Bulgur wheat, the popular Turkish whole grain, came into our lives thanks to Ozlem, our friend from Istanbul. As two women who take great pride in making their native cuisines and culture more globally accessible, Ozlem and I hit it off instantly.
A native of Turkey, Ozlem shares the Turkish way of life and delicious recipes on her resourceful blog, Ozlem’s Turkish Table. Over the years, I have tried many of her recipes; they are addictive and simple, her easy-to-make humus being my son’s favorite dip.
Bulgur, a quick cooking whole grain
Ozlem’s explanation on bulgur as a grain is worth a read…it will quickly lead you to the realization that bulgur is to Turkish food as rice and lentils are to Indian food. This inexpensive protein filled whole grain is easily found at your local grocer (try the bulk section or ethnic aisle). Check out ‘pilafs and rice’ on Ozlem’s Turkish Table for more bulgur recipes.
Though we love our staple of rice, lentils and Indian breads; I haven’t stopped experimenting with bulgur ever since it came to our dinner table. It’s exciting to have a new toy…oops; I meant a new grain, to which I can add Indian flavors and twists. I’m happy to announce that bulgur has stood up to the test and taken Indian flavors a step further.
As they say, ‘the proof is in the pudding’- so try this quick-cooking Indian-style pulao with bulgur instead of rice and let me know what you think…
Mixed Vegetable Bulgur Pulao
Serves 2
Finger Peppers, sweet and crunchy
1 cup bulgur
1 cup water or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 bell pepper (or a cup of finger peppers),large dices*
½ cup sweet corn kernels (I use frozen)*
1 medium carrot, thick sliced*
4-5 cremini mushrooms, quartered*
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon garam masala
2 teaspoons tomato paste
¼ cup cilantro
Juice of a lemon
* Use your choice of vegetables, just follow the same cooking process.
Wash and drain the bulgur. Add one cup of water or vegetable stock to the bulgur, ¼ teaspoon salt and bring it to a boil. Reduce the flame and cook covered for only 5-10 minutes (unlike rice, this really cooks fast.) Let it stand for 5 minutes and then fluff the bulgur with a fork so the grains separate. Cover and leave aside till vegetables are ready.
In a sauté pan, heat olive oil along with the garlic and cumin seeds. Notice that we add the garlic to cold oil and let it heat together, this infuses the oil with the garlic and cumin seed flavors and prevents them from burning.
Spicy Sauteed Vegetables, in the pan
Start chopping and adding vegetables to the pan – carrots, bell pepper, mushroom and corn. Sprinkle spices and ½ teaspoon of salt. Sauté till vegetables achieve desired doneness (I like them a bit crunchy.) Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Healthy and Delicious…An Assorted Vegetable Bulgur Pulao
Add the cooked bulgur, cilantro and lemon; stir to blend all the flavors. Serve hot with a dash of lemon; along with this cool cucumber-onion raita.
What is the texture of bulgur? I would like to add non-meat proteins to my diet but have health issues digesting a lot of different foods (beans and veggies are two of them!). Also, based on your cooking experience, how do you think that bulgur would fare when paired with Italian flavorings?
Its got a rice like texture, not the basmati kind but like jasmine rice, slightly more moist…Wow, you must have a tough time choosing protein. Bulgur is wheat, so check whether it suits you…but it definitely goes well with Italian flavors. In fact, this grain is a blank slate much like rice and pasta, great to experiment with! Check out Ozlem’s blog: http://ozlemsturkishtable.com/ for more authentic Turkish bulgur recipes, there are plenty there!
And while on protein, try lentils, especially lighter ones like yellow mung/moong, there is a yellow daal recipe here which works well with Mung/moong lentils.
Glad you liked my recent post. I enjoyed seeing your recipes and hope to try some soon.
Thanks! peach salsa is a unique delicious flavor combination that catch my eye! Hope you like our servings here…
love your presentation!
Thank you! I think we all ‘eat with our eyes’!
Yummy-like the idea of using the bulgur instead of the traditional rice which I always use. Living in Israel, I also use bulgur often but never thought to use it in pulao. thanks for the wonderful idea. will be trying it soon.
Bulgur really holds up well in this pulao…a nice change from the brown basmati rice we have been using. And I love that it cooks so fast!
I definitely need to experiement more!
Check out the new look on our site at http://www.pierotucci.com
This bulgur recipe is a great place to start…the site and collections look great.
Peri – looks delicious … I’ve not made bulgur in a while – hmmm – maybe this weekend! Thank you – Susan
Thanks Susan…love the nutty flavor of bulgur and felt the Indian spices really kicked up the flavor quotient:)
Almost 2am and was about to sleep but this post made me hungry. Gotta head the kitchen before dozinnng off
Thanks…So glad you liked it, worth staying up for:)
Dearest Peri, what a lovely surprise to see the bulgur and your very kind mention of Ozlem’s Turkish Table in your post, I am deeply humbled, thank you very much : ) Your bulgur pulao looks -and I am sure tastes – amazing; the colors are so inviting! Love the nutty taste of bulgur and can’t wait to spice it up like you do : ) My heartfelt thanks again dear friend, xxx Ozlem
My dear Ozlem, thank you for bringing Bulgur…and the many other Turkish flavors into our meals. I meant every word about how much your cuisine and blog inspires me.
I agree, the nutty flavor of Bulgur really gets you hooked to this grain! Much love, Peri.
Thanks Peri for all the delicious recipes. Can’t wait to try this healthy version of
‘rice’ out. Will let you know the results.
Thank Hilla:) feel free to spice it up with a Serrano pepper!
Peri that looks delicious and beautiful!
Thanks Lisa…the Pulao tasted good with Bulgur, something about this whole grains, it adapts well to most flavors.
Reblogged this on the Pub servation and commented:
this looks delicious. i became a fan of bulgur wheat the first time i tried tabouleh.
Thanks for re-blogging…just visited the site, looks great. I was amazed at how well the flavors of an Indian Pulao worked with Bulgur. The nutty flavor of Bulgur has become my favorite too.
Like dfmw, I became a fan of bulgur the first time I tried tabouleh too! But I prefer it hot, not cold. Peri, I like that your recipe is a hot dish, so I am going to give it a try. It sounds delish!
While I’ve had and liked tabbouleh for long, my love for bulgur started with my Turkish friend, Ozlem and her amazing hot bulgur dishes! I’m with you, definitely hot bulgur over cold…this recipe is now my staple for entertaining, sometimes I add shrimp to it too:)
Mmmm, I have some shrimp in the freezer. Thanks for the tip! : – )
Anytime! Its a fresh twist to the recipe:)