Bulgur with Ground Beef and Vegetables: Easy Pilaf-Style Recipe

Step-by-step recipe

1. To make bulgur with ground meat quickly, thaw the meat in advance. The easiest way is to move it from the freezer to the fridge the day before. Buy “cracked” bulgur, but not the finest grind. The dish tastes better with plenty of onion. For a little heat, I suggest adding garlic and fresh chili. You can use olive or sunflower oil.
   
2. Carefully trim the beef of any bone fragments, tendons and membranes. Large pieces of fat can stay. Grind the meat in a meat grinder and put it in a separate bowl. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan. Once it's hot, let it heat for another 2-3 mins. Then add all the ground beef.
   
3. Peel the garlic (a couple of cloves is enough) and slice it thinly. Cut the fresh chili into rings across the pod. Stir and fry the meat in the oil until it changes color. Then add the garlic and chili. Stir and keep frying until almost all the moisture released by the meat has evaporated.
   
4. Peel the onion and dice it. Add it to the meat and keep frying over medium heat. Stir and fry until the onion is soft and the beef starts to brown slightly. Note that the meat will only brown once all the moisture has evaporated; otherwise the bulgur with ground meat will simply boil. For the same reason, don't cover the pan with a lid.
   
5. Boil the kettle in advance. Add the bulgur to the fried meat; there's no need to rinse it. During processing the wheat grains are boiled and dried, so they only need to take water back up to be fully cooked. Fry the bulgur with the meat for 4-5 mins. The grain will develop a noticeable nutty aroma and become coated with oil.
   
6. I suggest adding 1 tbsp of dried soup mix of herbs and root vegetables. You can buy it in any store, and it's great for soups and broths, stewed meat, pilafs and so on. Salt the meat, add sweet paprika and black pepper, all to taste. Pour two cups of boiling water into the pan and stir. Wait for the liquid to come to a boil, cover the pan with a lid and reduce the heat to the minimum that still keeps it simmering.
   
7. Pilaf-style dishes like this are cooked on the principle of simmering the grain in absorbed liquid. It's more stewing than boiling, but that's beside the point. What matters is that the grain absorbs the right amount of liquid and is then thoroughly steamed. That's what makes the dish fluffy. Stir the bulgur with ground meat occasionally as it cooks. Gradually the free liquid will be absorbed.
   
8. After that, keep heating the grain and meat until the grain finishes cooking in the remaining steam. This is important so the dish turns out fluffy rather than like a sticky porridge. It's impossible to say in advance how long the bulgur will need to steam. It usually takes 15-30 mins. Often people advise taking the pan off the heat at the very end, wrapping it in a warm blanket and leaving it for 10-15 mins. You can do this if you're cooking the grain and meat in a cauldron for a large group.
   
9. Serve the finished bulgur with beef and vegetables hot. Divide it among plates or put it on a large platter and sprinkle with finely chopped herbs. It's a complete dish on its own, but it can also be served as a side, or even cold. It's easy to reheat in a pan or the microwave.