covered, over high heat, then turn down to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes. Drain the chicken, keeping the broth and discarding the onion and spices.
• Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering hot, then fry the carrots, in batches if necessary, turning occasionally until browned, about 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels, then season lightly with salt. Repeat with the potato, about 3 minutes per side. Repeat with the cauliflower, about 7 minutes per batch. Finally, press the eggplant with paper towel until dry, then fry the eggplant in one layer until browned, about 4 minutes per batch. Drain on paper towels, but don't season. (If the eggplant is too oily, press on it with paper towels.)
• Pour out the oil, keeping 2 1/2 tablespoons in the pan. Heat it over medium-high heat and add the vermicelli, stirring until browned, about 2 minutes. Add the drained rice and cook, stirring, to dry it out, about 4 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, the turmeric, cinnamon, allspice, ground cloves, Sazón and garlic, and cook, stirring, until very fragrant.
• Place the chicken back in the pot, skin side down. Place the vegetables on top, then rice. Pour in 4 cups of the chicken broth. Press down on the rice; add more broth or water if needed to bring the liquid barely to the level of the rice. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat, then turn it down to medium low. After 10 minutes, carefully stir just the rice to evenly combine the harder rice on top. Repeat after another 10 minutes. After a total of 30 minutes, the rice should be cooked, but not soft, and the liquid should be absorbed.
• Place a very large serving dish on top of the pot, then, protecting your hands (and maybe with a partner), invert the pot onto the dish in one smooth motion. If there is liquid seeping out, spoon it out or soak it up with paper towels. Let the pot rest at least 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Fry the pine nuts, stirring constantly, until browned, about 1 minute. Drain on paper towels.
• Lift off the pot to reveal the maqluba, and scatter the pine nuts all over. Serve with yogurt and chopped tomatoes, cucumbers and parsley on the side, seasoned with lemon, salt and olive oil.

MAQLUBA (OR MAKLOUBEH, PALESTINIAN UPSIDE DOWN RICE)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F, for the cauliflower.
• Rinse and drain the rice and set aside.
• Dice the onion (chop up fairly finely).
• Chop up the eggplant, courgette and capsicum into rough cube shapes. Basically, quarter the eggplant and courgette lengthwise, then slice.
• Slice the tomatoes into rounds and set aside.
• Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces.
• Arrange the cauliflower pieces on a baking sheet and drizzle 1 Tbsp of EV olive oil all over. Sprinkle a ¼ tsp of salt and some freshly ground black pepper and roast for about 20 at 180˚C/350˚F. Flip halfway through the cooking time.
• Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
• Sauté the onions for about 3-4 minutes.
• Add meat, allspice, salt and some pepper, stir and brown the meat all over and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. You want the final result to be a little on the dry side, but not too dry. A little moisture is good.
• Grease your saucepan all over. Then start with layering the bottom with the sliced tomatoes. You'll get 2 layers. Season with salt and pepper, a small sprinkle will do.
• Add half the meat, season with a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Then pack down with a potato masher.In my original recipe and video, I place all the meat first. But in these new pictures, you can see that I'm layering the meat along with the rice.So half the meat now, and half later.
• Add all the vegetables, season with salt and pepper and pack down.
• Then top with half the rice, season with salt and pepper and flatten.
• Now we add the second half of the meat, season, and pack down.
• And finally, the second half of the rice. Season with salt and pepper, and pack down.
• Take a small saucer, place it face down on the rice (or use the back of a large spoon), and slowly pour all the stock in. This stops a gap/hole appearing in the rice as you're pouring the stock in. You also don't want to mess with the packed rice and stuff.
• Place the pot on the stovetop, turn the heat on high for 3 minutes to bring everything up to simmering point although you'll probably only see the edges bubbling. When you see the bubbles at the edges, move on to the next step.
• Put the lid on, turn the heat right down and cook for 45 minutes. After that time, if you think the rice isn't done, another 5-10 minutes should suffice.Take the saucepan off the hot hob and leave the rice to rest for 10 minutes before unveiling.
• Take a large plate or serving platter, place it over the pot. Holding the plate tightly against the saucepan, give it a gentle shake. Then slowly, ease the saucepan off the plate. In the video, this happens at around 12:15 minutes.Top with the nuts and parsley.
• If you packed the saucepan as mentioned, it shouldn't collapse. But if it does, no big deal, scatter with pine nuts and parsley and serve.
• Click here for my new recipe - Vegetable Maqluba.

