Join The National and Table Tales on a culinary journey around the Middle East to savour the quintessential dishes that embody the spirit of Ramadan. From table staples to family favourites, this series of recipes – one for each day of Ramadan – pays homage to the holy month and the home cook alike.
Often credited as the national dish of Palestine, maqluba is also popular in other regions that make up the Levant, from Iraq and Lebanon to Jordan and Syria. The dish finds mention in the 13th-century Kitab Al-Tabikh (Book of Dishes) written in the Abbasid period by Muhammad al-Baghdadi.
The dish got its name owing to the cooking style, which involves flipping the entire contents of the pot it is made in.
This upside-down rice dish is a fixture in every Palestinian home
Recipe contributor Nisreen Bajis says: "This upside-down rice dish is a fixture in every Palestinian home. Comprising of layers of fried aubergine, tomato, caramelised onions and lamb; sauteed and simmered in a broth of cinnamon, cardamom, all spice and rice.
"The aromas of this one-pot wonder always take me back to weekend lunches with the whole family and conjures up images of my mum cooking up a storm in the kitchen, with her little helpers, my sisters and I. We are so fortunate to have my mum, Nihaya, with us this Ramadan and to be able to make this dish together, with a new helper, my daughter. Maqluba is traditionally served with a tomato and cucumber salad and yoghurt."
Nisreen Bajis's maqluba – upside-down lamb, aubergine and rice
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients for the lamb broth:
- 1.5kg lamb, cut into 10-12 pieces
- 1 onion, quartered
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ tsp whole black peppercorns
- 1 tsp all spice
- 10 cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 cloves
- 4 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 tsp salt
Ingredients for the vegetable mix:
- 1 large onion cut into thin wedges
- 3 medium size eggplants sliced lengthways
- 2 large tomatoes size sliced
Ingredients for the rice mix:
- 3 cups medium grain rice, wash and soaked for at least 15 minutes prior to cooking
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp seven spices
- 1 tsp all spice
- Salt to taste
- ½ cup slivered almonds to garnish
Method:
- Wash the lamb and pat dry. In pressure cooker, heat 2 tbsp of oil and sear the lamb, letting all the liquid drain out and evaporate. Pour enough water over to cover the meat by 1cm to 2cm and add all the lamb broth spices. Seal the pot and cook for 30 to 40 minutes.
- Once cooked, remove the lamb from the broth and set aside. Save the broth by pouring the mixture through a colander to remove the onion and spices.
- Fry the onions in the remaining 2 tbsp of oil until caramelised and set aside. Brush the aubergine in sunflower oil, place on a baking tray and bake in the oven until tender.
- In another pot, layer the tomatoes and fried onion, then the aubergine so that it goes up the sides of the pot. Layer the lamb on top of the vegetables.
- Drain the rice, which will have been soaking in water for a least 15 minutes, and add the cinnamon, seven spices, all spice and salt.
- Place the rice in a layer on top of the lamb and pour the lamb stock on top, enough to cover by 1cm. Note, if you do not have enough broth, you can top it up with warm water.
- Let the rice boil for 10 minutes and then cover the pot tightly and leave it to simmer on a medium to low heat for 30 to 40 minutes.
- Once cooked, let the pot sit for a few minutes before removing the lid and placing a large tray on top of the pot, then flipping it over.
Serve with a side of plain yoghurt and simple salad made up of cucumber, tomato and parsley, dressed in olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Garnish the maqluba with slivered almonds.
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Read more:
Ramadan recipes: daily dishes to try from the 'Table Tales' series
Ramadan 2021: How to donate food and supplies to vulnerable people in the UAE
A vegan iftar: Plant-based recipes for a four-course Ramadan meal
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This dish has been brought to you by Nisreen Bajis and curated by international recipe hunter Hanan Sayed Worrell, author of Table Tales: The Global Nomad Cuisine of Abu Dhabi. The Table Tales concept celebrates the people and stories that give flavour to recipes of the Middle East.
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Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier
Event info: The tournament in Kuwait this month is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.
UAE’s fixtures: Fri Apr 20, UAE v Qatar; Sat Apr 21, UAE v Saudi Arabia; Mon Apr 23, UAE v Bahrain; Tue Apr 24, UAE v Maldives; Thu Apr 26, UAE v Kuwait
World T20 2020 Qualifying process:
- Sixteen teams will play at the World T20 in two years’ time.
- Australia have already qualified as hosts
- Nine places are available to the top nine ranked sides in the ICC’s T20i standings, not including Australia, on Dec 31, 2018.
- The final six teams will be decided by a 14-team World T20 Qualifier.
World T20 standings: 1 Pakistan; 2 Australia; 3 India; 4 New Zealand; 5 England; 6 South Africa; 7 West Indies; 8 Sri Lanka; 9 Afghanistan; 10 Bangladesh; 11 Scotland; 12 Zimbabwe; 13 UAE; 14 Netherlands; 15 Hong Kong; 16 Papua New Guinea; 17 Oman; 18 Ireland
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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4,872 matches
1,942 teams
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26 UAE teams
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
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The specs: 2018 Jeep Compass
Price, base: Dh100,000 (estimate)
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Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
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Fuel economy, combined: 9.4L / 100km
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
The years Ramadan fell in May
