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Maqluba
Also known as مقلوبة · maqlouba · makloubeh · upside down rice with aubergine
Rice, fried aubergine and chicken cooked in one pot and flipped onto the platter as a standing cake. The drama is the serving, the comfort is the eating.
Typical serving
640 kcal
usually 500–810 kcal
 Protein | 32 g |
|---|---|
 Carbs | 79 g |
 Fat | 22 g |
Reference figures for a dish as it is commonly cooked — never a measurement of your plate. The range is the honest part: two kitchens make this differently. In the app, a photograph replaces the guess.
Before you start
- a deep straight-sided pot and a plate wider than its rim — a sloping pan loses the shape
- oil for frying the aubergine
- salt the aubergine 30 minutes ahead if you have the time
Ingredients
Serves 4 · dimmer marks are storecupboard
- 500gchicken thighs, boneless
- 350gbasmati rice
- 2aubergines
- 300gcauliflower
- 3 tbspoil for frying
- 1onion
- 3 tspbaharat, turmeric and cinnamon
- 600mlstock
Method
7 steps
chop · 10mAubergines into thick rounds and salted in a colander, cauliflower into florets, onion sliced.
fry · 20mAubergine and cauliflower fried in batches until deep brown on both sides, then drained on paper. Crowded in one go they steam and go grey.
- fry · 10m
Chicken browned in the same pan with the onion and spices until it takes colour on all sides.
fold · 8mChicken laid flat in the bottom of the pot, aubergine slices up the sides and over it, cauliflower next, rinsed rice heaped on top and pressed level. Do not stir.
simmer · 35m walk awayHot stock poured gently down the side to a finger above the rice, lid on, lowest heat, undisturbed. Cook until the chicken beneath is done right through and the rice has taken up the liquid.
rest · 15m walk awayOff the heat, still covered, fifteen minutes. This is what lets it hold its shape when it goes over.
finish · 5mPlate over the pot, both hands, and one confident turn. Leave the pot sitting a moment before you lift it away.
Worth knowing
Maqluba means “upside-down” — the dish is named for the single moment of the flip, which every family performs with theatre.
More from the Middle Eastern kitchen
Closest in calories
Browse macros for every Middle Eastern dish Foodakl can log: Middle Eastern · Turkish · Gulf · Levantine · Persian
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