Turkish Bulgur Pilaf

While rice holds a strong role as an accompaniment in Turkish cuisine, bulgur also is well known in that category. When I was younger I don't recall hearing just "bulgur," but rather I heard it called "bulgur wheat," and indeed, bulgur is wheat that is partially cooked, dried and cracked; thus, it is a type of cracked wheat. Bulgur is common in Turkey and in the Middle East. This "Turkish Bulgur Pilaf" can be used as a side dish, or you can make some "cacik," get some pita bread and have some bulgur pilaf for lunch.*   

 

Ingredients (multiple servings):

 

2 cups coarse bulgur wheat

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

3 cloves of garlic, chopped or minced the olive oil

3 ripe roma tomatoes, chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste 

3 1/2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until it softens a bit, then add the garlic and green pepper and saute another 3 to 4 minutes (we're not looking to really brown the vegetables, but it's okay if they begin to lightly brown). Add the tomatoes and the tomato paste, stir well to break up the paste, and then add the bulgur wheat. Now add the broth, salt and pepper and stir to get everything mixed together. Let the mixture just come to a boil and then adjust the heat to low or very low. Cover until the liquid is absorbed. In other words, cook the bulgur as you would cook rice. Stir the pilaf to be certain the vegetables are thoroughly mixed through the bulgur before serving.  

* Turkish "cacik" is the same as Greek "tzatziki," a sauce/dip made from yogurt, garlic and other seasonings. Here is the link to my article and recipe: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/01/greek-tzatziki-turkish-cacik-sauce-dip.html

 

WORD HISTORY:

Pilaf-The ultimate origin of this word for rice or wheat cooked with seasonings is unknown, although speculation seems to tilt toward a non Indo European origin, perhaps Dravidian, a family of languages of southern Asia, with a large presence in the south of India. "Pilaf" goes back to Persian, an Indo European language related to English further down the family tree, which had transliterated "pilav/pelav," a term for cooked rice. Turkish took the word as "pilav," and the term was often also used in Turkish for cooked wheat. English borrowed the word from Turkish initially as "pilau" in the early 1600s, but with the later variant "pilaf" becoming common, although "pilau" is still in use, mainly in some areas of Britain ("perhaps" from influence of transliterated Urdu "pulao," as Urdu is one of the main languages of the Indian subcontinent, where Britain had a long involvement, and where Urdu is the majority language in many northern areas).