lamb maqloubeh

One of the most delicious and popular Palestinian meals is Maqluba. This version with lamb, baked cauliflower, and eggplant is just sublime and a must try.

Maqluba with Lamb

Bone-in Lamb Shoulder Pieces, medium cut

Onion, quartered

Cardamom Pods

Bay Leaves

tbsp Ground Allspice

tbsp Granulated sugar (optional, but said to help tenderize the meat faster)

Salt

tsp Black Pepper

Eggplants, sliced into 1 inch discs

Cauliflower head,

Potatoes, peeled, cut into 1 inch slices (optional)

Tomatoes,

tbsp Olive oil

Salt & Pepper to preference

Basmati Rice (You can use Egyptian rice

Leftover Lamb Broth (or enough to cover the top of the rice

1.5 tsp 7 spice

tsp Cumin

tsp Turmeric

Parsley, chopped

Slivered Almonds, toasted in ghee or olive oil

Wash the lamb pieces thoroughly. Add them to a pot and cover with water. Let this simmer on medium heat. You will notice a residue float to the top after a few minutes. Spoon off the residue into a bowl and discard.

Once the water is clear of the residue, add the onion, cardamom, and bay leaves along with the allspice, sugar (optional) salt, and pepper. Cover and let this boil on medium heat for 1.5-2 hours until the meat is tender.

While the meat is cooking, prepare the vegetables and rice for the dish. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Toss the sliced eggplant, cauliflower, and potato (if using), with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Make sure everything is well coated. Feel free to add more oil if necessary.

Add the vegetables to a baking sheet baking sure they do not overlap. I typically bake each vegetable variety in their own pan or one huge pan. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, flipping once.

The vegetables should come out tender and lightly golden. Keep it baking longer if necessary, then set to the side.

Prepare the rice by stirring together the soaked rice with the spices listed above.

At this point, the meat should be cooked through. Drain the water and save the lamb broth to cook the rice in.

Start with a scarce layer of rice at the bottom of your prepped pot. The nonstick pot should be lightly sprayed with nonstick spray too or oiled. Then, add a layer of tomato slices.

Top off the tomato slices with the baked eggplant slices, cauliflower florets, and potatoes (if using).

Then, add the lamb pieces followed by the rice. Cover the top of the rice with a fitted heat proof plate. This will help keep the rice in tact while it simmers.

Pour the lamb broth on top of the rice. The broth should cover the rice entirely with an inch extra on top. Let this come to a light boil then simmer for about 25-30 minutes on medium heat  while covered.

Once the rice is cooked through, take it off the heat and let it sit for 20 minutes in the pot before serving.

When ready to serve, find a large platter with rasied edges and swiftly flip the pot over the top of the platter. Tap at the bottom of the pot a few times and gently raise the pot to reveal the beautiful maqluba.

Top with the garnishes and serve with yogurt and arabic salad.

Assembling the Pot

This maqluba recipe was delicious! I made it with eggplant, cauliflower, and potatoes. Cooking the rice in the lamb broth gives it such a wonderful flavor, as do all of the spices. I made it in a Dutch oven, so it turned out that the pot was too heavy to flip, but it still tasted fantastic. It's a great one-pot meal.

I love to cook foods from different cultures and wanted to try some Palestinian recipes and that's how I found your site. I've since gotten your cookbook and absolutely love the recipes in it!

Your recipe is perfect. I however made a huge mistake and added water to the lamb stock and my maqluba came out watery. The seasonings were perfect, the lamb was soft. Next time I’ll stick to your measurements.

This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it! Have you tried it with beef? The beef in my country is more readily available as opposed to lamb. 

Thanks! Always love your recipes!

I have made this multiple times and its always a HIT with the family! Thank you Haifa, your recipes never disappoint! I have your book as well.

I made this recipe for a family 3azooma and honestly it did not disappoint! My family would not stop talking about how nice the flavours were and even the leftovers were sooo good the next day! 
Thank you Haifa for sharing this amazing recipe with very clear and easy steps to follow! You have made cooking so enjoyable for me ❤️

Going to use this recipe for when the family comes next week. My mother in law always used only cauliflower and chicken rather than lamb (picking kids(. Going to try to do the same but use the rest of your recipe. Hoping this brings back happy memories for my husband and his siblings ❤️

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Maqluba with Lamb

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Maqluba with Lamb

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