Description
Traditional Palestinian Makloubeh recipe from scratch. Makloubeh is upside-down rice with tender lamb cubes & delicious eggplants. An absolutely delicious dish!
Ingredients
- BROTH
- Lamb shoulder ( cubed)-1 kg / 2 1/4 lb
- Cinnamon sticks- 2
- Onions ( medium)- 4
- Olive oil- 4 tbsp
- Salt- to taste
- FOR RICE
- Basmati rice- 700 gm / 10 oz
- Vegetable oil- 500 ml
- Eggplants ( sliced , 3 cm thick)- 3 small
- Olive oil- 2 tbsp
- Ground cinnamon- 2 tsp
- Black pepper- 2 tsp
- Salt- 3 tsp , plus extra for seasoning
- Large tomatoes ( sliced)- 3
- FOR SERVING
- Parsley ( chopped)- 2 tbsp
- Toasted blanched split almonds- 1/4 cup
- YOGURT SALAD
- Greek yogurt - 1/2 cup
- Cucumbers ( cubed)- 2 large
- Salt - to taste
Instructions
- Heat 3-4 tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan. Add lamb cubes and fry over high heat until browned. Add in 4 onions, 2 cinnamon sticks & cover with water. Bring to boil, then reduce the heat and cook for at least 1 hour until meat is tender.
- Once the lamb cubes are cooked, remove them from the broth and transfer onto a large plate. Set aside for a while. Remove the cinnamon sticks, the cooked onions from the broth.
- Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan. Sprinkle eggplants with salt & fry for 3 minutes per side. Drain on a kitchen towel. In a large bowl mix together rice, pepper, salt , olive oil and cinnamon. Arrange the sliced tomatoes on the bottom of a large saucepan.
- Spread a handful of rice over the tomatoes, then layer half the lamb cubes on top, finish with half the eggplants. Repeat these layers and finish with the layer of rice. Cover with the reserved meat broth to about 3 cm over the top. ( You might need to add some water if you don't have enough broth). Cook 30-40 minutes over the low heat WITHOUT STIRRING.
- Once the rice with lamb is cooked, allow to cool a little bit, then flip Makloubeh like a cake using a larger plate than the mouth of the pan.
- Sprinkle with the toasted almonds & chopped parsley.
- Serve with yogurt cucumber salad.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 40 mins
- Category: Rice recipes
- Cuisine: Palestinian