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Maqluba

Maqluba is a traditional Syrian, Iraqi, Palestinian, and Jordanian dish. The dish consists of meat, rice, and fried (or baked) vegetables placed in a pot. After cooking, this pot is flipped upside down and served, turning the contents over giving it a layered appearance.
By Gary Dalton (@gfdalton) |

This version uses chicken and cauliflower but it can be easily adjusted to use lamb and eggplant.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

  • 6-8 pieces of chicken (thighs)
  • 1 cauliflower
  • 2 cups uncooked rice
  • olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • ginger, about 1 inch piece (chopped)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons tumeric
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon allspice
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon coriander
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoons salt
  • 2 carrots (julienne)
  • 1 bunch fresh parsley (chopped)
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups water
  • Optional: a handful of pine nuts
  • Serve with: yogurt, cucumbers and tomatoes

Preparation

Step 1

Remove skin from chicken if desired. Grill chicken for about 15 minutes.

Step 2

Brush cauliflower with olive oil and then grill for about 10 minutes

Step 3

Ground all the spices and combine with rice in a large bowl.

Step 4

Heat the water and chicken broth

Step 5

Oil the bottom of your dutch oven and then cut a place parchment paper on the bottom.

Step 6

Assemble the maqluba. First place the chicken in a layer. The second layer is the vegetables. the third layer is the rice and spices mixture. Finally add the water and broth to reach the top of the rice.

Step 7

Bring to a boil. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes or until no liquid remains.

Serving

Remove lid and place a large plate over the pot. Holding onto the plate and pot handles, quickly lift and flip upside down. Lift the pot up to reveal your maqluba and remove the parchment paper.

Sprinkle with parsley and pine nuts.