Pilaf pourkouri (with bulgur wheat)
«Πιλάφιν πουρκούριν» Πηγή: Χριστίνα Γρηγορίου
A pilaf made with bulgur wheat cooked in tomato juice.
Name - Recipe
Πιλάφι από πλιγούρι/πουργούρι. Cooked with onion in tomato juice.
Version A:
2 glasses of bulgur wheat
1 onion
1 cup of olive oil
1kg ripe tomatoes
5 glasses of water
salt
Version B:
2 cups of bulgur wheat
⅓ cup olive oil
1 chopped onion
some vermicelli
2-3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
2½ cups of hot water
salt
Version C:
2 cups of bulgur wheat
5 glasses of water
1 glass of vermicelli
⅓ glass of olive oil
250g of tomato juice
1 onion finely chopped
½ lemon juice
salt
pepper
Version A:
Grate the tomatoes in a cheese grater. In a saucepan, sauté the onion in the olive oil. Add the tomatoes and stir until the tomatoes reduce to a thick sauce. Then add the water and when it boils, add the bulgur wheat and salt to taste. Cook the bulgur wheat for about ten minutes or until almost all the water has been absorbed. Remove the pot from the heat and cover the pot with a towel and a lid until all the water has been absorbed. (Oral testimony from Maria Grigoriou, 68 years old, Agios Tychonas - Limassol).
Version B:
In a saucepan, sauté the onion in the oil, add the vermicelli and stir until golden brown. Then add the tomatoes and stir for a while until they are reduced by half. Add the water and when it boils, add the bulgur wheat and salt accordingly. Boil until almost all the liquid is absorbed and remove from the heat (Ministry of Agriculture 2010, Cyprus Traditional Cypriot Preparations, 19).
Version C:
In a saucepan, put the olive oil and fry the onion and the vermicelli, stirring until golden brown. Add the tomato juice and the water and bring to a boil. The, add the bulgur wheat, the lemon juice, salt and pepper and leave until all the water has been absorbed and the pilaf is cooked (testimony of Iliana Terzi, 59 years old, Kormakitis - Kyrenia).
Sautéing.
Boiling in a pot.
In a local variation of the recipe, only in Agia Marina village, the pilaf with bulgur wheat is also combined with white grapes. It is a tradition of this village (Testimony of Iliana Terzi, 59 years old, Kormakitis - Kyrenia).
Functional and symbolic role
According to several testimonies, pilaf pourgouri is made once a week (note Stalo Lazarou).
It is eaten as a main course or as an accompaniment to meat dishes. It is usually combined with yoghurt.
In the past, but also today, pilaf pourgouri is one of the dishes offered at weddings and christenings (note: Stalo Lazarou).
Additional information and bibliography
"We used to produce the pourgouri ourselves and we would not buy it. More specifically, we used to take 20 okas of wheat and cook it in a large pot. Then we would spread a bed sheet on the roof of the house and lay the wheat on it for 3-4 days in the sun to dry out. Then we would grind it using a hand mill that we had at home and shake the wheat in a large tray to remove the husk. The remaining part was the pourgouri, which we stored in jars” (oral testimony: Maria Grigoriou, 68 years old, Agios Tychonas - Limassol).
See article on Pourkouri in the FOOD section.
Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Agriculture (2010), Cyprus Traditional Preparations, Press and Information Office, Nicosia.
Oral testimonies: Maria Gregoriou, 68 years old, Agios Tychonas - Limassol. Recording: Christina Gregoriou, October 2010. Edited by Stalo Lazarou. Iliana Terzi, 59 years old, Kormakitis - Kyrenia. Recorded by Maria Iosif, 2009. Edited by Stalo Lazarou.
Christina Gregoriou, Maria Joseph / Stalo Lazarou, Varvara Yangou, Argyro Xenophontos
Πιλάφι πουργούρι. Πηγή: Χριστίνα Γρηγορίου.
Πουρκούριν πιλάφι. Πηγή: Βαρβάρα Γιάγκου.
Πουργούρι με παραδοσιακό γιαούρτι και σαλάτα, 2014. Πηγή: Μαρκέλλα Καλλή.
Πουργούρι συνοδευμένο με γιαούρτι, χωριάτικα λουκάνικα, μαύρες ελιές και ντομάτα. Κάτω Δρυς 2014. Πηγή: Έλλη Κορνιώτη.
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