CARROT MAQLUBA

Steps:

• Wash the rice until the water runs clear. Add rice to a bowl with water to cover and leave to soak for 15 minutes, then drain. To the drained rice, add 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper, plus all the spices. Mix to combine, then set aside.
• In a medium (9- to 10-inch), lidded nonstick pot (preferably not deeper than 6 inches), heat the olive oil over medium until shimmering but not smoking. Add the steak cubes, onions and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and cook, periodically tossing around, until any meat juices evaporate and meat browns nicely all around, about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add the carrots and cook, stirring regularly, until carrots are glossy and just starting to soften, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and make sure the meat and carrot mixture is evenly spread in the bottom of the pot. Top with the spiced rice mixture (do not mix).
• Slowly pour the broth into the pot (it should rise about 1/2 inch above the rice). Set an inverted (heatproof) plate over the rice to keep the rice and vegetables from mixing when broth boils. Ideally, the plate should be slightly smaller than the width of the pot. Cover the pot with the lid and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Taste the broth at this point and salt it to your liking.
• Cook for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to low, remove the plate but return the lid, and simmer until the rice is fully cooked with no remaining bite, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover the bottom of the lid with a tea towel or kitchen paper towels and cover again. Set aside to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
• To serve, remove the lid and place a large, inverted serving platter over the pot of rice. Using both hands, flip the pot, and slowly lift to reveal a beautiful cake-shaped dish. Garnish with toasted almonds and serve.

MAKLOUBEH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 C (220C). Add the cauliflower florets and potato slices to one baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spread out. Add the eggplant slices to another baking sheet lined with parchment paper, in a single layer. Drizzle both trays of vegetables with oil and sprinkle with salt. Place both trays in the oven at the same time.
• Roast for around 30 minutes or until vegetables are golden brown and cooked through. they'll probably need around 30 minutes. You can flip the potato slices around halfway through, but it's not necessary. Once vegetables have roasted, remove from the oven and set aside until it's time for assembling.
• Add the oil to a large saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, add the meat pieces and cook, stirring until browned on each side. Add the onion and garlic, the bay leaves, cardamom pods, cloves, and cinnamon sticks.
• Add enough water to the pot to cover the meat completely. I used 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then skim off any foam that accumulates on the surface and discard it.
• Cover the pot, reduce heat to a medium low simmer, and cook for 40-45 minutes or until lamb pieces are cooked through and tender. Alternately, you could cook the meat in an pressure cooker or instant pot according to your preference.
• Once the meat is cooked, pour the stock over a strainer, catching the stock in a bowl. Discard the whole spices, and keep the meat pieces aside.
• To the strained stock, stir in the seven spices or all spice, salt, black pepper, cumin powder and turmeric powder. Taste it, it should taste pretty salty. Set stock aside.
• In a large clean saucepan (you can clean the one you used to make the stock), drizzle the oil to coat the bottom. Layer the tomato slices on the bottom, this will help keep the rice from sticking.
• Arrange the eggplant slices evenly around the pan, coming up the sides of the pan if you can so that they'll sort of end up wrapping the rice mixture (see video below for clarification).
• Sprinkle the eggplants with salt, and add all the meat cubes to the pan. Add the chickpeas on top of the meat. Add half the rice and spread it out evenly. Add the cooked potato slices and half the cauliflower florets. Season these vegetables with a sprinkle of salt.
• Add the second half of the rice on top of the vegetables, and pat with the pack of a wooden spoon to firmly press it into the pan.
• Pour the meat stock over the rice. It should cover the top of the rice by about 1/2 inch. If you need to, add a little water in order to submerge the rice, maybe 1/2 cup or so. Place the pot of rice on medium high heat until the water in it comes to a boil, about 5 minutes or so, then tightly cover (if your lid doesn't fit tightly, you can place a kitchen towel under the lid before covering).
• Reduce heat to low, and cook for 50-55 minutes, until all the broth has been absorbed and the rice is fluffy. Remove from heat and let the pot stand for 5-10 minutes.
• After the rice has rested, remove the lid and place a serving platter or tray on top of the pot. Flip the pot upside down, but don't lift the pot up for a few minutes to give the rice time to drop. After a few minutes pass, slowly use the pot handles to lift and remove the pot.
• Garnish your makloubeh with plenty of toasted nuts and parsley. Enjoy immediately! We like this with yogurt and/or a simple green salad.

