Maqluba (also attested by a variety of other spellings in English; ) is a traditional Levantine dish, a variety of Pilaf that is popular across Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Iraq. It consists of meat, rice, and fried vegetables placed in a pot which is flipped upside down when served, hence the name.
The earliest mention of a dish called maqluba is found in a 13th-century cookbook, KitÃÂb al-Ṭabëkh (The Book of Dishes), written by Muhammad Baghdadi during the Abbasid Caliphate. The maqluba mentioned by Baghdadi is an egg dish rather than a pilaf.
The People of Palestine, a 1921 book by American scholar Elihu Grant documenting Palestinian tradition, contained a description of maqluba:<blockquote> Maḳlûbeh is a preparation of rice and eggplant cooked in a deep dish, and, when served, turned out, upside down; whence the name, which means "turned over." </blockquote>
Maqluba can include various (fried) vegetables, such as tomatoes, potatoes, cauliflower, and eggplant, accompanied by either chicken or lamb. The most common are cauliflower and eggplant. All the ingredients are carefully placed in the pot in layers, so that when the pot is inverted for serving, the dish looks like a layer cake. Coastal cities often use fish in place of the meat.
Maqluba is typically garnished with pine nuts and chopped fresh parsley. It is sometimes served with salad and fresh yogurt, and is often prepared for feasts and large gatherings.
The dish has been a matter of controversy in the IsraeliâÂÂPalestinian conflict, with Palestinians describing attempts to label the dish as Israeli as amounting to cultural appropriation. The dish has been used by Palestinian activists to mobilize people to join protests at Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem; in 2017, Israeli police arrested a Palestinian woman who had organized a maqluba eating gathering at Al-Aqsa.
Maqluba has been used as a pro-Palestine symbol in protests in countries like Iran and the United Kingdom.
Since the unsuccessful coup attempt in Turkey in 2016, which involved the Gülen movement, the dish has been seen as a "Gulenist delicacy" and eating or preparing it has been considered by some as evidence of membership of the movement.