Kisir: Turkish Tabbouleh
Turkish food makes my heart & appetite sing. The hearty flavors, taste & warmth of the food, besides being healthy gather into a tickling wanting sensation.
Kisir is no exception; a traditional Turkish side/salad, (call it another form of Tabbouleh, only more spicy), it is a dish made from bulgur flavored with red pepper paste, parsley, and tomato paste. Unlike the Tabbouleh, Kisir has a reddish color due to tomato & pepper paste. It can be eaten cold and used as a salad or is usually served as a meze/appetizer.
Traditionally Taboulleh is made with Bulgur. If you do not have Bulgur, Cracked wheat may be used, however cracked wheat takes longer to cook, & the it does not taste exactly the same as Bulgur. There is often a confusion with the Bulgur & Cracked Wheat or what is commonly called Dalia in Indian terms. Both are wheat products & the difference lies in the way the wheat is processed.
Here is the difference:
Cracked Wheat or Dalia: “Raw whole wheat berries that are crushed to varying qualities of texture are called cracked wheat and require cooking. These are also found in 3 grades of coarseness: fine, medium and coarse, the choice of which depends on use and preference. “
Bulgur: “Partially hulled whole wheat kernels that are soaked, then steamed (hence pre-cooked if you will), dried and then crushed are called bulghur. Because the processes is more involved, bulghur is the more expensive product and is more tender than cracked wheat. It has a pleasant chewy texture, is easier to digest and for most of us, is tastier. Confusingly, some sources use wheat berries to make bulghur. What differentiates the two is that bulghur is soaked, steamed/cooked BEFORE the cracking. This difference gives bulghur a far longer storage life than cracked wheat. ” (More Info in the Grains Basics – Bulghur & Cracked Wheat)
This recipe is adapted from Almost Turkish Recipes.
Kisir: Turkish Tabbouleh
Ingredients: (serves 2-4)
- 1 cup of fıne Bulgur (or Cracked Wheat)
- 3/4 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 Teaspoon Hot pepper paste (I made a paste of the Red Dry Chillies I had at home; adjust the amount to taste)
- 3-4 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 Cup Green Onions/Scallions, finely chopped
- 1 Small Onion, cut in thin half moons
- 2 Cups flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 1 Small Cucumber, finely chopped
- Hot Peppers, finely chopped (adjust amount to taste)
- 1 Tablespoon pomegranate syrup ( I did not have the ready made syrup, so I boiled down some POM juice with sugar & lemon juice)
- Juice of 1/2 lemon (adjust amount to taste)
- 1 Teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Dried Mint
- 1/2 Tablespoon Cumin
- 1 Tomato, finely chopped + more for the sides
- Lettuce leaves
Preparation:
Cooking Bulgur:Soak bulgur in cold water until soft; for about 1/2 hour. Squeeze out excess water from bulgur using hands or paper towel. Or Cook according to the package direction.
[Cooking the Cracked Wheat/Dalia:Soak the Cracked Wheat/Dalia in enough water to just cover it. Let it soak for about an hour. Most of the water will be absorbed. If there is additional water, drain and reserve. Boil 2 Cups of water & cook the soaked cracked wheat for about 15-20 minutes or till tender. Drain the excess liquid & dry it. Set aside the drained cooked cracked wheat.]
Put tomato and pepper paste in a big bowl and mix them together. Add the cooked cracked wheat/bulgur and salt into this mix. Stir once. Cover with and let it soak the water for 10-15 minutes.Cut the onion into very thin half-moon shapes. In a little bowl, knead/crush onion with 1 teaspoon salt . Rinse salt and squeeze excessive water.
Fluff cracked wheat/bulgur with a fork. Add ground pepper, cumin, mint flakes, oil, pomegranate syrup, lemon juice, and kneaded onion. Mix well. At this point taste to see if it needs more lemon juice. Kisir should taste slightly sour.
Add sliced fresh peppers, spring onions, tomatoes, cucumber, and parsley. Mix everything together well.
Kisir is served and eaten with lettuce leaves and tomatoes.
You can make the salad up to 2 hours ahead and keep it at room temperature.
You can wrap some Kisir in a lettuce leaf and eat with slices of tomato on the side.
If you decide to make the Kisir for a crowd, serve Lettuce & Tomato Slices on the side, & the guests can make their own little wraps (Like the one above).
If you have never had Kisir before, you got to give this a try. The fresh taste of the herbs & cucumber combined with the heat of the pepper, the warmth of the olive oil & pomegranate syrup… the summery taste of tomato will definitely get you craving for more. Sending the Kisir to No Croutons Required, hosted by Lisa of Lisa’s Vegetarian Kitchen. The Theme this month is Grains.
