Maqluba - Palestinian Eggplant, Lamb, and Rice Stew

Maqluba is a delicious eggplant, lamb, rice, tomato. and onion stew that my mother used to make for the family when we were growing up. I finally decided to give it a try and was happy with the results. It's easy to make. This version serves four to six and takes about 90 minutes to prepare. 

This version is made with ground lamb, but it can also be made with ground beef or cubed lamb or chicken. There are vegetarian versions as well.

The name "Maqluba" means, "upside-down" because you're supposed to flip it over onto a serving dish when finished. I chose not to do that because of the size pan I used. The recipe calls for a 3-quart pan, but I used a 6-quart instead because of the amount of ingredients.

I served it with pita bread and yogurt sauce for the pita bread.

I found this recipe at http://www.whats4eats.com/grains/maqluba-recipe. Needless to say, there are other versions on the Internet.

Ingredients

- olive oil - 1/4 cup
- eggplant -1, sliced into 1/4" rounds
- onion - 1 minced
- ground or cubed lamb or beef, or cubed chicken - 1 lb
- allspice - 1 teaspoon
- cinnamon - 1/2 teaspoon
- nutmeg - large pinch
- salt and pepper - to taste
- tomato sliced into 1/4" rounds - 1
- water or stock, well seasoned with salt - 2 cups (I used beef stock)
- rice, soaked in water for 1/2 hour to cover. then drained - 1 & 1/2 cups

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté eggplant slices on each side to lightly brown. Remove to a plate.

2. Add more oil to the skillet if needed, and sauté the onions until translucent. Add the meat, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, and sauté until cooked through. (If the meat is ground, break it up after putting it into the pan.) Drain off excess oil.

3. Coat the bottom of a heavy-bottomed 3-quart sauce pan with butter or olive oil or lard. (As I said, I used a 6-quart pan.) Lay the tomato slices to cover the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the drained rice over the tomatoes. Spoon the meat and onion mixture over the rice. Lay the eggplant slices to cover the meat and onion mixture. Press down well to compact all the ingredients. Add the rest of the rice and seasoned water or stock.

4. Bring to a boil over medium-high flame, then quickly reduce heat to low. Cover tightly and simmer for 45-50 minutes. Toward the end of the cooking time, check to see if more water is needed.

5. Remove from heat and let rest for 15 minutes. Remove lid and invert a serving plate over the pan. Turn upside down and carefully slip the pan off the rice. Serve hot.

If rice sticks to the bottom when you cook it, the next time, try covering the bottom of the saucepan with a round of parchment paper. (I had no problem with the rice sticking, probably because I coated the bottom with a generous amount of olive oil.)