Maqlouba/Maqloubeh is a Palestinian traditional food which literally means upside-down rice. It consists of meat, rice and fried vegetable like potato and eggplant placed in a pot which is flipped upside down at the time of serving.

I have been thinking of trying out Maqloubah for a long time and I finally got to making it last month. I was pretty sure that my family will like it because we are eggplant and potato lovers, and I was right. It was approved by all the members of the family, from big to small.

I used a special spice for this dish named Baharat spice. I have seen many people using this in Arabic rice dishes, but I never bought it. I used to replace it with some of the whole spices or its powders instead. But I just realized that I was missing on this phenomenal spice for a long time. I should have bought it earlier. It makes so much of a difference to the rice, the flavor is awesome. I am actually using only 2 spice powders here and Baharat spice is the star. I used the brand Bayara. Loved it.

Usually this rice is supposed to be flipped upside down and served like a cake. But I was not very confident to do that and so I served it right from the pot. If you pack the rice, chicken and vegetables tightly when layering, then it would maintain the shape when flipping and it would look beautiful with the different layers like a cake. So, do try flipping by keeping your fingers crossed,hehe. But however the flip turns out, the rice will be super flavorful and fabulous. Give it a try.

Recipe from Swalfy_q8