As a rule, rice grits or buckwheat often appear on our tables. Tired of? Then today we will tell you how to cook bulgur for a side dish. Many housewives probably heard about this product, but ignorance of the matter, as they say, forced to pass by shelves with this groats. And done in vain.
Let's understand and talk in more detail about bulgur. What kind of cereal is it, how to cook it, with what products to combine, etc. We will also offer some simple but very tasty recipes that even a beginner inexperienced in culinary skills will cope with.
What is bulgur
So, the first question that we will deal with is what bulgur is. This cereal is crushed (devoid of its shell), steamed, and then dried wheat. Depending on the type and method of crushing, bulgur can be fine, medium or coarse grinding (pilavik). Porridge bulgur is very popular in the east. Especially it is eaten in Turkey, even replacing rice.
What to cook
If you are just starting to get acquainted with a product such as bulgur, what kind of cereals it is, how to cook it, and for which dishes it is best suited, until you know, then let's figure this out. Firstly, as we said above, this is an excellent substitute for our usual rice. From it you can cook an amazing delicious pilaf.
Bulgur is also used for making fragrant cakes and bread. You can make hearty pies from bulgur using cereal as a filling. Many housewives use this product in the preparation of tomato soups with a rather thick consistency. And bulgur is suitable for salads as well as possible.
Bulgur with meat combines just fine. Especially it interacts with chicken or lean beef. A very successful combination is bulgur and minced meat. With this mixture you can stuff pies and pies, stuff tomatoes and sweet bell peppers, eggplant and zucchini.
By the way, porridge bulgur is an ideal dish for those who follow a diet, fast or practice vegetarianism. It can be made sweet or slightly salted. Bulgur is friable, it is perfect for vegetables in the form of a side dish or can act as an independent dish.
Beneficial features
This surprisingly delicious cereal with a delicate nutty flavor is very good for health. Bulgur contains a large amount of carbohydrates, and the glycemic index of the product is very low. The nutritional value, when compared, is the same for bulgur as for pasta made from durum wheat. And they are known to be very useful.
Croup contains a large amount of vitamins and minerals useful for our body. Bulgur is rich in magnesium, zinc, iron and phosphorus.
How to cook bulgur
So, we turn to the main question - how to cook bulgur for a side dish? Just say that there are two ways to prepare this dish. First, cereals can be quickly fried in oil and then quickly boiled. Secondly, you can just boil it for a long time and get friable porridge, no worse than in the first version.
As a rule, Russian housewives to the question: "How to cook bulgur for a side dish?" - they will answer that it needs to be cooked. The option of roasting is often not used in our country, as it takes time and some skill. This option is more often used in the East and Central Asia.
Today we will cook bulgur, as this is a faster and easier option, suitable for our hostesses. To do this:
- One cup of cereal.
- Two cups of water.
- Salt pepper.
- A little lemon juice.
- Cinnamon stick (optional).
Pour water into the pan, put the cinnamon stick there and bring to a boil. We take out the stick (it will no longer be needed, since when cooking it already gave all its aromatic properties to water). Submerge the wheat grits in the water , season with salt and pepper and cook for about ten minutes.
How to cook bulgur on the side dish correctly? As a rule, no one will tell you the exact cooking time. It will range from seven to fifteen minutes. Experienced housewives say that porridge is ready when all the water has been absorbed into the cereal. See for yourself, watch, count your cooking time. After all, everything will depend on the amount of cereal that you cook, and on the strength of the fire on which the pan stands.
After the porridge has absorbed all the water, turn off the fire. Add a little butter there, mix, add lemon juice, mix and leave the dish alone for ten minutes. You can even cover the saucepan with a thick towel. Or put in pillows, as my mother acted with mashed potatoes in childhood.
Bulgur with meat
As promised, we tell how to cook bulgur on a side dish for meat. For this dish we need a very simple set of ingredients:
- One glass of bulgur.
- 400 grams of beef.
- One can of peeled tomatoes.
- Butter - 40-50 grams.
- Salt and pepper, as well as spices, to taste.
This dish uses two containers at once: a pan and a pan. Everything is prepared at the same time, which is very convenient and saves time. In the pan, as you already understood, we will cook bulgur. How to do this, we already talked a little higher. In the pan we put the meat, sliced into long straws. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper and fry over medium heat for about ten minutes. During this time, cereals are cooked. Add bulgur to the meat, add some water and simmer for some more time until the water has completely evaporated. You can also add butter. But if you follow a diet, then without oil the dish will turn out to be very tasty and satisfying.
You can serve it by decorating the dish with sweet bell pepper, slices of lemon, fresh tomato or figured cucumber.
Cooking soup
Soups with bulgur are also very tasty and fragrant. The dish is perfect for lovers of "thin" for lunch, and moody kids will also like it. But immediately we want to note that cooking a large pan, as we usually do with borsch, is not recommended. After standing for a day in the refrigerator, such a soup will turn from "thin" into ordinary thick porridge.
To make soup, you need a pre-prepared meat broth. We will add potatoes and frying to it (carrots with onions). Bulgur is recommended to be slightly fried in oil and then also added to the soup. For taste and aroma, at the end of cooking, add more greens. This is an excellent dish for children and dietary table. The soup is rich, hearty, but it is easily digested and does not give extra calories.
Bulgur pilaf
Pilaf is a favorite dish of many. Cooking it from bulgur instead of rice is simple. By the traditional principle, fry the meat, add carrots, onions. Pour bulgur and add water. It should be noted that such a pilaf will cook an order of magnitude faster than with rice. You will need about fifteen minutes. Then turn off the fire, cover with a towel, wait half an hour and you can eat amazingly delicious and crumbly pilaf.