Bulgur has more character than couscous and costs almost as little fuel, because it is parboiled before it is ever sold. Boiling water and a lid is the whole method.
The dates and the cumin together are the point. Sweet-and-savoury in the same grain dish is standard across the Levant and it reads as strange only if you have not eaten it. The cumin stops the dates being a dessert, and the dates stop the cumin being austere.
- Bulgur, chopped dates, cumin, cinnamon and salt in a pan or bowl.
- Pour over 300 ml of boiling water. Cover. Fifteen minutes, lid on, off the heat.
- Fork it through. Olive oil and lemon juice stirred in.
- Almonds over the top, toasted dry in the pan first if you have the fuel.
Bulgur takes a little more water and a lot more time than couscous, fifteen minutes rather than five, so start it before you do anything else.
Serves 2. Good at ambient temperature the same day.