Maqluba

Ingredients

• Chicken — in pieces1.2 kg
• Long-grain rice500 g
• Aubergines3
• Cauliflower500 g
• Potatoes3
• Onion1
• Baharat1 tbsp
• Turmeric1 tsp
• Cinnamon stick1
• Pine nuts60 g
• Vegetable oil200 ml
• Salt and pepperto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Simmer the chicken with the onion, cinnamon and baharat for forty minutes. Lift out the meat and strain the broth.

   45 min

2. 2

   Soak the rice in warm water for twenty minutes and rinse until the water runs clear.

   22 min

3. 3

   Slice the aubergines into rounds, salt them and leave fifteen minutes, then pat dry and fry until browned.

   30 min

4. 4

   Fry the cauliflower florets and potato slices until golden and drain them on paper.

   20 min

5. 5

   Lay the potato on the bottom of the pot, aubergine up the sides, then chicken, cauliflower and rice on top. Do not press it down.

   12 min

6. 6

   Pour in hot broth to a finger above the rice, bring it up and cook covered on a low heat for forty minutes.

   45 min

7. 7

   Take it off the heat, rest it ten minutes, cover with a platter and invert in one movement. Scatter with pine nuts.

   14 min

About the dish

The name means "upside down", and that is the whole idea: what was the bottom of the pot becomes the top of the dish. So the bottom layer is arranged carefully — it is what people see first.

The vegetables are fried before they go in. Raw, they release water, the rice turns to porridge and the tower collapses when it is turned out.

There has to be a pause between pot and platter: off the heat, maqluba rests ten minutes so the layers settle and hold.

Worth knowing

• — You need a straight-sided pot with a heavy base. In a sloped pan the tower will not hold.
• — Turn it out sharply and in one go. A cautious movement breaks the layers more than a confident one.
• — It is served with yoghurt and a cucumber salad; rich one-pot food needs something against it.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

690 kcal

Protein

34 g

Fat

30 g

Carbs

72 g

More from Jordan

• Mansaf — Lamb in a sauce of jameed, fermented dried yoghurt, over rice and flatbread. Jordan's national dish.