Phoenix family shares recipe for rice dish
Ramadan looks different during a pandemic, but Salmah Monsour feels determined to make the most of it. While there are no festive gatherings at her local mosque in Laveen, Monsour still tries to get her children excited by making Palestinian sweets together and decorating their house with ornaments, paper lanterns and strings of lights.
And instead of helping herself to catering from the mosque, she’s preparing homecooked meals every day of the holy month. Recently, she made one of her favorites, maqluba.
Maqluba, which means “upside down” in Arabic, is a popular dish that Palestinian families like to make during Ramadan, she said. The layered dish is cooked in one pot. Meat such as lamb or chicken is stewed on the bottom with vegetables such as cauliflower and eggplant, then rice is poured on top and everything is cooked together. Right before serving, the pot is flipped upside down on a plate. It can be served with salad and yogurt on the side.
“We’re always debating what we should make the first week of Ramadan and anytime I talk to anyone from the Levant, Jordanians, Palestinians, they say maqluba. It dates back hundreds and hundreds of years in our history,” Monsour said.
‘Spirit of Ramadan’ brought family closer together in pandemic
Monsour observes Ramadan by fasting from sunup to sundown, which is one of the pillars of Islam. At sundown, she breaks fast the traditional way with dates. Eid al-Fitr, the festival that comes after the holy month of Ramadan, is one of the biggest holidays of the year for the Muslim community.
Growing up in California, her family usually celebrated at home with a feast and lots of sweets. Monsour said her favorite activity as a child was rolling the grape leaves and stuffing the squash and eggplant — though she was slow to roll, unlike her mother, who could swiftly roll the leaves between the palms of her hands, Monsour said.
When she moved to Phoenix in 1996 and later started her own family, she started celebrating Eid al-Fitr at her neighborhood mosque, the Islamic Center
of Laveen.
But last year her family mostly observed Ramadan at home because of the pandemic. While she misses the social aspect of going to the mosque, the fixed time at home gave her family time to slow down — and with it, an unexpected closeness. Food is a major part of Ramadan, but she doesn’t want to lose sight about what the “spirit of Ramadan” is about: feeling compassion for others, becoming closer to God and giving.
“I know a lot of households are probably sick of being around each other and want to get out, but I see the opposite here,” Monsour said. “We actually sit down and take the time to talk, not in a hurry to go anywhere or be anywhere. There’s a different closeness I observed, and the time we’ve taken to talk about things that are important to us and family values.”
Maqluba
As told by Salmah Monsour.
The reason why we make maqluba is because it’s one of the oldest dishes in Palestinian history. I always end up cooking for an army, so there’s always leftovers.
Serves: 6-8 people
Ingredients
About 2 lbs of lamb pieces, bone in, cut 4” by 4”
One onion, chopped
Vegetable oil
3-4 medium-sized eggplants (peeling optional), sliced longways about 1⁄2 inch thick
1 cauliflower head, cut into florets
4 to 5 potatoes peeled and sliced into 1⁄2-inch thick circles
4 to 5 cloves of garlic, minced (optional)
4 cups of basmati rice
Handful of browned vermicelli noodles (optional)
Extra sliced tomatoes and raw potatoes (optional)
Toasted almonds and chopped parsley, to garnish
1-2 tbsp or taste to preference of the following spices:
Allspice whole or powder
Cardamom powder
Coriander
7-spice blend
Whole cloves (optional)
Crushed black pepper
Cinnamon
Garlic powder
Salt
Instructions
In a large pot, sauté and sear the washed and cleaned lamb in about 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil, mixed with all the spices and chopped onion. Then add enough water to cover the lamb and let it boil on the stovetop for 40 to 50 minutes on medium heat till tender. Pressure cooker is optional for this step.
Fry or broil the vegetables (minus tomatoes and some potato slices). I usually broil in the oven by coating the vegetables with oil until browned on each side.
Soak the rice in hot water for 20 minutes. Strain water, wash and set aside. You have the option of mixing the browned vermicelli into the rice. (To brown the vermicelli beforehand, stir it on a pan with oil of choice on medium heat until golden brown.)
Add some of the same spices to the rice mix that were used for the lamb broth, including salt to taste. Optional: Sauté and add the minced garlic.
Once meat is tender, strain the broth from the spices and onion in a separate bowl or pot and set aside.
Arrange sliced tomatoes and sliced raw potatoes on bottom of a nonstick pot with straight sides. Then arrange the meat, then add the broiled vegetables on top. The eggplant can be arranged around the pot side by side for a nice presentation. Add some salt and spices as you’re arranging the layers of vegetables.
Next pour in the rice and pat down firmly. Pour the lamb broth over the rice and pat firmly again to ensure the rice is completely covered. If not enough broth, add water.
Place the pot on medium-high heat and let it bubble. Then cover the pot and reduce heat to low and let cook for about 50 minutes. After it’s cooked turn off heat and let it sit for 20 to 30 min.
Once ready to serve, use a large tray or plate with raised edges to place on top of the pot. Swiftly flip the pot over. Leave the pot flipped over and let it sit for a few minutes, allowing gravity to pull the maqluba down. Carefully lift the pot up to keep the maqluba intact. Garnish with toasted almonds and chopped parsley.