How to Make Maqluba: The Upside-Down Rice Dish

What maqluba is

Maqluba (also spelled maqlooba or makloubeh) is a rice dish cooked in a pot and served upside down. You layer fried vegetables and meat at the bottom, pack rice on top, cook it all with broth, then flip the entire pot onto a serving platter. If it works, you lift the pot away and the dish stands in a neat golden dome, with the vegetables on top.

The word means "upside-down" in Arabic, which is the whole concept. It is a showpiece dish, often cooked for guests and gatherings.

Where it is eaten

Wikipedia calls maqluba a traditional Levantine pilaf-style dish, popular in Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Iraq. Typical vegetables are cauliflower, eggplant, tomato and potato, usually with chicken or lamb, and coastal cities sometimes use fish. It is usually garnished with pine nuts and parsley.

It is also a regular guest dish in Gulf homes, which is why it sits in our Gulf recipe collection. The same article notes that the earliest known mention is in a 13th century Abbasid-era cookbook, where maqluba was an egg dish rather than a rice one. The dish has also become politically charged. Palestinians have objected to attempts to label it Israeli, and it has been used as a symbol in protests. We mention that because you will see it in search results. Where a dish comes from matters to the people who cook it, so we credit it as Levantine and Palestinian, and we do not claim a single owner.

What goes in

Our maqluba recipe serves 4:

• 800 g (1.75 lb) chicken pieces
• 350 g (1.75 cups) rice
• 2 eggplants, sliced and fried
• 1/2 cauliflower, cut into florets and fried
• 1 onion
• 1 tbsp baharat (Arabic spice mix)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 4 tbsp oil
• 200 g (1 cup) yogurt, to serve
• Salt to taste
• Toasted nuts, for garnish

Use a heavy pot with straight sides that is not too wide. A wide pot makes a flat, fragile dish.

Step by step

1. Soak the rice in water for 20 minutes, then drain well.
2. Boil the chicken with the onion, salt and spices in 1 litre of water until just cooked, about 20 minutes.
3. Lift out the meat and set it aside. Measure the broth and top up with water to 700 ml.
4. Fry the vegetables. Slice the eggplant, break the cauliflower into florets, and fry both in the oil until golden but not fully soft. They finish cooking with the rice. Drain on paper.
5. Layer. In a heavy pot, put the fried eggplant and cauliflower on the base, then the chicken, then the drained rice on top.
6. Add the broth so it sits just above the rice, about 700 ml. Bring to a boil, then cover and cook on low without stirring, about 25 minutes, until the rice is done.
7. Rest off the heat, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes.
8. Flip. Place a large platter over the pot and flip in one firm motion. Leave the pot upside down for a few minutes before lifting it.
9. Garnish with toasted nuts and serve hot with yogurt.

The broth ratio

This is where most failures come from. Our recipe notes say the broth should sit just above the rice, which works out near 1 cup of rice (about 190 g) to 2 cups of liquid here, because the vegetables and chicken take up room. If the pot looks short of liquid when you pour in the broth, top it up with water.

Too much liquid and the rice is soupy and will not hold. Too little and the top layer, which becomes the bottom of the dome, stays hard.

Getting a clean flip

Everyone worries about this. A few habits help:

• Line the base of the pot with a layer of fried vegetables. That layer gives the dish a stable crust.
• Rest the pot for 10 to 15 minutes before flipping. The rice firms up as it cools slightly.
• Tap the base of the pot gently with a spoon or your palm before lifting.
• Use a platter bigger than the pot, with a rim to catch any juices.
• Flip over the sink or a tray, and use oven gloves. The pot is hot and steam will escape.

If the first flip falls apart, it still tastes the same. Spoon it back together and call it maqluba "rustic".

Variations

Potato slices on the bottom, tomato slices, or a bit of lamb in place of chicken are common. We have only tested the version above, so adjust cooking times if you change the meat. Lamb needs longer to cook before it goes into the pot.

If the maqluba collapses or sticks

• Rice is mushy. Too much broth. Measure it.
• Rice is hard on top. Not enough liquid, or the lid was lifted. Keep it closed.
• Vegetables stuck to the pot. The base was not greased enough or the pot was thin. Use a heavy pot and a generous layer of oil.
• Bland. Season the broth well. It is what flavours the rice.

Serving

Serve with a bowl of yogurt and a simple salad of tomato and cucumber. It also pairs well with laban on the side.

Timing the rest before the flip

The rest step has a timer in the recipe, and amounts show in metric and US with a servings scaler. The app is free and in closed beta. Join the beta if you would like to try it, or browse the full recipe library first.