Comfort food. That’s what I think of when I think of Maklouba. I learned how to make it this way from my mother in law. I tried it once and HAD to get the recipe from her! I’ve been making it for years now for the fam just loves it!
This dish is unique because everything is layered into the pot and then flipped onto a platter once it’s cooked. The warm flavours come from the Maklouba spice. I find it at my local Mediterranean store. It’s a versatile meal since you can add any veggies you like into the pot but the star of the show is the fried cauliflower. I like to slightly fry the potato slices as well so they hold their shape when cooked in the rice.
This rice is really good along side a salad or yogurt.
HOW DO I MAKE IT?
You’ll start by cutting the cauliflower into florets and deep frying them until dark golden brown. Next, you’ll peel and slice potatoes and deep fry them as well. This will help these veggies keep their shape while cooking in the rice as well as giving it a great flavour.
Next, you’ll boil the chicken with a bouillon cube and maklouba spices. You’ll reserve the broth for the rice.
Slice tomato and onion and set those aside until ready to use.
Once the chicken is ready, you’ll shred the chicken breast into bite size pieces and keep the drumsticks whole.
In a large pot, you’ll layer the drumsticks and tomatoes. Then layer the onion, potato, cauliflower and chicken. Finally, you’ll add the rice, salt, maklouba spice and the reserved broth.
Bring this to a boil then lower the heat and cook on the lowest setting until the water has been absorbed.
Once it’s cooked, allow the rice to sit in the pot for about 15-20 minutes, then flip onto a serving platter and garnish with toasted nuts and chopped parsley.
TIPS TO MAKE IT:
1. Deep fry the cauliflower and potatoes. It will ensure they keep their shape when cooked with the rice.
2. Use a non stick pot if possible to get the perfect flip.
3. Long grain rice is best for this recipe.
4. Allow the rice it sit in the pot before flipping to get the perfect flip.
5. Use both chicken drumsticks and breast. The drumsticks will end up at the top of your dish (after the flip) while the chicken breast pieces will be in the middle of the rice.
6. If you would rather not deep fry the cauliflower and potatoes, you can air fry them at 400 degrees and simply spray them with cooking spray. Air fry until golden brown.
Ingredients
1 cauliflower broken into pieces, deep fried
2 potatoes sliced & deep fried
1.5 cups rice washed & drained
4 chicken drumsticks + 1 chicken breast, boiled
1 onion sliced
2 tomatoes sliced
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 tbsp maklouba spice, divided
1 tsp salt
4 cups water
Instructions
Deep fry cauliflower & potato slices then set aside
In a pot, add the chicken, bouillon cube & 1 tbsp maklouba spice. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Once cooked, shred chicken breast into bite size pieces and leave the drumsticks whole. Set aside and reserve 3 cups of the broth.
In a pot, place the drumsticks and tomatoes on the bottom. Next, layer the onion, potato, chicken breast pieces, cauliflower, rice, 1 tbsp Maklouba spice, salt and broth.
Cover and place on the stove. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes or until water has been absorbed into the rice.
Let sit for 15-20 minutes, then flip onto a large platter.
Garnish with toasted nuts.