Related Posts:
Chick Pea Salad with Roasted Tomatoes
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July 18th, 2009 at 6:52 am
Another version of one of my favorite foods! Sounds just as tasty
July 18th, 2009 at 7:23 am
Turkish food has so much character. We really enjoyed our meals in turkey – especially the street food. A turkish friend of mine makes kofte with bulgur – little round balls of bulgur, tomato paste and sesaonings. Your dish will be perfect for an afternoon picnic
July 18th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Hey!! Thats amazing info on bulgur. I have been using Cracked wheat scene long in my meals but never knew about the easy digesting properties of bulgur.
I am surely going to make this now. Thanks for sharing.
July 18th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Turkish food is always so colourful and full of wonderful flavours. yum yum!
July 18th, 2009 at 9:47 am
beautiful pictures..
July 18th, 2009 at 10:43 am
the wraps are a great idea.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:49 am
This looks delicious! And I love the pics too!
July 18th, 2009 at 10:57 am
As always,a new one from you..looks pleasing..clicks are gorgeous too !!
July 18th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Lovely.I too love Turkish Food and am always looking for recipes.The tabbouleh is delicious.
July 18th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I am one among those, who has never tried Kisir before. We love Tabbouleh at home and liked the idea of serving it on a lettuce and side of toamto.
July 18th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Hey Soma,
I’ve never had Turkish food yet. I like wheat products as they are considered super healthy. Looks like a bright and colourful dish, the 3rd snap is awesome
Happy weekend!!
hugs
July 19th, 2009 at 2:14 am
The second last pic makes a pretty bite
July 19th, 2009 at 3:56 am
What a tasy way to serve Tabbouleh. Completely packed with delicious flavours. Thanks for entering it
July 19th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Fantastic version of tabbouleh!
Soma your pictures are amazing as usual.
July 19th, 2009 at 5:44 am
A very vibrant tabbouleh,love all the seasonings
July 19th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Beautiful! I’ve never tried the Turkish version, but it sounds delicious.
July 19th, 2009 at 7:47 am
I havent experimented with turkish food yet, would love to do so now! love the vibrant colors!
July 19th, 2009 at 8:42 am
I love this wrapped in lettuce, a great lunch snack.
July 19th, 2009 at 10:34 am
wow….mouthwatering…i like the way u have presented it!
July 19th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I too love Turkish dishes! Thanks so much for this lovely entry Soma!
July 19th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
I have never tried Turkish cuisine and so the names are quite new to me.The pics are so tempting and it somehow reminds me of couscous, the texture prbly!Lovely pics:)
July 19th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
ahhhhhhhh
I went to Turkey last month and kisir is the only way I’ll ever want to consume bulgur again. SO GOOD.
July 19th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
Never had turkish food so far…but urs is making me to try that soon…it looks very colorful..:)
July 19th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
I do make dalia a lot … thanks for the info on the difference. Ami usually sheddho kore rekhe di … pore use kori … etao sheibhabe banate parbo surely.
Koto je tomar recipe korbo bole mark kore rekhechi … kobe je kore uthbo … tar opor tumi ektar por ekta darun recipe diye e jaccho.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:56 am
I must confess that I don’t know much about Turkish food, but if this is a good example of it then I need to start exploring it soon. Great colorful pictures
July 20th, 2009 at 6:25 am
Completely awesome recipe,Looks so colourful,wud like to try out with cracked wheat!
July 20th, 2009 at 8:51 am
fantastic !!! feeling hungry right now !
July 20th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Thanks! I am a big fan of Turkish food, so all of you who haven’t tried it yet, do give it try! you will not regret;-)
July 20th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
Wow, looks so fantastic and sounds just delicious. I’ll try it sometime this week. Cheers for sharing.
July 20th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
I also had to research the difference between dalia and bulgur recently when I posted my dalia upma. I like the dalia texture better than bulgur. Pictures look great!
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:16 am
Looks really good. The ingredient list tells me I’ll like it. A kind of Turkish uppuma?
July 24th, 2009 at 3:59 am
ummm yummy again….;-)
July 24th, 2009 at 10:16 am
thanks for telling the diff between cracked and bulgar. I often make dalia – but i always wondered what was the difference …. Next time – i shall follow ur receipe to soak the bulgar wheat and later also add cucumber ….
July 30th, 2009 at 11:05 am
[...] posted Kisir: Turkish Tabbouleh | eCurry – The Recipe Blog Share and [...]
August 3rd, 2009 at 3:24 pm
sounds interesting, although it does look pretty good.
-Jack
August 13th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
[...] of eCurry comes up with a Kisir (Turkish Tabbouleh) that few could refuse. This colourful side is made up of bulgur soaked in tomato paste and hot [...]
September 14th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Soma, you’ve done such a great job with the kisir! It looks great!
July 7th, 2010 at 2:11 am
Looks awesome! can’t wait to try this out