Kisir Recipe Turkish With Bulgur

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.

Steps:

• Place the bulghar wheat in a bowl with enough boiling water to cover. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes. Chop veggies if they are not already chopped.
• Combine the red pepper paste (or tomato paste) with the veggies, herbs, and spices. Mix well.
• Drain the bulghar wheat and place on a towel to squeeze out excess water.
• Combine with the red pepper paste and mix well.
• Cover and refrigerate for a few hours before serving.
• Serve with grape leaves, romaine lettuce, and fresh pita bread.

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.

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.