Kisir (Turkish salad)

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small, sliced red onion
  • 2 garlic cloves very finely chopped
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 red chilli halved, deseeded and cut into fine shreds
  • 1 green chilli halved, deseeded and cut into fine shreds
  • 1¾ tbsp tomato purée
  • 250g bulgur wheat
  • 4 plum tomatoes chopped
  • 15g walnuts roughly chopped
  • 30g bunch flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
  • big handful mint leaves, torn
  • 1 large lemon, juiced or 2 tbsps bottled juice
  • 85ml extra virgin olive oil
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Step by step

  1. 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.
  2. Add the cumin and chillies and cook for another 1 min.
  3. Stir in the tomato purée and 175ml boiling water.
  4. Add the bulgur wheat, season, stir everything together, remove from the heat, cover and leave to sit for about 15 mins. The water should have been absorbed.
  5. Fork the grains to separate and aerate them, then add the tomatoes, walnuts, pomegranate seeds and herbs and fork them through.
  6. Mix the lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil in a small bowl.
  7. 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).
  8. Serve at room temperature.