Lamb and Eggplant Maklouba

Start by soaking the rice in water and set it aside for it to expand.

Peel the aubergine in stripes (so there's lines with the skin in between like a zebra), slice the aubergine long ways, lay out in a tray, sprinkle salt and let the salt drain the moisture out of the aubergine for at least an hour or two. Ensure to either pat dry or wash the aubergine then pat dry with kitchen roll before cooking it. This process allows the aubergine to fry faster with the least amount of oil.. and washing it reduces the salt content significantly. 

In a large pot, start by frying the chopped onion in ghee until golden, add the lamb chunks and the seasoning. Let it fry together for 5 minutes before adding enough water to completely cover the meat and then add an extra 3 cups of water. Allow the meat to cook for 2 hours on medium heat or until cooked.

While the meat is initially boiling, take as much of the froth forming on the top as possible and dispose of this. This tends to be the blood coming out of the meat (not something you want to leave in your food).

When the meat is cooked, separate it from the broth and set aside. Drain the broth through a drainer so that you are left with a clean broth to use when cooking the rice.

In a large frying pan, shallow fry the aubergine in olive oil first, followed by the cauliflower florets and set aside.

Choose a large pot and start layering the Maklouba. Cover the base of the pot with one layer of sliced tomatoes. Somehow in the cooking process, the juice melts away in the food and run into the rice, ensuring that the aubergine and meat doesn't burn.

Next, layer the aubergine. There are two ways of doing this, you can either layer the aubergine flat on top of the tomatoes or you can do it as I did in the picture above, and have them around the wall of the pot. Next, layer the meat chunks in the pot, followed by the cauliflower and then the pre-soaked and washed rice.

Be very careful when completing this step - for every cup of rice you need 1.5 cup of meat broth. Pour the liquid in very gently to ensure that the layers don't move or swim around in the pot and ruin all your hard work.

Set the Maklouba on high heat for 3 minutes to allow the pot to steam, then turn it down, medium to low, for 80 minutes or until the liquid has dried. Gently place a fork down the side of the pot to see whether there's still any broth left.

Don’t over cook or cook on high heat as you don't want the Maklouba to burn.

Fry the nuts in olive oil or ghee on medium heat until golden and serve up to enjoy.