Description
Bulgur pilaf is a delicious Turkish side dish combining sweet peppers, tomatoes and nutty bulgur with a big dollop of tangy yogurt on the side! It’s incredibly flavorful, really easy to cook and also makes for great leftovers!
Ingredients
Scale
- 220 g medium coarse bulgur (midyat bulgur or ince pilavlık bulgur) (1 ½ cups), you can use coarse bulgur if you prefer
- 1 yellow onion
- 1 green (bullhorn) pepper
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 30 g butter (2 tbsp), diced
- 1 tsp mild red pepper paste (tatlı biber salçası), heaped or use tomato paste
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 330 ml warm beef stock/broth or use vegetable stock to keep it vegetarian (1 ½ cups)
- Turkish (or Greek) yogurt, to serve
Instructions
- Wash bulgur and prep vegetables. Place the bulgur in a strainer and rinse well under cold running water until the water runs clear. Peel the onion, finely chop it and set aside. Finely chop the green pepper and set aside. Grate the tomatoes using the largest shredding holes of a box grater.
- Cook the vegetables. Heat the oil in a deep non-stick lidded frying pan placed on your largest burner over medium heat. When hot, add the chopped onion. Cook until translucent, about 7 min, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add the chopped green pepper and butter. Cook for 5 min, stirring occasionally. Add the red pepper (or tomato) paste and spread it all over using the back of the spoon. Cook for 2 min. Stir in the grated tomatoes and salt. Cook for 5 min.
- Cook the bulgur. Stir in the washed and strained bulgur, then pour in the stock. Quickly bring to a boil by increasing the heat and then lower it to low. The power settings of my induction cooktop go from 1 to 9 and I cook my bulgur on 3. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 15 min. If all the stock hasn’t been absorbed by then, uncover the pan and keep cooking until it’s absorbed. On the contrary, if the bulgur pilaf is looking dry but not cooked through, add a splash of more water and keep cooking covered until cooked.
- Let the bulgur pilaf rest. When cooked, remove the pan from the heat and mix the bulgur. Lay a clean dish towel or sheets of paper towels over the top of the pan (it shouldn’t touch the bulgur). Put the lid back on and let the bulgur sit for 15 min. Fluff it gently and serve with big spoonfuls of cold yogurt!
Notes
Any leftover bulgur pilaf will keep stored in an airtight container, in the fridge, for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 409
- Fat: 14.2g
Keywords: turkish bulgur, turkish side dish, medium coarse bulgur