CHICKEN MAQLUBA - UPSIDE DOWN RICE

Steps:

• Marinate the chicken: Use fresh Chicken. Keep the skin on. Cut the pieces into medium-large pieces. Pat dry and add to a bowl.
• Add the ingredients 'to marinate Chicken' and rub well into the pieces. Salt is not added now.
• Set aside the chicken to marinate for 1 hour.
• Wash and Soak Rice: Meanwhile, rinse the rice thoroughly till the water runs clear, and then soak the rice for up to 30 minutes. (Read the package instructions as different rice varieties require less or no soaking time). However I found for a 'one-take' and 'fixed liquid' type of cooking like Maqluba, the soaking ensures that the rice will be cooked nicer and not sticky. Keep the rice drained in a colander, after soaking time.
• Prepare Spice-mix: Mix together all ingredients for the spice mix in a small bowl and set this aside.
• Chop/Slice Vegetables: Chop the onion. Slice the garlic, potato and cauliflower, and carrot. The potato and cauliflower must be fairly thick slices/chunks. Keep one side of the cauliflower chunks flat, so that they are easier to pan-fry later.
• Par-Fry/Sear the Marinated Chicken: Heat 1/4 cup oil in a flat- non-stick pan large enough to fit the chicken pieces. We don't want to cook them fully, just sear the skin and give it a golden brown color on all sides. This takes 4-5 minutes per side, depending on the size of the pieces.
• Remove the chicken to a plate. Strain the oil used for frying and add to a stockpot.
• Preparing the Broth: Heat the same oil used for frying the chicken in the stockpot. Add the chopped onion and saute till softened nicely and just starting to change color.
• Return the fried chicken and toss with the onions to coat the chicken and absorb some flavor. Toss just a brief while. Add salt(1tsp) and mix through. Remember we have not added any salt to the chicken while marinating.
• Add hot water(8cups) and the bay leaves and bring to a simmer. As the water begins to simmer, remove the scum that floats to the top of the broth. Once the broth boils strongly it will just boil 'into' the stock and can not be removed. If the scum is not removed it can cause an unpleasant layer of impurity over the cooked rice.
• As soon as the water boils, add (1Tbsp) of the prepared spice mix. Stir, cover, and reduce heat to low - bring to a light simmer. Simmer like this, covered, for 20 minutes. Continue at step 15.
• Frying of Vegetables: Heat a generous amount of oil in the same pan used earlier for chicken( washed clean). First, fry the garlic sliced till light golden and quickly strain them out of the oil Don't allow them to turn dark, or they will go bitter.
• To the flavored oil, add the. cauliflower first and fry each side till golden. remove the fried cauliflower to kitchen paper towels, to absorb the excess oil. Repeat this process with the Potatoes. No need to fry the carrots.
• After simmering for 20 minutes, remove the broth from heat. Remove the chicken pieces gently. Sprinkle a dash of salt lightly, over the chicken pieces and set them aside.
• Strain the hot broth to remove the onions. We may discard this. Measure the resulting broth and set it aside.
• Assemble the Maqluba: Although usually 1 large pot is used to prepare the Maqluba, I prefer to divide the ingredients into two smaller, similar-sized pots. This makes it easier to flip over later. Divide all the ingredients into the two pots in the following order. Or add it all to one pot, if you prefer that.
• You can very lightly grease the bottom of the pot. First, add a layer of Chicken. Adding the chicken on the bottom helps to get the skin crisp, and you get a sort of 'baked effect' which tastes so good.
• Fill in the gaps with the carrot slices. Next, add a layer of fried cauliflower chunks and then a layer of potato slices.
• Next, Divide the rice equally into both pots. Do not stir the layers. So you have three layers now, of chicken, vegetables, and rice.
• Now sprinkle over (1 3/4 tsp salt)/per pot over the rice and( 1/2 tsp) prepared spice mix/per pot. (Again- no mixing please). Also, divide and scatter the fried garlic slices over the top.
• Slowly pour the strained broth over the rice, just enough to cover the rice by about a centimeter.
• Cook the Maqluba on Low heat: Place a small flat steel plate over the top to help keep the layers from moving around.
• Cover the pots, and place on the lowest heat. After 10-15 minutes ( since we are using smaller pots), the water should be absorbed. The water should never boil, or the layers will be disrupted.
• After 10 minutes, I listen to the pot to make sure there is no crackling noise. In any case, do not cook too long, or you will burn the bottom layer.
• Remove the steel plate from the top and check on the side of the rice with a long chopstick, to make sure there is no liquid left.
• Now return the lid and just rest the cooked maqluba for a further 10 minutes. This will help the rice to plump up in the residual steam and also develop flavor.
• Open and allow any excess steam to escape.
• Makloubeh the Maqluba! Or flip it upside down: Place the serving platter over the open pot and grab hold to the handles as well as the side of the platter - together firmly to Flip it over. Wait at least 5 minutes before gently lifting the pot to reveal the lovely tower, that is Maqluba! Garnishing is not necessary, although you might like some toasted pine nuts. Serve with Yoghurt-Cucumber Salad. I like to add some garlic powder and cumin to my yogurt salad.
• Sahtain!