Turkish Bulgur Salad Kisir

Turkish Bulgur Salad is refreshing, spicy, tangy and loaded with herbs. It’s the perfect salad to make in spring. You can’t stop once you start eating this salad.

Bulgur Salad, which is called Kisir in Turkish, is the favourite food of all Turkish people, but especially women. It’s like a must to make this salad when you invite your female friends. And I’m not an exception! I LOVE bulgur salad as a meal, side dish or snack. It makes a great picnic food too!

What you need to do is just prepare it at home, put it in an airtight container, place some fresh herbs like lettuce on its top and cover with its lid. It’s ready to go to your favourite picnic place! It’s the same for a lunch box, you can easily take it to work too! Although Turkish bulgur salad doesn’t need anything else and scrumptious enough on its own, I love it with pickles, fresh peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes on the side. It becomes like a wonderful feast this way.

You don’t need a special reason to make bulgur salad, just make it when you crave for. I sometimes have a very strong craving for it even at nights, and I never feel lazy to make it. Well, maybe because it’s very easy to prepare. It requires no cooking, just soak bulgur with hot water, chop all other ingredients and give it a good stir. It’s ready within some minutes! I sometimes make a big bowl of it for lunch or dinner so that some of it is left for my cravings later that day or the following day.

You don’t need a special reason to make bulgur salad, just make it when you crave for. I sometimes have a very strong craving for it even at nights, and I never feel lazy to make it. Well, maybe because it’s very easy to prepare. It requires no cooking, just soak bulgur with hot water, chop all other ingredients and give it a good stir. It’s ready within some minutes! I sometimes make a big bowl of it for lunch or dinner so that some of it is left for my cravings later that day or the following day.

There are two ways of making Turkish bulgur salad. In the first method, chopped onion is sautéd in olive oil with a little pepper paste. In the second method, all ingredients in the salad are raw and chopped finely. I love both versions. You can test it yourself and decide.

There are some veggies you must add into Turkish bulgur salad. These are cucumber, parsley, green onion and onion; all finely chopped. Besides these, you are free to add anything you like. You can add chopped lettuce, fresh dill, garlic, gherkins or even red cabbage. So it’s up to your creativity and taste!

The most common way of serving bulgur salad in Turkey is with fresh lettuce leaves, but I want to share a different serving option this time. That’s how we sometimes serve it in my hometown, Tarsus, Mersin. We use fresh grape leaves instead of lettuce when they are in season. When I saw fresh grape leaves at the market today, I immediately bought some without thinking twice! The first dish in my mind was not stuffed grape leaves, but bulgur salad! Fresh grape leaves are traditionally soaked in hot water for 1-2 minutes before serving, but I love them as they are.

Just put a spoon of Turkish bulgur salad in the center of leaves, wrap and eat! There could be nothing better for a light lunch on these warmer days! No need to mention how healthy it is.

The post was originally published in April 2013 and it’s been updated with new pictures in March 2017.

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Turkish Bulgur Salad Kisir

Bulgur salad with herbs, cucumber and onion sauce makes a perfect light lunch or dinner. You can serve it as a side too. This salad also makes a perfect food for potlucks.

• Author: Zerrin
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Salad
• Cuisine: Turkish

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 cup fine bulgur, better if brown
• 1 teaspoon dried mint
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon pepper paste
• 1 lemon, squeezed
• 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
• 4 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 tomato, finely chopped (optional)
• 1 cucumber, finely chopped
• ½ bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 bunch of fresh dill, finely chopped
• A few fresh mint sprigs, finely chopped
• Grape leaves or lettuce to serve

Instructions

1. Put bulgur and spices in a large bowl.
2. Pour hot water over them and cover with its lid or with a piece of cloth. Let it sit until bulgur rises, about 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile chop all the herbs and cucumber.
4. Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté finely chopped onion with pepper paste. When the soaked bulgur rises, pour sautéd onion over it and stir well.
5. Add in lemon juice and pomegranate molasses, stir well.
6. Toss in all the chopped herbs and give it a good stir.
7. Serve it on plates with lettuce leaves or fresh grape leaves next to it.
8. Optionally, you can serve pickles, tomatoes and cucumbers with this salad.