Tabbouleh
A parsley salad with bulgur in it, not the other way round. The grain hydrates in tomato juice and lemon rather than water.
- Prep
- 30m
- Cook
- —
- Waiting
- 30m
- Total
- 1h
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Easy
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 60 g | Leave the bulgur to swell in the tomato juices for 30 minutes 30m No boiling water. Fine bulgur is already parboiled and cracked, so cold acidic liquid is enough. | Toss everything together and eat within the hour 5m Dress at the last minute. Salt and lemon collapse the parsley if they sit on it. | |
| 400 g | |||
| 1 tsp | |||
| 150 g | Chop the herbs by hand, as fine as patience allows 15m A sharp knife slices the cells. A blunt one or a processor bruises them and the salad turns dark and bitter. | ||
| 20 g | |||
| 4 | |||
| 4 tbsp | Whisk to combine 2m | ||
| 5 tbsp | |||
| 1/4 tsp | |||
| 1/2 tsp |
-
Leave the bulgur to swell in the tomato juices for 30 minutes
30m- fine bulgur wheat 60 g
- ripe tomatoes 400 g
- fine salt 1 tsp
No boiling water. Fine bulgur is already parboiled and cracked, so cold acidic liquid is enough.
-
Chop the herbs by hand, as fine as patience allows
15m- flat-leaf parsley 150 g
- mint 20 g
- spring onions 4
A sharp knife slices the cells. A blunt one or a processor bruises them and the salad turns dark and bitter.
-
Whisk to combine
2m- lemon juice 4 tbsp
- extra virgin olive oil 5 tbsp
- ground allspice 1/4 tsp
- black pepper 1/2 tsp
-
Toss everything together and eat within the hour
5m- from 1 Leave the bulgur to swell in the tomato juices for 30 minutes
- from 2 Chop the herbs by hand, as fine as patience allows
- from 3 Whisk to combine
Dress at the last minute. Salt and lemon collapse the parsley if they sit on it.
Why the grain soaks in tomato
Fine bulgur has already been steamed, dried and cracked at the mill, so it only needs to take on liquid, not cook. Given plain hot water it swells fast and turns slack. Given cold tomato juice and lemon it swells slowly over half an hour and arrives seasoned all the way through, and the acid keeps the grains separate rather than pasty.
The ratio is the other thing people get wrong. This is roughly two and a half parts parsley to one part grain by weight — the bulgur is there for body, not bulk.
Notes
- Dry the parsley completely before chopping. Wet leaves smear instead of slicing.
- Deseed the tomatoes but keep the juice that runs out; that is the soaking liquid.
- Allspice is quiet but noticeable. Leave it out and the salad reads flat.