Burghul with Nuts and Dried Fruit

Preparation time: 50 minutes 

Cooking time: 

Difficulty Level: Medium 

Kashrut Type: Parve or meat 

This simple dish can be substituted for rice or couscous as a meat dish, served as a hot or cold salad with a dairy meal, served as a filling for peppers, zucchini or onions. It can be served with yogurt that is seasoned with garlic, mint, cilantro, or other fresh herbs. 

Burghul manages to replace rice and semolina in many stews. It is not only cheaper but also healthier and can definitely be tastier if prepared correctly. 

You can make the simple and tantalizing dish in front of you with all types of burghul, but it came out most delicious with the thin burghul that issimilar in texture to couscous.   

Any leftovers can be frozen and defrosted at a later date, so there is no problem to make double the amount. 

The dried nuts and fruits can vary. Use nuts of all kinds such as pistachios, almonds, cashews and peanuts. Dried fruits include raisins, apricots, dates, dried plums, and the more exotic dried fruits.  

Ingredients 

For 6-8 servings 

400 g (2 cups) thin burghul*, checked for bugs 

400 ml (2 cups) hot water  

50 grams of nuts and / or almonds, peanuts, etc.– checked for bugs 

50 grams of dried fruit of all kinds, checked for bugs 

8 tablespoons oil 

1 medium onion 

1 teaspoon salt 

2/3 cup of water or fresh broth (from soup or vegetables) 

(Optional) 2 tablespoons pine nuts 

* If it is a coarse burghul, soak it in warm water until softened (20-30 minutes) and continue according to the recipe. 

Preparation 

1. If needed, remove pits from the dried fruits, rinse well, and then soak in warm water for about 15 minutes. Drain and set aside. 

2. At the same time, cut in half or chop the nuts.  

3. In a very hot frying pan, fry the nuts for a few minutes, while stirring. When the smell of roasted nuts fills the room, remove the pan from the fire and set aside. 

4. Cut the dried fruit into cubes or slices (if using small cubes for filling). 

5. Chop the onion and sauté in a saucepan (preferably wide and flat) with the 8 tablespoons of oil until the onion is golden brown.  

6. Add the burghul to the onions, mix well, and continue to fry while stirring for another 2-3 minutes. 

7. Add the dried fruits, roasted nuts, broth / water, salt and spice (if any) and mix. The burghul will absorb all the water very quickly, and it should be “scraped” and crumbled with a spoon or fork (as with couscous), and check that no crumbs stick to the bottom of the pot.  

8. Cover the pot, and then cook on very low heat for another 4-5 minutes. 

9. Remove from the fire, and the remove the lid.  

10. Place a towel over the pot, and then put the lid over the towel. The pot must be completely sealed.  

11. Wrap the pot with another towel and let stand for about 10 minutes. 

12. Open and crumble the mixture with a fork. If you have pine nuts, this is a good time to fry them in a pan to sprinkle on top just before serving. 

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Shuki Galili has been marketing online and has been editing the Humus101 blog for the masses since 2006. He has served in editorial roles and as a reporter for technology and food in the daily press, news sites, and print. He is one of the founding generations of the Internet in Israel and has been involved in the establishment, development and promotion (SEO) of dozens of websites and blogs, many of them related to social activity.