Chicken & Aubergine Maqluba

📝 Ingredients

• 2 aubergines (about 300 g each)
• 500 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 280 g basmati rice
• 1 brown onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tomato (about 120 g)
• 1 tsp ground cumin + 1 tsp ground cinnamon + 1 tsp turmeric (half for the chicken, half for the stock)
• 1 chicken stock cube + 600 ml hot water
• 3 tbsp olive oil (2 for the aubergines, 1 for the chicken)
• 30 g flaked almonds
• 200 g natural yoghurt
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• 24 cm casserole dish with lid
• 2 baking trays
• Pastry brush
• Colander
• Small frying pan
• Large serving platter

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Cut the aubergines into 1 cm slices, spread them out on 2 trays lined with baking paper, brush both sides with 2 tbsp olive oil and season with salt. Roast for 20 to 25 min, until golden and meltingly soft.
2. Meanwhile, rinse the basmati rice in a sieve under cold water until the water runs clear, then leave it to soak for 15 min in a bowl of cold water: the grains will stay whole when you turn it out. Slice the onion, chop the garlic and slice the tomato into rounds.
3. Cut the chicken into 3 cm pieces and coat with half the spices, salt and pepper. Heat the last spoonful of oil in the casserole over a high heat and brown the chicken for 5 min. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 min over a medium heat, until the onion is soft.
4. Dissolve the stock cube in 600 ml hot water with the rest of the spices. Off the heat, take the chicken and onion out of the casserole, then line the bottom with the tomato slices: they stop the rice from sticking and will decorate the top when you turn it out.
5. Build the layers: spread the chicken and onion over the tomatoes, then the aubergine slices, overlapping them, and finally the well-drained rice, levelling it out. Press down gently with the back of a spoon to pack everything together.
6. Gently pour the spiced stock down the side of the pot so as not to disturb the layers: it should cover the rice by about 1 cm. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat, then cover, turn the heat right down and cook for 25 min without lifting the lid.
7. Turn off the heat and leave to rest, covered, for 10 min. Meanwhile, toast the flaked almonds in the small dry frying pan over a medium heat for 2 to 3 min, stirring, until lightly golden, then remove them straight away so they don't burn.
8. Remove the lid and place the serving platter upside down on the casserole. Holding both firmly with oven gloves, flip over in one confident movement, wait 1 min, then gently lift off the casserole: the rice cake should hold its shape.
9. Scatter with the toasted almonds and serve immediately, with the well-chilled natural yoghurt on the side. If a little rice stays stuck to the bottom, loosen it with a spoon and put it back on top: no one will notice the difference.