Daring Cooks October 2015: Makloubeh

For the month of October, Sawsan from chef in disguise challenged us to prepare a rice based main meal that represents our own culture, or one from a cuisine that we would like to explore.

So surprise surprise mine didn't turn out quite as planned! I'm not sure the English have many rice based dishes, the only one that comes to mind is Kedgeree and that's an Anglo-Indian hybrid type thing. So I settled for one of the dishes suggested. I made Makloubeh, which I had never made before, that I think is the beauty of Daring Cooks, that it makes me try things I would never normally come across. This was a beautiful dish, really flavourful. I used goat meat instead of beef as I already had some in the freezer and it was meltingly tender. I did however manage to burn the rice in the bottom of the pan, I suspect because my heat was a little too high. So I then spent a while trying to clean the pan! nonetheless this was a delicious dish.

Makloubeh

Servings: 6 

Cooking time: 1 hour and 30 minutes 

Ingredients 

3 cups (600 g) short grain rice 

1 head cauliflower 400 grams beef cut into cubes 

1 medium onion chopped 

1 teaspoon (2.6 g) all spice 

1/2 teaspoon (1.3 g) cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon (1.3 g) cardamom 

3 teaspoons (17 g) salt 

3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil 

To cook the beef 

10 whole all spice berries 

10 cardamom pods 

1 stick cinnamon 

2 liters (2000 ml ) water 

Toasted nuts and chopped parsley for decoration (optional) 

Directions: 

1.Wash the rice and soak it in some warm water for 15-20 minutes then drain it, discard the water. 

2.Cut the cauliflower into florets and then fry it until golden brown (You can brush it with oil and grill it if you want a healthier version) 

3.In a pot add the beef cubes, onion , whole all spice, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick and then add 2 liters of water to 

4.Cook until the meat is done (you can do this in a pressure cooker to save time, if you use a pressure cooker 3-5 minutes after it starts to whistle is more that enough) reserve the water, you will use it to cook the rice in it 

To assemble the makloubeh:

1.In the pot you will cook it in start by adding the olive oil followed by a thin layer of rice. 

2.Arrange the beef on top of it and fill the gaps with rice 

3.Add a layer of cauliflower,then top with half of the remaining rice then another layer of cauliflower, then the remaining rice 

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

5.Add enough of the chicken broth for it to submerge the rice and rise by 1-2 cm (around 6 cups) 

6.Cook on very low heat, covered for 30-40 minutes (we are cooking on low heat because we don’t want it to boil and bubble because if it does it will spoil the arrangement of the layers) Note: You can place a small plate on top of the last rice layer to help keep things in place 

7.Allow 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 makloubeh slide off. 

9.Decorate with toasted almond and chopped parsley and serve it with yogurt or a simple salad