Kisir - Turkish bulgur salad
Kisir is easy to make with a wonderfully flavor-packed dressing. It's also great to make ahead and pack for lunch or a picnic.
Servings: 2 or more
Calories: 233kcal
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Ingredients
- ½ cup fine bulgur wheat (see notes)
- ¾ cup water boiling hot, or a little more as needed
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste (UK: tomato puree)
- ½ tablespoon red pepper paste optional, if available
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses or a little less, to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tomato
- ½ Persian cucumber or around half quantity English cucumber
- 2 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 spring onion or more to taste (scallions) - optional
Instructions
- Put the bulgur into a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water to give a layer of water over the bulgar of around ½in/1cm. Set aside to absorb the water around 10 minutes while you prepare everything else.
- Meanwhile, mix together the dressing ingredients - the tomato paste, pepper paste, if using, olive oil, pomegranate molasses and lemon juice.
- Dice the cucumber and tomato relatively small and finely chop the parsley. Slice the spring onion in thin slices, if using.
- Once the bulgur has absorbed the water, drain off any excess water then mix through the dressing. Add and stir through the tomato, cucumber and parsley (plus onion, if using).
- Serve there and then or chill until needed (best served room temperature).
Video
Notes
For ½ cup (85g) fine bulgur, I find around ¾ cup plus 1tbsp (200ml) water is about right.
Kisir is generally made with fine bulgur, but you can use coarser bulgur if that's all you can find. If your bulgar is coarse, it may not expand properly just covering with boiling water. Instead, you may need to place it in a small pan with water and boil for around 5 minutes to let it expand, then drain and cool before making the salad. See packet instructions as a guide.
This version has a relatively tart dressing, but if that's less your taste, you can reduce the pomegranate molasses and/or lemon.
If you'd like to add a bit of heat to the flavors, add spicy pepper paste and/or a little Aleppo pepper.
Nutrition
Calories: 233kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 82mg | Potassium: 440mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1049IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg
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