If you like simple, yet, delicious salads, then you came to the right place. The mystic kisir salad is a genuine blend of the old world. Once you get hooked, you might start making it every week. There is no need to be discouraged by the long list of ingredients. They mostly consist of green vegetables. And the only thing you have to do is to chop them all finely.
Kisir or Tabbouleh
Two traditional spicy salads and they both taste great. But do not mix kisir salad with tabbouleh. It is a completely different take on bulgur (cracked wheat). Both salads are full of nourishing vegetables, making them a good source of minerals and vitamins. Yet, kisir has some unique ingredients on its own. And the best part is that you can modify it according to your taste once you capture the initial feeling of the recipe. My motto is to chop all the green veggies in the fridge to blend with my kisir.
When it comes to bulgur salads, it is easy to be creative! For kisir (kısır) salad, the main ingredients are finely ground bulgur, spring onions, cucumbers, peppers, fresh herbs, and tomato paste. However, you can add any salad ingredient as you wish to experiment. I always add a very small amount of dry mint to uplift the other spices.
Why kisir salad is a healthy dish?
Eat healthy vegetables with spicy ethnic salads. Turkish bulgur salad kisir is just one of them. You get to explore different spice blends while receiving vitamins B, A, C, folate, calcium, magnesium, and more.
Nowadays, vegan diets are adapting more and more recipes from the Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern cuisines. I believe it is a great way to spice up things a bit. Middle-Eastern cuisine itself is very meat oriented. Nevertheless, they love to exaggerate salads in a good way. In turn, we end up with rich salads that we get to consume solely as a meal.
MAKING KISIR SALAD AT HOME
Feel free to enjoy kisir as a side dish or appetizer. It goes great with crackers or salty puff pastry. If you cannot find any of the ingredients below, just skip them. Of course, bulgur, olive oil, and tomato paste are essentials. Try to dice and chop the vegetables as tiny as you can.
How to make bulgur salad – KISIR
Course: Recipes, Salads, Side dish, Turkish Cusine6
servings15
minutes5
minutes200
kcal20
minutesIngredients
1 cup of finely ground bulgur (do not use coarse bulgur – bulghur)
1 ½ cups of hot water
2 green peppers (or green bell peppers), chopped
2-3 scallions (green onions), sliced thinly
1 medium size tomato, or 4-5 cherry tomatoes, diced into small cubes
2 medium size cucumbers, diced into small cubes
1 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped
1 red hot chili pepper, chopped (skip if you don’t like it hot)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 tablespoon pepper paste (optional)
5 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon sour pomegranate syrup (or use pomegranate juice)
1/2 teaspoon dry mint
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
Directions
- Wash and drain the finely ground bulgur, and add it into a large bowl. Note that I used the saucepan as the main bowl, but that is only because it was large enough. We will not cook the bulgur.
- Add hot water into bulgur, cover, and set aside.
- Chop all the greens, cucumbers, and tomatoes into very tiny pieces.
Make sure you chop and slice all the greens as tiny as possible!
- Get a small bowl to prepare the salad dressing for kisir.
- Add the olive oil, pomegranate syrup, lemon juice and mix well.
- Add all the spices, tomato paste, pepper paste and blend well to incorporate.
- Add the sauce on the bulgur and mix well.
Make sure you blend them well.
- Add all the other ingredients and mix well.
Notes
- You can use cake molds to shape the spicy kisir salad if you like. It is completely optional. I used a heart-shaped silicone mold (check out the picture).
Kisir salad is considered to be a mezze (appetizer) at our home traditionally. It is a versatile dish that you can serve with almost anything. However, the main ingredient bulgur has a way to make you feel full fast. So, you might want to cut down the other appetizers as there may be too many leftovers for the next day! On a side note, it goes great with grilled lemon chicken or traditional kofte meatballs.
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