Maklouba
Palestine's upside-down rice: aubergine, cauliflower, tomato, chicken and rice layered in a pot, cooked together, then flipped onto a platter as a striped tower.
Overview
Aubergines are fried first to soften and develop colour. Cauliflower is fried to gold. Chicken is cooked in a spiced stock. The pot is layered from bottom up: tomato slices, aubergine, cauliflower, chicken, parboiled rice. Stock is poured over; everything steams together. Inverted onto a platter, the layers stack into a multicoloured cake.
Ingredients
Chicken stock
- 8 bone-in chicken thighs and drumsticks
- 1 onion (quartered)
- 4 cardamom pods (bashed)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1.2 litres water
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
Vegetables
- 2 aubergines (medium, sliced 1 cm rounds)
- 1 cauliflower (medium, small florets)
- Vegetable oil for frying
- 2 tomatoes (medium, sliced)
Rice
- 500 g basmati rice (rinsed, soaked 30 min)
- 2 tablespoons Baharat (or 1 tsp each cumin, coriander, cinnamon, allspice + ½ tsp cardamom)
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Topping
- 50 g pine nuts (toasted)
- 50 g flaked almonds (toasted)
- A small bunch of parsley (chopped)
- Plain yogurt and a tomato-cucumber salad (to serve)
Method
Stage 1 - Cook the chicken
- Place the chicken in a large pot with the onion, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bay, peppercorns, water and salt.
- Bring to a simmer; cook 25 minutes; remove the chicken and reserve.
- Strain the stock; you should have about 1 litre - top up with hot water if less.
Stage 2 - Fry the aubergines
- Heat 1 cm of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Salt the aubergine slices; fry in batches 2 minutes per side until golden.
- Drain on kitchen paper.
Stage 3 - Fry the cauliflower
- In the same pan, fry the cauliflower florets 4-5 minutes until golden.
- Drain.
Stage 4 - Layer
- Drain the rice; mix with the baharat and turmeric.
- In a wide heavy-based pot (about 24 cm diameter), spread the tomato slices to cover the bottom.
- Cover with the fried aubergine in a single layer.
- Cover with the fried cauliflower.
- Lay the chicken pieces on top, packing them in.
- Pile the spiced rice over.
Stage 5 - Cook
- Pour the strained stock over slowly so the layers don't disturb (the rice should be just-covered).
- Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil.
- Bring to a steady simmer; cover with a tea towel under the lid.
- Reduce to lowest heat; cook 35-40 minutes.
- Off the heat, rest covered 15 minutes.
Stage 6 - Invert
- Run a spatula around the edges.
- Place a wide platter over the pot; flip in one steady motion.
- Lift the pot off carefully - the layers should stack neatly: rice on the bottom, then chicken, cauliflower, aubergine, tomato on top.
Stage 7 - Serve
- Scatter pine nuts, almonds and parsley on top.
- Serve with cold yogurt and a chopped salad.
Notes
- The flip is the moment: Use a wide platter; commit to the motion. If pieces stick, rest a minute longer in the pot first.
- Fry the vegetables properly: Pale aubergine and cauliflower don't have the colour or flavour for the layers. Fry until truly golden.
- Tomato on the bottom: When inverted, the tomato is on top - it gives colour and a juicy contrast to the rice base.
Storage
- Best fresh; reheat covered with a splash of water.
- Keeps 3 days refrigerated.
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