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Itch – Armenian Bulgur Salad aka Armenian Tabbouleh

2019-11-14
  • Servings: 4

Armenian cuisine is connected to the geographical dispersion of its people.
On their exodus, the Armenian diaspora picked new ingredients, new flavours
and added them to their original homeland cooking.

Thousands of Armenians arrived to Lebanon, when the Ottoman Empire started the massacre of their people, between 1915 and 1917. They were granted asylum and became Lebanese citizens.

Some Armenian recipes have mingled with the Lebanese ones, creating a wider variety of flavours.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup of coarse bulgur (white or whole wheat)
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 4 ripe tomatoes, diced or about 400g of chopped tinned tomatoes
  • 1 small green bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 tbsp of hot red pepper paste, or hot paprika to taste
  • A pinch of each : allspice, cinnamon, cumin, black pepper, and salt to taste
  • 1 handful of chopped parsley
  • A small handful of mint leaves, finely chopped
  • 3 tbsp of olive oil + extra for drizzling
  • 1 tbsp of lemon juice + a handful of chopped spring onions
  • Optional: decorate with pomegranate seeds

Method

Step 1

In a saucepan, put the bulgur with some water and salt on a medium high heat. Bring it to a boil then remove from the heat. Let the bulgur sit in until it is tender. Drain if any water is left and let it cool down.

Step 2

Warm the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium high heat and fry the onions first then the green peppers for about 4 minutes. Add all the tomatoes and spices. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Step 3

When the tomato sauce has cooled down, stir in the bulgur together with the lemon juice, the parsley, the mint and chopped spring onions. Drizzle some extra olive oil and mix well.

Step 4

Serve with lettuce or cabbage leaves. In Spring, the Itch is eaten with fresh vine leaves instead.

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