Overview
Maqluba means "upside-down" in Arabic, and the dish is named for its presentation, the entire pot is flipped onto a platter at the table, the layered ingredients arranged in reverse order, eggplant on top, rice at the bottom. The drama is half the point. The other half is the technique: layering raw ingredients in a pot in a specific order, pouring spiced broth over the top, and simmering everything together so the rice absorbs the flavour of the meat and vegetables above it. Beloved across Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, with each region claiming theirs is the original. Served at family lunches, weddings and Friday gatherings.
The Ingredients
- • 800g chicken thighs, bone-in
- • 400g basmati rice
- • 2 large Eggplants (Crysp)
- • 1 small head cauliflower
- • 1 large Brown Onion (Crysp)
- • 200g Cherry Tomatoes on the Vine (Crysp)
- • 30g Parsley (Crysp), to garnish
- • 1 tbsp Peashoots (Crysp), to garnish
- • 4 Edible Violas (Crysp)
- • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- • 1 cinnamon stick
- • 4 cardamom pods
- • 4 bay leaves
- • 2 tsp baharat or seven-spice
- • 1 tsp turmeric
- • 1 tsp ground cumin
- • 60g pine nuts
- • 60g blanched almonds
- • 4 tbsp ghee + extra for nuts
- • Vegetable oil, for frying eggplant
- • Greek yogurt, to serve
Instructions
Salt and Drain the Eggplant
Slice the eggplants into 1cm rounds. Lay on a tray, salt heavily on both sides, leave 30 minutes. The salt draws out the bitter water, this is the step that separates good maqluba from soggy maqluba. Pat the rounds dry with paper towel before frying.
Poach the Chicken
Place the chicken in a large pot. Cover with 1.5 litres of water. Add the cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, bay leaves, the diced onion, and 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil, skim foam, simmer 35 minutes until cooked through. Lift the chicken out, reserve the broth. Strain the broth, you will need 800ml for the rice.
Fry the Eggplant Golden
Heat 1cm of vegetable oil in a wide pan. Fry the eggplant rounds in batches, 2 minutes per side, until deep golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Eggplant absorbs oil aggressively, this is fine, that absorbed oil flavours the maqluba from inside.
Fry the Cauliflower
Cut the cauliflower into medium florets. Fry in the same oil for 4 minutes until lightly golden but still firm. Lift onto paper towel.
Layer the Pot Upside-Down Style
In a heavy wide pot (24cm wide, deep), heat the ghee over medium. Add crushed garlic, baharat, turmeric, cumin, stir 30 seconds until fragrant. Off the heat, this oil at the bottom becomes the top of the dish when flipped. Now layer in this exact order: eggplant rounds in a single layer (this becomes the top), then cauliflower florets, then halved cherry tomatoes, then chicken thighs (this becomes the middle).
Add Rice and Broth
Rinse the rice three times, drain. Spread the rice evenly across the chicken, do not stir, the layers must stay separate. Carefully pour the 800ml of warm reserved broth over the rice, season with salt. The liquid should just cover the rice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then immediately drop to the lowest setting, cover with a tight lid. Cook 35 minutes without lifting the lid, the steam is doing the work.
Toast the Nuts
In a small pan, melt 1 tbsp ghee. Add the pine nuts and almonds, toast 3 minutes stirring constantly until deep golden. Set aside, the nuts go on top of the flipped maqluba as the final crown.
Rest, Then Flip
Take the pot off the heat, leave covered 15 minutes more, this lets the rice fully steam and the layers settle. Place a wide round serving platter upside-down on top of the pot. With confidence and oven gloves, flip the pot and platter together in one swift movement. Set the inverted pot on the platter, leave 1 minute, then lift the pot off slowly. The maqluba should hold its shape, eggplant on top, layers visible. If a piece sticks, scrape it onto the dome.
Crown and Serve
Scatter the toasted pine nuts and almonds across the top of the dome. Roughly chop the parsley, sprinkle generously across. Pile peashoots in the centre, place edible violas around the base. Serve immediately at the table with a bowl of cold Greek yogurt on the side. The yogurt is not optional, the cool tang cuts through the rich spiced rice perfectly. Spoon out portions making sure each plate gets eggplant, chicken, rice and a piece of cauliflower.
The Tradition
Maqluba is mentioned in the 13th century Damascene cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh, which makes it one of the oldest documented dishes in Arabic cuisine still cooked the same way today. The flip is the entire point culturally, the dish is both food and ritual, presented at family lunches with the cook calling everyone to the table as the pot is turned over. Palestinian and Jordanian families dispute whose maqluba is the real one (the answer is both). The dish travelled through Lebanese and Syrian kitchens with subtle variations, more cauliflower in the Damascus version, more eggplant in the Jerusalem version. In modern Arab fine dining from Em Sherif in Beirut to Al Mandaloun in Dubai, maqluba is on the menu as the showpiece dish that marks an Arabic kitchen as serious.
💡 Pro Tip: The flip is the moment everyone fears. To guarantee success, use a heavy non-stick pot for cooking, and let the maqluba rest 15 minutes after taking off the heat (most important step). The brief rest lets the rice contract slightly from the sides of the pot. When you flip, do it in one decisive movement, no hesitation. If you stop halfway, the layers shift. Confidence is the recipe.
