Mum dropped us a surprise visit and we spend a great time together with our precious little Jeanna.
But that did not stop us from having some quality time cooking together my favorite childhood recipes that I had missed a lot!
And the recipe of today is one of my favorite dishes that mum prepare in a very special way.
Maqlouba which mean “upside down” is a delicious comforting Lebanese rice dish with beef mixture and eggplants.
It is basically a game of layering rice, eggplant and a tomato beef stew.
The recipe I am sharing today is an eggplant and beef maqluba but there are many variations of this dish.
“maqlouba” is basically a technique of cooking more than a recipe but there are many variations of it with chicken, cauliflower and many more.
The traditional recipe require frying the eggplants but I substitute that with air-fried eggplant instead to make it a little lighter and I can assure you the final taste was not affected it was still amazingly good like my mum cook it!
It I a very easy recipe honestly with very simple ingredients that can be found anywhere but the trickiest part is flipping part at the end and keeping the shape together without getting anything stuck in the bottom of the pan , but with my mum way I assure you this won’t be an issue, so let’s get started.
Check down this video showing you how to do the layers and how to flip the maqlouba in my mum very easy and simple way , make sure you check it so you have a better understating of how it should go:
And if you like eggplant don’t forget to check my other delicious eggplant recipes on the blog.
Like my favorite eggplant fatteh jars for breakfast!
Or the super delicious bolognaise sauce !
Or my healthy classic eggplant rollatini !
And if you liked this Lebanese recipe from my mum kitchen I am sure you will also like my other Lebanese-inspired dishes on the blog
Mum authentic eggplant and beef maqlouba
Ingredients
For the eggplant layer:
- 2 medium firm eggplant
- 1 medium tomato
- 1 medium capsicum
- Salt to sprinkle
For the beef mixture layer:
- 500 g ground lean beef
- 2 head of garlic sliced
- 1 big onion finely minced
- 500 g tomato diced see notes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ½ cup water
- 1 tsp sweet pepper all spices
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder
- 1 tsp salt
- For the rice layer:
- 1 ½ cup basmati white rice see notes
- 2 cups water
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
For the garnish:
- ½ cup of roasted almonds or pine nut
- Some chopped parsley for garnish
Instructions
for the eggplant layer:
- first start by cutting the eggplant into 1 cm slices. sprinkle on both side for 30 min of salt and set aside so the eggplant release some of their moist.
- Then cut the tomato and capsicum into also 1 cm slices.
- After 30 min, pat dry the eggplant slices on both side and brush with a little bit of oil, then air fry the slices on 200 C◦ for 10 minutes flipping mid-way until you have a golden-brown color. (for other way of cooking eggplants check notes)
- After the eggplant are done cooking set aside waiting for assembly.
For the beef mixture layer:
- In a skillet over medium heat, add some oil and fry the garlic first until golden brown. keep an eye on them while cooking they can burn quick. After they are crisp remove and set aside for later.
- In the same oil sauté the onion then add the ground beef and the seasonings and mix well breaking any big beef crumbs. After the beef are no more pink add the tomato paste and mix it through to coat all the mixture. Then add the diced tomato and mix bringing mixture to boil. In this phase add back the garlic and the water. mix and bring the mixture to boil, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
For the rice layer:
- To prepare the rice layer. Don’t soak the rice just quickly wash and drain it. Then add to the pot with the water and seasoning and bring to boil. After it start to boil lower the heat to the minimum and let it cook on low heat covered until just the water evaporate. It took me 8 min , we want the rice to be cooked but not fully cooked because it will continue to cook when we assemble the whole cake.
- for the assembly: check the videos in the article above on how to assemble and flip the eggplant cake
- choose a deep pan for assembling the cake and finishing the final cooking phase of this recipe.
- Like in the video above, start layering your ingredients: Start by a layer of tomato and capsicum slices then add half of the beef mixture than add half of the eggplants slices than the remaining beef mixture than the remaining eggplant slices than the remaining tomato and capsicum in the middle.
- After finishing these layers time to add the rice, gently pour the rice over and spread evenly with a spatula and with a bottom of a cup press it down to press all the layers together but don’t over press.
- Cover all the with a plate to keep all the layers in place and close with the lid of the pan. On the lowest heat you can put the pan and let it slowly cook for 45 minutes.
- After 45 minutes turn off the heat and let it rest cover for 10 minutes. Then carefully flip the pan over a bigger serving dish and let it rest 10 minutes before removing the pan to make sure nothing Is sticking in the bottom of the pan. Slowly remove the pan so the cake don’t fall apart.
- Garnish with the roasted almonds and chopped parsley, serve, and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- For the tomato: you can replace the fresh diced tomato with a can of diced tomato
- for the rice: the traditional recipes you will find use short grain rice, but the basmati rice gives a much better result with no risk that the final rice will be to sticky.
- For the eggplants: in the traditional recipe they usually deep fry the eggplants but I found it very heavy so I tried oven method and air-fried method and honestly I like the air-fry method it gives more the fried texture and color with basically no oil.
- Serving suggestions: it is really a well-balanced meal that doesn’t need any sides but it goes so well with some yoghurt and cucumber salad or a tzatziki sauce.