Bulgur might have been the original ready-made meal in a box, if boxes were as old as bulgur.
Instead, it was the original ready-made meal wrapped in a kerchief or packed into a saddle pouch, the most reliable way to fill the belly along the loneliest stretches of the Silk Road.
Bulgur (or bulghur) is made from wheat kernels that have been steamed, dried and crushed. It needs nothing but water to transform itself from something that looks like coarse sand into a chewy yet tender cereal.
It’s remarkably filling, and loaded with all the good stuff you expect from whole grain. Best of all, you can keep on loading. Add noodles for a rice-less pilaf, add meat for a truly hearty meal. Or steam in your favorite veggies.
Bulgur absorbs flavors brilliantly, whether you stir in tomatoes, onions, or butter — or substitute your favorite stock for water.
Bulgur generally comes in three sizes, fine (#1) for kufta (Armenian stuffed meatballs) and in soup; medium (#2) for tabbouleh and pilaf; and coarse (#3) for pilaf and in stuffing. A fourth size is sometimes available, and it is larger still.
All the Armenian cooks I know have their own bulgur size preference, as I have mine. I mostly use #1 and #2. No one has complained yet.
Experiment with the various bulgur sizes to see which works best in your preparations.
Buying Bulgur:
The most obvious place to buy bulgur is in a Middle Eastern grocery store. There you’ll find a plentiful supply of all the sizes with the lowest prices. If you don’t live near one, look in a health food store. They usually have pre-packed bulgur in a few sizes, at a higher price.
Chain grocery stores don’t generally stock plain bulgur. However, I have seen pre-packaged mixes for tabbouleh with the bulgur grain included with a seasoning mix. (Try to avoid those, unless you are truly desperate!) Whole Foods Markets carry bulgur, but be prepared to pay the price.
The Internet is another way to track down bulgur. Some Middle Eastern stores have websites where you can order online and have it delivered to your door.
Check out this post for a Sarma Gurgoud recipe (Tabbouleh) using bulgur.
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My mom's tabouleh (my biased opinion is that it is the best tabouleh in the world) adds diced tomatoes and cucumbers too. The tomatoes make a world of difference!!
It sounds great! Would your mom be willing to share her recipe with The Armenian Kitchen?
If so, please send it to: robyn@thearmeniankitchen.com, and I can post it.
Thanks!
Sorry but tabouleh is not an arminien food, it's libanaise..
libanaise????? i think it is spelled lebanese, and tabbouleh is actually an armenian food as well as assyrian!!! please get your facts straight, and learn how to spell what you are!
Libanaise is lebanese in French. And yes, tabbouleh is a Lebanese dish... I am a Lebanese Armenian.
Dear all, please note that this food is called ITCH and its Armenian.However because it's ingredients are similar to those of Tabbouleh's, some call it Armenian Tabbouleh.Tabbouleh is 100% Lebanese. I'm Lebanese Armenian.
Well also note that there are two ways of cooking ITCH.The first is fresh ITCH where all the ingredients are raw and the other is cooked ITCH as mentioned here.
Many recipes from the people of the entire middle east area were/are shared, adapted and changed by families and villages depending on what was available and each family's taste. If you are Lebanese Armenian you know that there are similarities in Persian, Turkish, Asyrian, Egyptian and even Greek food. We all had grapes and their leaves,lamb, wheat and other staples common to the area. Don't even get me started on Kabob, that Lebonese call Gyros and others call Shawarma, which is now common in Australia and a popular Brazilian street food!
My family's Tabouleh has Armenian cucumber and lots of fresh tomatoes, no paste, and a green bell pepper. It's the way my Grandmother, born in Armenia in 1914 taught me to make it.
Thank you for this wonderful website - very inspiring. Wonderful! God Bless you for keeping the culture alive.
I used the name "tabbouleh" here simply because many people recognize it. In fact, I grew up only knowing this dish as 'sarma gurgood', the name listed in parentheses. It was a specialty of the folks from Musa Dagh (Musa Ler), the birthplace of my maternal grandparents.