Maqluba, Makloobeh, Maklouba,Maaluba , Magluba , maqlouba, makloubeh

No, a 2 year old did not gain access to my blog and is not randomly typing letters.

These are some of the results I got when I tried to google today’s recipe name. Oh the joy of trying to pick just one of these Arabic tongue twisters for this post’s title!

You see, part of the problem is that this is a Palestinian recipe that is popular through out the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine) and what you may not know is that despite the fact that all these countries speak Arabic, the local accent (Dialect) is markedly different between them.

مقلوبه is the Arabic name for this recipe. The letter (ق) is pronounced (a) or (k) in Palestine, (g)  in Jordan (especially if a guy is speaking, they always try to use harsher sounding letters to appear more manly lol), (a) Lebanon and Syria (the softest and most feminine accents in the Levant). To add insult to injury, this letter has no equivalent in English so when trying to write a word that contains ق in English ,it is replaced by Q,K,G or A. Then comes the central (oo) sound, it is a (long o) but some people write it as u, ou and there is also oo. Last but not least the ending sound is (ba) in Jordan and Palestine and (beh) in Syria and Lebanon!!

Thank you for reading ladies and gentlemen, that’s the official end of the rant and the local Arabic accent lesson.I think that from now on I may just use the pronunciation instead  (Ma-kloo-ba)

Now you why this post is 10 days late!

All joking aside, Maqluba was our Arabic flavor recipe for the month of May, it was suggested by the lovely Fardos from Fardos’s kitchen. This version of Maqluba is one of my all time favorite rice based dishes, it is a close second to califlower maqluba (which at the time I chose to write as Makloubeh lol)

(Ma-kloo-ba) is a popular Levantine one pot rice, spice and vegetable dish.This particular form of Makloobeh is called rabeeiya which literally means, that which is made in spring because green fava bean are in season during spring but that does not mean that you can only enjoy it during the short spring months. This recipe works just as well with frozen fava beans

The name (Ma-kloo-ba) means upside down and that refers to the way that this recipe is served. The rice , meat or chicken, and vegetables are arranged in layers, cooked then when it is time to serve the pot is inverted over the serving dish and you get an upside down (Ma-kloo-ba)

Fava beans maqluba

•400 g beef cubes

•1 medium onion

•7-8 whole all spice berries

•7-8 cardamom pods

•2 sticks cinnamon

•2.5 liters (10 cups) water

•1/4 cup olive oil

•2 cups basmati rice

•450 g green fava beans, ends trimmed cut into 1 inch pieces chopped

You can use frozen fava beans too

•1 teaspoon all spice

•1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon turmeric (optional)

•1/2 teaspoon cardamom

•2 teaspoons salt

Toasted almonds and pomegranate seeds for decoration

1. In a pot add the meat, onion , whole all spice, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick and then add 2.5 liters of water

2.Cook the meat until it is done  .Reserve the water, you will use it to cook the rice in it

3. Add the olive oil to a pot, saute the green fava beans or 10-15 minutes or until the fava beans are done

To assemble the maqloubeh

1.In the pot you will cook it in start by adding the olive oil followed by a thin layer of rice..Top with the cooked meat cubes and a layer of the fava beans

2.Add half the rice then add a layer of green fava beans then top with the remaining rice

4.Sprinkle the salt, all spice, cinnamon turmeric and cardamom on top

5.Check your rice packaging for the amount of water required per cup of rice . In my case it was 2 cups of water per cup of rice .Use the reserved liquid from cooking the meat instead of water

6.Cook on very low heat, covered for 30-40 minutes until the rice absorbs all the liquid. You may need to add an additional 1/2 to 1 cup of liquid if your rice has absorbed all the water but is still not cooked through.(add the water gradually 1/4 cup at a time. Wait for 10 minutes and check again)

7. Tip: Once the rice is cooked through allow the maqluba to cool in the pot for 20-40 minutes this will help the layers hold together a little

8. Place your serving dish on top of the pot and flip the pot. You may tap the bottom of the pot gently to help the maqluba slide off.

9.Decorate with toasted almond and pomegranate seeds and serve it with yogurt or a simple salad