Maklooba
Maklooba recipe in the casserole category
Recipe ingredients:
- 1 whole cauliflower
- 1 medium eggplant
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 chicken, cut into serving pieces or 1 pound lamb stew meat
- 3 cup water
- 1, 8 ounce, can tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cup raw rice, washed and drained
Recipe method:
- Remove green cone from eggplant, then slice eggplant lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices.
- Place eggplant slices in a colander and sprinkle with salt.
- Set aside for one hour so that the juice drains from the eggplant.
- Cut cauliflower into bite size pieces, rinse and let drain dry.
- In a 5 quart pan, place meat, water, tomato sauce and one teaspoon salt.
- Cook over medium heat until meat is tender.
- Remove meat from broth and set aside.
- To the broth add the 1/4 cup vegetable oil and rice. Stir.
- Bring to a boil on high heat.
- Cook on medium heat until excess water is absorbed, frequently mix rice bottom up, so that it will not stick to the bottom of the pot.
- Cook covered on low heat, stirring occasionally until rice absorbs all liquid and softens to desired consistency.
- Let stand on very low heat for 10 minutes.
- If rice does not reach desired consistency, add more water and simmer longer.
- In the meantime, heat 1/2 cup vegetable oil in a skillet.
- Rinse and pat dry eggplant slices, then fry on both sides in hot oil until they turn golden brown.
- Place fried eggplant slices on napkins to absorb excess oil. Set aside.
- Fry cauliflower in oil a couple minutes.
- Remove rice from heat and transfer to a big bowl.
- In the bottom of the 5 quart pot used to cook the rice, arrange the meat pieces side by side.
- On top of meat, arrange eggplant pieces side by side. Layer cauliflower on top.
- Spoon rice on top of layers, pressing rice well with a spoon.
- Cook covered on low heat for 15 minutes.
- Remove from heat, let stand for 15 more minutes.
- Uncover pot, place a platter that has a diameter several inches larger than the diameter of the pot face down over pot.
- Place one hand over platter and the other on bottom of pot.
- In one motion, turn assembly upside down.
- Gently pat bottom and sides of pot to ease rice out of it and onto the platter.
- Gently, lift pot upward. How well you press the rice when you spoon it into pot will determine if it will mold or not.
Tags: maklooba, recipe, casserole, recipes, cooking