Jewelled bulgur wheat
- Portion size: Serves 6
- Takes 20 min to make, 30 min to cook, plus salting and resting
- Difficulty: easy
Dried barberries are the ‘jewels’ in this bulgar wheat recipe. Find them in Persian grocers and Middle Eastern shops.
Join Extradelicious to unlock Cook Mode
Ingredients
- 250g bulgur wheat
- Sunflower oil or light olive oil for frying
- 2 small onions, halved and sliced paper thin
- 50g green sultanas (or yellow or standard sultanas)
- 50g dried barberries (optional – see tip)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium cucumber (about 400g), peeled, deseeded and diced, tossed with 2 tsp flaked sea salt, then left to drain for 30 minutes
- 1 medium red onion, finely diced
- 4 large vine tomatoes (100g each), deseeded and roughly chopped
- 80g unsalted shelled pistachio nuts
- 50g shelled walnuts, broken
- 40g dried sour cherries, roughly chopped (we used Forest Feast)
- 35g fresh mint, roughly chopped
- 70g fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 35g fresh dill, roughly chopped
- 2 large handfuls of good wrinkly, salty black olives, pitted
- Grated zest of 1½ unwaxed lemons
- Ground cinnamon to dust
Join Extradelicious to unlock Cook Mode
Method
- Wash the bulgur wheat in a sieve under running cold water until the run-off is no longer milky. Put in a pan with 500ml water over a medium heat. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the water has been absorbed.
- Meanwhile, pour 2cm sunflower oil or light olive oil into a pan, heat it gently until shimmering, then fry the onions over a medium heat, stirring often, until golden brown. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. They should be crisp but not burnt.
- When the wheat is ready, remove it from the heat and scatter over the sultanas and dried barberries. Put a double-folded, clean tea towel over the pan, cover with the lid and leave for 15 minutes or so. The towel will absorb the steam and help prevent the wheat turning mushy.
- While the wheat is still warm, fluff it up with a fork, then stir through the 3 tbsp olive oil. Season with salt, then tip into a large serving bowl and leave to come to room temperature. Add all the remaining ingredients except the onions and cinnamon, then mix. Season to taste.
- Scatter a dusting of cinnamon over the wheat, sprinkle with the onions, then serve with the lamb.
Nutrition
- 292kcals Calories
- 14.3g (1.8g saturated) Fat
- 6.7g Protein
- 31.3g (12.9g) Carbs
- 3.1g Fibre
- 0.9g Salt
Leave a comment, question or tip