Maqloobeh Food

MAQLOOBEH

Steps:

• In a large saucepan heat the olive oil, add the onion and garlic and cook for two minutes until tender.
• Add the chicken, the mixed spices, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Adjust the seasoning and let simmer until chicken is cooked (about 45 minutes).
• While the chicken is cooking, heat the cooking oil in a frying pan.Cut the cauliflower into medium-size pieces and the eggplant into half-inch slices. Deep-fry the vegetables until they are golden brown.
• When the chicken is done and you are finished frying the vegetables, drain the chicken stock in another saucepan and SAVE it. We will use this stock to cook the rice.
• Rearrange the chicken in the bottom of the saucepan and arrange the fried cauliflower and eggplant on top of it. Add the rice and add the chicken stock. Cover and simmer until rice is cooked.
• Remove the pan from the heat.
• When you are ready to serve, remove the cover of the saucepan and put the serving tray on top of the saucepan. Flip the saucepan upside-down. Now, you have the saucepan upside-down on top of the serving tray. Slowly lift the saucepan up. All ingredients are now on the serving tray with rice at the bottom topped by the vegetables and the chicken.
• Garnish with the chopped parsley.
• Toast the pine-nuts and peeled almonds in couple of table spoons of cooking oil until they are gold. Drain the oil and garnish the tray with the nuts and the almonds.
• Serve hot with salad and/or plain yogurt.

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.

MAQLUBA (MAKLOUBEH) WITH LAMB (ARABIC RICE DISH)

Steps:

• Start by preheating the oven to 450F
• Wash the eggplant and peel it every other stripe as shown in the ingredients photo. Cut into into thick slices, about half an inch thick
• Wash and peel the potatoes, and cut them into roughly half inch thick circles
• Place the eggplant and the potato on a lined baking sheet. Sprinkle them with salt and combine them with the oil (the amounts under the ingredients section). Bake for 30 minutes.
• Wash the meat and sear it on medium high heat using the 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the 3 cups of water and all the whole spices and pressure cook for 10 minutes. If you are not using a pressure cooker, boil on stove top covered on medium heat for 40-60 minutes until tender.
• Cut the onion and pepper into wings or slices. Cook with the oil in a pan over medium heat for 7 minutes until softened. Set aside.
• Once the meat is cooked, remove it and set aside. Strain the stock from the whole spices.
• To the hot stock (in a bowl or a pot), add the turmeric, salt, black pepper and tomato paste. Mix well to combine and add additional water to reach the 5.5 cups required. I do this by using a measuring cup to measure the total amount of stick then top it up with water until I reach 5.5 cups
• Wash the rice several times until the water runs clear. Drain it and set aside
• Cut the tomato into slices
• To layer the maqluba, start by adding 2 tablespoons of oil to the bottom of the pot, then add the tomato slices, followed by eggplant, potato, meat, onions and peppers, then the rice
• Pat the rice down firmly, then pour the stock on top. Pat down again using a wooden spoon to ensure the stock is fully covering the rice
• Place the pot on medium high heat and allow it to start bubbling, which should take 5 minutes or so
• Once it is bubbling, cover it and decrease the heat to low. Ensure the pot is well covered by also adding a towel on top, especially if your pot has any holes. Cook for 50 minutes.
• After 50 minutes, turn heat off and allow maqluba to rest for 5-10 minutes. If you open it and realize your top layer of rice is undercooked or under seasoned, read the troubleshooting section
• When ready to serve, find a large tray with raised edges and place it on top of the pot. Use both hands and place them on each handle while holding the tray down. In a swift motion, flip the pot over (have someone nearby to help you if you need it). Leave the pot flipped over the tray for a few minutes and allow gravity to slowly drop the maqluba
• Lift the pot very slowly to help keep it intact. Serve with yogurt or Jajik and enjoy!