Kisir Turkish Bulgur Wheat Salad Recipes

KISIR (SPICY TURKISH BULGUR WHEAT SALAD)

Steps:

• Mix the tomato paste, hot pepper paste (if using) and boiling water until completely mixed. Stir in the bulgur. Set aside until the bulgur has softened and cooled a little, 10-20 minutes.
• Mix the bulgur with the remaining ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

KISIR

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a medium sized saucepan and sauté the onion to just take off the raw edge. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 secs or so. Add the cumin and chillies and cook for another 1 min. Stir in the tomato purée and 175ml boiling water. Add the bulgur, season, stir everything together, remove from the heat, cover and leave to sit for about 15 mins. The water should have been absorbed.
• Fork the grains to separate and aerate them, then add the tomatoes, walnuts, pomegranate seeds and herbs and fork them through. Mix the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and pomegranate molasses in a small bowl. Add three quarters of this, then taste to see if it needs any more (if it seems well flavoured and moist enough, then leave it).
• The kisir can sit at room temperature for a few hours, or covered in the fridge - but let it come to room temperature before serving.

KISIR (TURKISH BULGUR WHEAT SALAD)

Steps:

• Mix bulgur and water and set aside for 30 minutes, until all of the water is absorbed. (There is a special kind of bulghur used in Turkish Kisir, but any bulgur or cracked wheat that can be prepared in this way will work).
• Add remaining ingredients, adding the red pepper paste last. (Trader Joe's makes Red Pepper Spread with Eggplant and Garlic, which works pretty well. The Turkish spread is called Ajvar (Ayvar/Hayvar/Havyar), and it is much more spicy).
• Refrigerate and serve cold.

KISIR, A TURKISH BULGUR SALAD

Steps:

• Put the bulgur in a large mixing bowl. Pour the boiling water over it. The water should completely cover the bulgur by about 1/4 inch (add a bit more boiling water if needed). Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap, then wrap it in a towel. Set it aside for about 15 minutes to allow the bulgur soften.
• While the bulgur softens, prepare your vegetables. Begin by peeling the onion and garlic and chopping them as finely as you can. Mix the chopped onion and garlic with the pepper paste and set aside.
• Chop the tomato, cucumber, green onions, parsley, and mint in the same manner and put them in a separate bowl. The finer you chop them, the better your salad's texture will be.
• Remove the cloth and cover from the bowl of bulgur. Wearing rubber gloves, fluff the bulgur up with your fingers. Drizzle lemon juice or pomegranate sour and the oil over the top and toss it through with your fingers. Next, add the pepper paste mixture and work it evenly through the bulgur.
• Add the chopped vegetables and herbs and continue tossing with your fingers until all the ingredients are evenly dispersed. Add salt and black pepper and taste for seasoning.
• You can serve your kısır salad right away, or you can cover and refrigerate it for several hours. Make sure to fluff it up with your fingers again just before serving.

TURKISH PEPPERY BULGUR SALAD (KISIR)

Steps:

• Put the bulgur into a bowl, pour the boiling water over it, stir and leave for 15-20 minutes until the grain is tender. Don't be tempted to add more water since the juice from the lemons and tomatoes will soften it further.
• Add the tomato paste, lemon juice and oil, the chilli, and some salt, and mix thoroughly. Trim the green tops off the spring onions, then slice them finely. Add them and the diced tomatoes to the bulgur mixture, together with the parsley and mint, and mix well.
• Serve with the small lettuce leaves stuck around the edges of the salad. Another way is to roll the bulgur mixture into balls the size of a small egg and to place each one in the hollow of a lettuce leaf.