Kisir is a Turkish salad made with bulgur wheat (usually available in organic food stores and in the oriental food aisles of some grocery stores), very common especially in the southern / southeastern parts of Turkey. It is commonly served as a cold starter before any meal, with raki or as a salad in any type of gathering. It is usually served with leaves of lettuce on the side, and sometimes eaten by wrapping a couple of spoons of the salad in a lettuce leaf. Most people add quite a bit of cayenne pepper and make it pretty spicy (which is probably how the original recipe is supposed to be), but I prefer it with just a hint of spice or no spice at all.

Another note is on the sour pomegrenate extract, which is also pretty common in the southern and southeastern parts of Turkey. So far I have seen this only at the Greek supermarket north of downtown in Edmonton, but it might be available in specialty stores selling Mediterranian food. It is a very sour and concentrated liquid with a dark red - brownish color. It tastes awful by itself but adds a wonderful flavour to salads, especially this one. Moreover, it improves the appearence quite a bit by making it look a little darker. So, if pomegrenate extract is available, it wins my vote over lemon juice.

KISIR

2 cups bulgur wheat

1 small onion

6 green onions

3 tomatoes

1 green bell pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh dill weed

Juice of 1 lemon or 2 tbs of sour pomegrenate extract

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Salt to taste

Put the bulgur wheat in a cooking pot, add 2 cups of boiling water, cover and leave to simmer. Chop the onions, tomatoes and peppers finely. When the bulgur wheat absorbs all the water, add in the cayenne pepper, salt and the onions, mix well and knead with hands like kneading dough. Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well and let cool down. The salad is usually served at room temprature.