Bulgur Porridge with Cinnamon
Bulgur is wheat that has already been boiled and dried at the mill, so on the stove it only needs fifteen minutes. In milk it behaves like semolina with grain left in it: soft, but not bland. The cinnamon and raisins are not decoration — they are what turn a side dish into breakfast.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Rest
- 10 min
- Total
- 30 min
- Servings
- 4
- Level
- Easy
- Per serving
- 310 kcal
Ingredients
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What to use instead
Chopped dates, dried apricots or sour cherries all stand in for the raisins; with cherries add a pinch more salt to sharpen the sourness.
Makes: 4 bowls
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Toast the bulgur
Melt the butter in a pot and warm the bulgur in it for 2 minutes, stirring, until it smells nutty. This is the flavour you do not get by simply covering the grain with milk.
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Step 2: Add the liquid
Pour in hot milk and water with the salt and raisins. The water insures the milk against catching, and the raisins plump up in the time it takes to cook.
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Step 3: Simmer covered
Bring to the boil, turn the heat right down and cook covered for 12–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until nearly all the liquid has gone.
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Step 4: Stir in honey and cinnamon
Off the heat, add the honey and cinnamon. Honey does not go into a boiling pot: the aroma leaves and only the sweetness stays.
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Step 5: Let it stand
Cover with the lid and a towel for 10 minutes. The bulgur takes up the last of the milk and softens evenly — without that pause the centres stay springy.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Fine bulgur (the kibbeh grind) collapses into purée in 7 minutes. Use medium for porridge and keep the coarse one for pilaf and salads.
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Tip
It thickens as you watch. If you are not serving at once, cook it with 600 ml of milk — twenty minutes later it will be exactly right.
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Swap
Chopped dates, dried apricots or sour cherries all stand in for the raisins; with cherries add a pinch more salt to sharpen the sourness.
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Storage
Two days in the fridge. Reheat with two or three spoons of milk per portion, or it sets as firm as a pudding.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 4 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 310 kcal | 1,240 kcal |
| Protein | 10 g | 40 g |
| Fat | 8 g | 32 g |
| Carbohydrates | 50 g | 200 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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