“I used to hate magloubeh, but Gram instructed me never to say ‘hate,’ so now I just don’t care for it instead.”
Diana Abu-Jaber may not care for magloubeh, but I’m certainly glad she still included the recipe in her book, because I love it. This is the first recipe I tried from The Language of Baklava. I had considered progressing through the chapters in an organized manner, sampling each recipe. But the first recipe was shish kabob, and I don’t think my little Paris kitchen has room for that. Besides, the story doesn’t really go in chronological order anyway, so why should I? Instead, I paged through the book until I found a recipe that interested me. The one I found included eggplant and chicken, both of which I had on hand.
Magloubeh, as Abu-Jaber explains, means upside down in Jordanian. This part had me a little bit worried… I was supposed to turn out the huge dutch oven onto a plate at the end. But she cautioned that her version was not supposed to stand up like a timbale, so that was good enough for me.
The recipe started out simply… sauté some onions, fry cauliflower and eggplant… but pretty soon I had several different dishes waiting to be combined. My tiny kitchen almost couldn’t handle it, but I managed (it involved balancing things on the edge of the counter and in the sink), and I’m so glad I did.
The final product had to steam for 40 minutes, and then another 10 after I added the couscous (I replaced the rice in her recipe. I don’t like rice. I don’t keep it in my kitchen. I don’t eat it.) I could barely keep from lifting the lid… the smells of cinnamon, black pepper, and allspice wafted through the house. (Note: Allspice is called “4 spice” in French… wish I had known that. I stood like an idiot in front of the spice rack at the supermarket before picking up vaguely brown bottles at random and inspecting the ingredient lists).
When I finally turned out the pot, a little bit of the chicken stuck to the bottom, but I had no problem dishing it out and placing it on top. Not perfect, but I’m learning. Abu-Jaber suggests serving this with yogurt. Her version also includes sumac, which I couldn’t find… but the last time I bought it I used it once and then the rest sat around forever, so maybe I tried not to find it. She also says you can use either lamb or chicken. Maybe next time… this time I was so entranced by the spices that I couldn’t think of adding a thing.
Magloubeh
In a heavy saucepan, heat two tablespoons of olive oil. Add one large onion, chopped, and sauté until soft and browned. Add 8 ounces of boneless chicken, cut into chunks. Cook, stirring, until evenly browned. Add 1/8 teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, ground coriander, and ground cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Add one and a half cups of water (note… she suggests broth, but the only broth I could find in the store had MSG, to which I am highly allergic. If you can find broth, I suggest it, although the dish did not suffer with the water), and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for one hour, until the meat is tender.
In a frying pan, fry one half of an eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch half circles, and one half of a small cauliflower, cut in half and then into 1/2 inch pieces, in olive oil. Remove and set on paper towels to drain excess oil. Coat the bottom of a large dutch oven with olive oil (about 2 teaspoons). Arrange the meat in an even layer in the pot. Cover with the eggplant, then 1/2 cup of couscous, then the cauliflower. Pour the broth from the meat over the entire thing. Cover the pot and simmer until the couscous is cooked.
Meanwhile, saute 1/8 cup of pine nuts in butter until lightly browned.
When the meat and rice are done cooking, invert the pot over a serving dish. Top the meat with the pine nuts.