My Favorite Recipes Collection: Cooked Savory Bulgur/Savory Daliya with Veggies: A Healthy Breakfast/Brunch Option

Bulgur is a cereal food made from the groats of several different wheat species, most often from durum wheat. Bulgur is a kind of dried cracked wheat. It is most common in European, Middle Eastern and Indian cuisine.

Bulgur for Turkish consumption is usually sold parboiled and dried, with only a very small amount of the bran partially removed. Bulgur is recognized as a whole grain by the USDA. and the Whole Grains Council. Bulgur is sometimes confused with cracked wheat, which is crushed wheat grain that has not been parboiled. Whole grain, high fiber bulgur and cracked wheat can be found in natural food stores, Middle Eastern specialty grocers, and some traditional grocery stores. It has a light, nutty flavor. In Turkey, a distinction is made between fine-ground bulgur, called köftelik bulgur, and a coarser grind, called pilavlık bulgur. In the United States, bulgur is produced from white wheat in four distinct grinds or sizes (#1 Fine, #2 Medium, #3 Coarse and #4 Extra Coarse). The highest quality bulgur has particle sizes that are uniform thus allowing a more consistent cooking time and result.

Bulgur is also known as "Dalia" in North India. Dalia is popular all over the wheat-consuming regions of North India. It can be consumed as sweet dalia or regular dalia.
Bulgur can be used in pilafs, soups, bakery goods, or as stuffing. In breads, it adds a whole grain component. It is a main ingredient in Tabbouleh salad and kibbeh. Its high nutritional value makes it a good substitute for rice oo couscous.
In Indian cuisine, bulgur or daliya is used as a cereal with milk and sugar. In the United States is often used as a side dish, much like pasta or rice. In meals, bulgur is often mistaken for rice because it can be prepared in a similar manner, although it has a texture more like couscous than rice. A popular South American carnival food, bulgur is often prepared with flower pollen and tapioca syrup and fried in patties^.
Daliya is a popular breakfast cereal in North India and is made with Bulgar or cracked. It can be made either as a sweet dalia kheer (poridge or pudding) or as savoury daliya. This is the recipe for savoury Daliya that was often served on lazy Sunday mornings and this is how we used to make it, when I was growing up in North India.

Ingredients:

2 cups of Bulgur
1 cup of Mix veggies (Here I use frozen mix veggies which contain corn, carrots, peas and beans)
1 cup of shelled edamame (I used frozen)
2 medium potatoes
1 yellow onion
2 tomatoes
1 bunch of green onions

1 green pepper (can use red or yellow pepper)
1" piece of ginger
1 bunch of cilantro
1 juicy fresh lime
4 tablespoon of butter or Ghee (clarified butter)
4 tables spoon of olive oil
2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon of asfoetida (optional if don't have it)
1 sprig of curry leaves
1- 2 green chili pepper
6 cups of water
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper or to taste
2 teaspoon of cumin powder
Salt to taste

If you have a pressure cooker, use it to cook this as it may take long time to cook it on stove, or you may pre-soak the roasted Bulgur for few hours before cooking. I did not pre-soak, because I used pressure cooker. I must say, it is much faster to cook in pressure cooker.
Although I have never tried but I am sure you can cook this in a rice cooker as well.

Method:
* Peel and chop potatoes in small cubes.
* Peel and chop yellow onion. Wash and chop green onions, and green / red pepper.
* Finely chop green chili pepper, peels and grate or finely chop ginger.
* Steam boil the mix veggies, edamame and potatoes. (I used a silicone steamer and cooked them in microwave)
* Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, when these crackle add asefoetida, curry leaves, grated ginger.

* Add both chopped green and yellow onions and saute it until light brown.
* Add chopped green peppers (or red peppers if using red instead)
* Saute for 1-2 more min, then add steamed mix veggies, edamame and potatoes
* Add one cup of water and some salt and cook for 1-2 more min.
*Add one of the two chopped tomatoes.
*Set aside.

* Now take another pan and heat butter or Ghee, add cracked wheat and roast on medium heat for 2-3 min until golden brown. (will need to stir in constantly so does not get burnt)
* While doing this you can boil 4 cups of water on other stove top or in microwave.
* Turn the heat off when the cracked wheat are golden brown, add salt to taste and slowly and carefully add hot water.
*Be careful while pouring water the water and the Bulgar will splatter, keep stirring it with other hand.
* At this point you can pre-soak the roasted

Bulgar if you don't have pressure cooker.
* Since I used pressure cooker I followed the next step immediately.
* Add all the onions peppers, potatoes and veggies, with its water.
* Add turmeric, cumin powder and cayenner pepper powder, add tomatoes and one more cup of water.

* Then transfer the content to the container in pressure cooker and pressure cook for 15 min (5-6 whistles).
* If you don't use pressure cooker, you can cook it on the stove until the Bulgar is tender and all the water is reduced. You may have to stir in between so it does not stick to the bottom of pan.
Turn the stove off .
* Let the cooker cools until all the steam is out.
* Open the pressure cooker and take the cooked Daliya out on to serving platter.

* Add lime juice and garnish with cilantro and rest of the chopped tomato.
* You may use pomegranate seed for garnish as well.
* Serve hot.
* I love this savoury Daliya with home made plain yogurt, but you may serve it with sweet or salty Lassi (chhas made out of yogurt.
* This recipe yields 8 generous servings.

Enjoy !!