Kısır

Method

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1. Put the bulgur in a large bowl, pour the boiling water over, cover with a plate and leave 20 minutes until the water is absorbed and the grain is tender.

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2. Fluff it with a fork and let it cool to just warm.

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3. Add the pepper paste, tomato purée, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, salt, Aleppo pepper and cumin.

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4. Work it all through with your hands for 2 minutes, squeezing the mixture through your fingers until the grain is evenly red.

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5. Fold in the parsley, mint, spring onions, tomato and cucumber.

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6. Taste and adjust — it should be sour, salty and only mildly hot.

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7. Serve with the lettuce leaves for scooping and the pomegranate seeds scattered over.

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Chef’s Tips

• Fine bulgur, not coarse. Coarse bulgur needs cooking and gives a completely different salad.
• Mix it with your hands. It genuinely tastes different from a spoon-stirred version.
• Add the wet vegetables last, and only what you will eat that day — they water it down overnight.

Common Substitutions & Variations

• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.

Pairing Suggestions

• Lettuce leaves as the spoon
• Ayran
• Part of a meze spread

Storage & Reheating

Refrigerate up to 3 days; keep the cucumber and tomato out if making ahead and fold them in at the last moment.

Common questions

Nutritional Highlights

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list. Treat these as an estimate — brands and cuts vary.