Makluba – Enjoying Middle Eastern Cuisine

August 3, 2006

Often, when my roommates and I have had guests from the nations at our Shabbat (Sabbath) table on Friday night, we have enjoyed serving them a Middle Eastern meal for a special cultural experience. My favorite choice is makluba, an upside-down chicken and rice dish. It has a delicious Middle Eastern flavor and lends to a very dramatic presentation––turning the hot pot upside-down into a perfectly molded creation.

The first time I ate makluba was here in Israel at a church fellowship after services. After the blessing, everyone's attention turned toward the Arab cook. He brought out a huge aluminum pot that looked more like a wash tub, filled with makluba. If we'd had drums, we would have done a drum roll. He placed a large aluminum platter over the “tub,” and with one hand under the tray and one on the bottom of the tub, he turned it over in one swift move.  After patting the sides of the tub to loosen the rice, up came the tub, and there sat a huge molded meal-in-one, the sides lined with large slices of eggplant.

Makluba is Arabic for “turn over.” Probably every Middle Eastern country claims that makluba originated with them. No one knows how old it is, but possibly the earliest written source is found in a 13th-century cookbook, However, in that book, makluba is more like spiced meat patties, browned on one side and “turned over.”

To help make Makluba less laborious, cook the chicken, debone it, and cook the cauliflower, all the day before. The next day, about all you have to do is layer it and let it cook. Practice this one on the family before you try serving it to guests.

So, if you want to have an Israeli night at home, or show off your pictures from your trip to Israel, or let your guests experience a Shabbat meal, why not plan to have makluba and WOW your guests! Israeli salad is a great side dish with it. For a fun trick question, ask your guests to guess what spices you used for the makluba. They never get it right!

1 whole chicken (boiled)
1–2 heads of cauliflower
1 can of chickpeas
11/2 cups of rice
nutmeg (lots)
allspice (half a bottle)
3 tsp. salt
chicken broth (skim fat)
1 pkg of pine nuts

Serves 12–14.

Brown cooled and deboned chicken in a small amount of olive oil. Heavily sprinkle allspice over chicken; then lightly sprinkle nutmeg over it. Keep turning and sprinkling with spices until it looks dark. Place in the bottom of a large, deep pot.

Cook cauliflower till just tender. Drain and cut into small pieces. Brown in a little oil, again sprinkling with nutmeg and allspice. Layer on top of the chicken. Sprinkle drained chickpeas on top of the cauliflower. Then pour uncooked rice over the beans.

Pour chicken broth, with salt, over all until it barely covers the rice. Sprinkle lightly with allspice and nutmeg. Cover pot and bring to a low boil. Simmer covered till rice cooks (can stir top rice layer but do not mix up other layers).

Uncover and cook until all broth is cooked out (up to 2 hours, tip pot to be sure) or it won’t mold. Lightly brown pine nuts and set aside. Keep over low heat till time to serve. Put a large flat, round serving tray (not glass!) over the top of uncovered pot. Turn upside down  and sprinkle with pine nuts.

Source: By Charleeda Sprinkle