Kısır (Turkish bulgur salad)
25 min · 6 g protein · 164 cals / serving
Turkey's favourite bulgur salad, nothing like tabbouleh: fine bulgur soaked in tomato and pepper paste until it turns a deep brick red, then tossed with lots of cucumber, tomato, red pepper, spring onions, parsley and mint, and sharpened with lemon and a little pomegranate molasses. Tangy, gently spicy and juicy, scooped into crisp lettuce leaves to eat with your hands.
Ingredients
- 1 cup fine bulgur bulgur
- 1 cup boiling water water
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tsp paprika, sweet; stands in for Turkish red pepper paste
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes, Turkish pul biber if you have it
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 large cucumber, finely diced
- 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and finely diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper, finely diced
- 5 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 large bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
- a handful fresh mint, chopped
To serve
- 2 hearts romaine lettuce, leaves separated, to serve
Steps
- In a large bowl, stir the bulgur with the tomato paste, paprika, pepper flakes, cumin and salt, then pour over the boiling water and stir again. Cover with a plate and leave 15 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the grains are tender.
- Fluff the bulgur with a fork, then knead it with your hands for a minute so the paste coats every grain. Stir in the oil, lemon juice and pomegranate molasses and leave it to cool.
- Add the cucumber, tomato, red pepper, spring onions, parsley and mint and toss well. Taste and adjust with more lemon, salt or pepper flakes; it should be tangy and lively.
- Pile it into a bowl with the lettuce leaves alongside, and let everyone spoon it into the leaves to eat by hand.
Good to know
How is it different from tabbouleh?
Tabbouleh is a parsley salad with a little bulgur. Kısır is a bulgur salad with plenty of vegetables, coloured and flavoured with tomato and pepper paste and soured with pomegranate molasses and lemon. It is heartier and spicier.
No fine bulgur?
Coarse bulgur works; simmer it in the water with the pastes for 10 minutes instead of soaking, then cool it before adding the vegetables.
Have Turkish pepper paste?
Use 1 tbsp of biber salçası in place of the paprika and half the tomato paste. It is the authentic flavour.
Per
- Calories
- 70
- Protein
- (14%)
- 2 g
- Fat
- (18%)
- 1 g
- Carbohydrates
- (69%)
- 13 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sodium
- 145 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 985 kcal goes into the pot and 1415 g of ingredients comes out as about 1415 g of food: 70 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.