Carrot Maqluba Recipe (2024)

The things that really make maqluba shine are the sides that are served with it and eaten mixed in with the rice and other ingredients - a diced salad of tomatoes, cukes, peppers, parsley, and lots of lemon, and good yogurt. These bring all the umami you could dream of and both lighten and enrich the dish itself. I look forward to trying this weeknight version. It is one of the best dishes for entertaining I have ever encountered.

Very good recipe: the layering technique is similar to (somewhat spicier) Hyderabadi Biryani, which uses meat marinated in spices+yoghurt. hungrypaprikas.com/maqluba/#tasty-recipes-1339 provides a more elaborate version: however, its use of tomato paste provides umami that make it adaptable to a vegetarian version. The tricky part is getting both the rice and meat perfectly cooked: "cheats" include semi-cooking the rice before combining with the meat for a final steaming.

Thank you for highlighting Palestinian cuisine! Maqluba ("upside down") is a very special, time-consuming, family dish. I appreciate your work but it's hard not to feel sad at this simple version: layering separate parts before simmering them together is the essence of Maqluba. Our family does eggplant (pre-fried thin, then layered on bottom & lower sides of pot) + lamb (pre-braised) + chickpeas + rice + spices, all slow-simmered in lamb broth. SaHtayn! Literally, "Two healths" = "Bon appétit"

It was a hit! I substituted chicken thighs for the the steak and it came out well:) I made tin foil straps to go around the plate so lifting it out of the pot was easy and didn’t disturb the rice. The flip out was daunting, but the gods must have been smiling... came out right in the center of the serving plate:)

I made this with ground beef because my kids don’t like the texture of steak and it is what I had on hand. May be a little low brow but it was still delicious!

The towel absorbs the steam as the rice finishes resting. Keeps it from getting soggy. It's a great technique, I now use it w/all my rice dishes.

In step five, wouldn't it make more sense to adjust the seasoning before covering the rice with a plate?

Added a bag of cauliflower florets and about a cup of bagged shredded carrots instead of doing matchsticks. Turned out great but next time I would not commit to the cake presentation, I don’t have a big enough platter and it went everywhere lol. Mixed up in the pot is probably just as good!

Per other's notes, I sliced a fresno red pepper very thin and added it with the carrots. I also used pre-sliced carrots and while quite easy, they would have been nicer if they were sliced thicker. I also amped the spiced by adding additional cinnamon, cumin and turmeric. The onions produced so much liquid that I didn't get a nicely browned beef and perhaps to lessen some of it, I transferred it to a larger skillet. I ended up using wrought iron which worked great but the color was off a bit.

It would have been good, but waaaaay too much salt. I’d salty the broth to taste only.

This was a great dish that came together very quickly. Flavor profile similar to some basic pilafs/plovs I've made. Taking another readers notes I threw together a quick mix of herbs and lettuces with a yogurt dressing.This wasn't a WOW dish but was definitely good enough to join the weeknight rotation.

Doesn't the meat get overcooked using this method? if so, why use ribeye which is best when rare or medium rare?

So good! A few modifications: I didn’t have a non-stick pan so I used my rice cooker. I veganized it by using Impossible meat. Instead of cutting the carrots I used a bag of shredded carrots. For the broth I used Better Than Bouillon Chickenless broth. Discovering I had no cinnamon I used pumpkin pie spice. I also skipped the soaking the rice and just added the spices to the dry rice. Layered everything in the rice cooker, pressed “start” and it came out perfectly!

Does anyone have an idea as to what meat substitute might work for vegetarians. Tofu? Tempeh? This sounds excellent if I could find a meat substitute

You lost me at the description of a nonstick saucepan with a fitted lid that is no more than 6 inches deep, in which the entire dish will be made. I have been cooking for decades, making some very complicated and delicious dishes, but have never bought such a pan or used one. The only nonstick pans I have are sauté/frying pans. And I'm not about to buy a pan just to make this dish. I guess I will have to look for a recipe for the original dish, which surely does not call for a nonstick saucepan.

Hi This looks wonderful. I have just finished a novel set in Palestine and this dish comes up frequently. Can it be made without meat?

Need to add extra meat or less rice.

I stuck to the spirit of the recipe but changed a lot of details. Used lamb and cauliflower instead of beef and carrots. Made sure to fry lamb and onions until all the liquid cooked off. My wife can’t tolerate cinnamon so I omitted it, upped cumin and turmeric to 3/4 tsp each and added 1/2 tsp allspice. It was great. The cauliflower melted into the rice. The almonds were an awesome touch. Might add cardamom and/or bay next time. It would be great with a yogurt sauce as mentioned by others.

This was a great dish that came together very quickly. Flavor profile similar to some basic pilafs/plovs I've made. Taking another readers notes I threw together a quick mix of herbs and lettuces with a yogurt dressing.This wasn't a WOW dish but was definitely good enough to join the weeknight rotation.

Per other's notes, I sliced a fresno red pepper very thin and added it with the carrots. I also used pre-sliced carrots and while quite easy, they would have been nicer if they were sliced thicker. I also amped the spiced by adding additional cinnamon, cumin and turmeric. The onions produced so much liquid that I didn't get a nicely browned beef and perhaps to lessen some of it, I transferred it to a larger skillet. I ended up using wrought iron which worked great but the color was off a bit.

This was so yummy! My problem was when I flipped it, bubbling noises let me know it wasn’t completely set together! So I quickly reversed the flip and scooped it out if the pan to eat. Two variations from the recipient were: I used 2 lbs steak instead of 1 and I only let it rest for 10 minutes. What caused the problem if not sticking together?

Added a bag of cauliflower florets and about a cup of bagged shredded carrots instead of doing matchsticks. Turned out great but next time I would not commit to the cake presentation, I don’t have a big enough platter and it went everywhere lol. Mixed up in the pot is probably just as good!

This was so tasty!!!!!! I had zero confidence that I was going to be able to make this properly but it turned out great.

Thank you for highlighting Palestinian cuisine! Maqluba ("upside down") is a very special, time-consuming, family dish. I appreciate your work but it's hard not to feel sad at this simple version: layering separate parts before simmering them together is the essence of Maqluba. Our family does eggplant (pre-fried thin, then layered on bottom & lower sides of pot) + lamb (pre-braised) + chickpeas + rice + spices, all slow-simmered in lamb broth. SaHtayn! Literally, "Two healths" = "Bon appétit"

In step five, wouldn't it make more sense to adjust the seasoning before covering the rice with a plate?

The result was decent but lacked zest. As other commenters mentioned, I would probably use chicken thighs or lamb next time. Less cinnamon, more salt and hot pepper flakes.