Turkish Bulgur Salad (Kısır)

Instructions

COOK THE BULGUR: Place the bulgur in a medium saucepan, cover with 1 litre of cold water and bring to the boil. Add a pinch of salt, then turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer until the bulgur is tender, stirring occasionally to prevent the bulgur from catching. Depending on the coarseness of the bulgur this can take 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain any remaining liquid, cover and set aside.
500 g coarse bulgur
SAUTÉ THE ONION: Heat 2 tablespoon of oil in a medium frying pan and cook the onion gently for 5 minutes, until softened but not browned. Stir through the tomato paste and cook for a further 2.3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir through the remaining oil.
125 ml olive oil, 1 large onion, 125 g tomato paste
FLAVOUR THE BULGUR: Pour the onion and tomato mixture into the pan containing the bulgur and mix well, fluffing the bulgur with a fork. Add 2 teaspoon of the salt, the lemon juice and pomegranate syrup and stir until completely combined. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Set aside to cool.
2-3 teaspoon sea salt, 30 ml lemon juice, 30 ml pomegranate syrup
PREPARE THE KISIR SALAD: When the bulgur has cooled to room temperature, toss together with the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper and parsley. Sprinkle over the pul biber or chilli flakes (if using) and add extra lemon juice and pomegranate molasses to taste.
2 ripe tomatoes, 1 medium cucumber, 1 red pepper, small bunch fresh parsley, 2 teaspoon tatlı pul biber or very mild chilli flakes, extra lemon juice and pomegranate molasses to taste

Notes

Bulgur comes in different grades of coarseness, from finely ground köftelik bulgur which looks a little like couscous, to much coarser pilavlik bulgur which is nearly the size of grains of rice. I have a preference for the coarser style as I like it to have a bit of a chew. It is also often how Kısır is served in Cyprus.

Pul Biber, sometimes known as Aleppo Pepper is crushed red pepper flakes, essential to Turkish cuisine. They come in many grades from tatlı pul biber (sweet) to çok çok acı (ery very hot!). They can be replaced by mild chilli flakes or sweet paprika, but do try to track them down if you can.