Chicken Maqluba (upside-down rice)

Name: Chicken Maqluba (upside-down rice)
Total time: 110 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Arab
Ingredients: For the chicken and broth:; 1 chicken cut into pieces (about 1.2 kg) or 1 kg bone-in thighs and breasts; 1 onion, halved, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves and 4 cardamom pods; 1 tsp salt and 5 cups water; For the vegetables:; 1 large eggplant, cut into 1 cm slices and salted; ½ small cauliflower, cut into florets; 2 potatoes, cut into ½ cm slices; 2 tomatoes, sliced, and oil for frying; For the rice:; 2 cups (400 g) basmati rice, rinsed, soaked 20 minutes and drained; 2 tsp maqluba spice or seven-spice blend and ½ tsp turmeric; 1½ tsp salt and 2 tbsp ghee or oil; For the garnish:; ¼ cup blanched almonds and ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted in ghee, and chopped parsley

Recipe No.: A-20

Arab110 minServes 6

Maqluba is a Levantine dish of rice, meat or chicken and fried vegetables packed in a pot in layers and inverted when served, so it looks like a layered cake, hence the name ('upside-down'). It is loved in Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, with eggplant and cauliflower the most common vegetables. The earliest mention of a dish called maqluba is in al-Baghdadi's 13th-century Kitab al-Tabikh, but it is an egg dish rather than a rice one, so it cannot be shown to be the same dish.

Ingredients for Chicken Maqluba

For the chicken and broth
1chicken cut into pieces (about 1.2 kg) or 1 kg bone-in thighs and breasts
1onion, halved, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves and 4 cardamom pods
1 tspsalt and 5 cups water
For the vegetables
1large eggplant, cut into 1 cm slices and salted
½small cauliflower, cut into florets
2potatoes, cut into ½ cm slices
2tomatoes, sliced, and oil for frying
For the rice
2 cups(400 g) basmati rice, rinsed, soaked 20 minutes and drained
2 tspmaqluba spice or seven-spice blend and ½ tsp turmeric
1½ tspsalt and 2 tbsp ghee or oil
For the garnish
¼ cupblanched almonds and ¼ cup pine nuts, toasted in ghee, and chopped parsley

Method

Simmer the chicken with the onion, cinnamon, bay, cardamom and salt in the water, skimming the foam, for 30 to 35 minutes until cooked. Remove it, strain the broth and keep about 3 cups.
Fry the eggplant, cauliflower and potatoes in oil, each separately, until browned and slightly tender, and drain on paper towels. (Or toss with oil and roast at 220°C for 25 minutes.)
Mix the rice with the spices, turmeric, salt and ghee.
Grease a deep heavy pot (26 to 28 cm wide) with oil and arrange the tomato slices and then the potato slices tightly in a pattern on the bottom.
Put the eggplant and cauliflower on top, then the chicken pieces, and scatter the rice over them and level without pressing.
Slowly pour the hot broth down the side of the pot until it rises about 1.5 cm above the rice (about 3 cups). Bring to a boil, then cover and cook over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes.
Turn off the heat and leave the pot covered for 15 minutes to settle. Invert it firmly onto a large platter and wait a minute before lifting the pot, then garnish with the almonds, pine nuts and parsley and serve with yogurt and salad.

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