Maqlooba / Ulta Chicken Pulao / Upside Down Rice

Maqloobah  is a famous arabic pulao recipe which literally means up side down rice and we called it ulta biriyani / pulao..After you finished cooking this meal, the cooking pot is inverted in to a serving plate and we can see the meat part on top..Its  a mildly spiced pulao that uses only few ingredients to cook..the meat along with some vegetables are used for cooking this..even though the cooking process is bit longer the pulao turns out wonderful and delicious..

Ingredients For Cooking Rice:

1. Basmati Rice- 1cup
2. cardamom-2 nos
3. clove-2 nos
4. cinnamon-1 small stick
5. bay leaf-1
6. cumin seeds- 1/4 tsp
7. pepper corns- 1/2 tsp
8. salt-to taste
9. oil-2 tbsp (or ghee)
10. pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
11. cumin powder- 1/4 tsp

For the Topping:

1. chicken- 1/2 kg
2. lemon juice-1 tbsp
3. pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
4. garam masala powder- 1/2 tsp
5. salt-to taste
6. Oil-2 tbsp
7. potato-1 small
8. brinjal-1 medium
9. lemon rings-2 nos (chopped roundly)
10. tomato rings-2 nos
11. carrot rings- 2 nos
12. almond and cashews-few

Preparation:

• Wash and soak the basmati rice in water for 30 minutes.
• Marinate the chicken pieces with lemon juice, pepper powder, garam masala powder and salt for 1 hour in fridge.
• Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan; saute theses marinated chicken  pieces for about 10  minutes until just changes its color (no need to cook fully).
• Take it out from the pan and keep aside.
• In the chicken marinated plate add chopped potato and brinjal pieces (chopped as round thick pieces) in order to get the taste of chicken marination and add theses in to the chicken sauted pan and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Take it out and  put it in a non-stick cooking pot along with the chicken pieces, lemon rings, carrot and tomato pieces and whole garam masala pieces.
• Above that add drained rice carefully without mixing.
• Slowly pour 2 cups of salted water  on the sides of the pot (if we are pouring the water speedily the chicken and vegetable pieces will come to the bottom and spoil the texture of rice).
• Add oil, pepper powder and cumin powder in to the water.
• Cover cooks it for about 15 minutes or until all the water gets dried off (don't mix the rice at the time of cooking) (cover the lid tightly without escaping the steams).
• Switch off the flame and after 15-20  minutes invert the cooked meal in to a large serving plate.
• Decorate on top with few fried cashew and almond pieces.

• Serve and enjoy the pulao with some pickle and raitha!!!

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