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Veggie Chili using Bulgur Wheat
June 13th, 2008 Madhuram Posted in Mexican Cooking, Soups, Vegan Main Dishes | 
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I saw this recipe in Woman’s Day magazine under Heart Healthy Recipes category. I wanted to try this recipe because it had bulgur wheat as the main ingredient, which I have not tasted before. I use cracked wheat regurlarly, so I always have it in home. I thought that both were same. So before using it in the recipe, I wanted to be sure and check if there was any difference between bulgur wheat and cracked wheat and found out the following; (Source: www.epicureantable.com)
Bulgur Wheat:
Partially hulled whole wheat kernels that are soaked, then steamed (hence pre-cooked if you will), dried and then crushed are called bulghur. It requires no or little cooking. Though modern processes involve oven drying or roasting some villages still sun dry bulghur on their rooftops.
Cracked Wheat:
Raw whole wheat berries that are crushed to varying qualities of texture are called cracked wheat and require cooking. These are also found in 3 grades of coarseness: fine, medium and coarse, the choice of which depends on use and preference.
To simplify it even more bulgur is wheat cracked after cooking and drying, whereas the wheat is cracked in raw stage for cracked wheat.
Are they interchangeable?
This depends on whether the recipe requires cooking or not and your own degree of purism. A salad recipe such as tabooli is uncooked, and so requires true bulghur as do recipes where bulghur is brought to the boil, cooked for a moment then left to rest off heat to swell as in a pilaf. Recipes requiring longer cooking times or coarse grain bulghur can be replaced with cracked wheat, but will need more cooking time.
But both bulghur and cracked wheat are excellent sources of fibre, minerals and vitamins for your diet.
Moving on to the recipe, I have scaled down the measurements given in the original recipe; still we had a lot of chili. I made it for dinner and it was very filling.
Ingredients:
Water – 3 cups
Bulgur Wheat – ½ cup
Olive Oil – 2 teaspoon
Onion, chopped – ½ cup
Red Pepper, chopped – ½ cup
Chili Powder – 1 tablespoon or as per taste
Garlic, minced – 1 tspn
Ground Cumin – 1 tspn
Water – 2 cups
Crushed Tomatoes – 1 cup
Pumpkin Puree (canned) – 1 cup
Zucchini, medium, diced – 1
Frozen Corn, ½ cup
Black Beans (canned), drained and rinsed – 1 cup
Cilantro, chopped – ¼ cup
Accompaniments/Optional:
Reduced-fat Cheddar
Reduced-fat sour cream
Procedure:
1. Put 3 cups of the waer and bulgur in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave on high until bulgur is tender, about 13 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add onion and pepper; saute 5 minutes.
3. Add chili powder, garlic and cumin; saute until fragrant.
4. Add remaining 2 cups water, the tomatoes, pumpkin, zucchini and corn; bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
5. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.
6. Stir in beans and bulgur; heat through.
7. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.
My Notes:
My husband loved the chili. The only thing I didn’t like was the flavor of the red pepper. I will be trying it without the red pepper next time.
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June 13th, 2008 at 6:06 am
What a nice lunch it makes.Good one. I would make some Corn bread to go with it!!:)
June 13th, 2008 at 7:12 am
This recipe really rocks. Bookmarked again!
June 13th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Well that is indeed a whole plate of healthy delicious dish
June 13th, 2008 at 10:32 am
hey..that looks really good. Interesting twist with the addition of bulgur.
June 13th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
the chili looks delicous, the veggie way! Yummy pics too.
BTW, I have posted a recipe for “Your Recipe Rocks” today. Here is the link:
http://teluguruchi.blogspot.com/2008/06/nupurs-kati-roll.html
June 13th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Hey Madhu..Chilli looks great, awesome entry dear!!!
June 13th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
WOW!…. Chili looks so good. Nice color. Loved it so much. Great pictures. YUM! Bulgur Wheat makes it healthy too….
June 13th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
great dish!!it looks so nice.
June 13th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
One of my favourite salad dish is Tabbouleh, and when I decided to prepare it at home,.. I had to hunt down for bulgur, which is one of primary ingredients. Never even knew of it before that. Ha! Ha!
Wow! Your chilli looks great!
(Wish I lived around the corner from you… I’d be dropping in all the time 
June 13th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
hey thats one healthy one pot dish…delciious madhu:)
June 14th, 2008 at 12:46 am
madhu..thats one lovely dish..even I don’t like red pepper much…can replace that!
June 14th, 2008 at 4:58 am
this one is for me!!!
June 14th, 2008 at 5:45 am
A lovely, delicious and wholesome dish Madhuram!!
June 14th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Good stuff…
The recipe looks tasty and healthy too….
A great deal to have tasty and healthy stuff in the same dish…
June 15th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Just came across your blog. I liked this recipe. Great way to incorporate grain and veggies.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:37 am
Hi…I have something for you in my blog
June 16th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Lovely and delicious recipe, Madhuram. I love bulgur and you can be sure I will try it your way!
June 16th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Nice one Madhu. I must try to get Bulgur and try this out sometime. It seems nutritious and gets cooked fast too.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Thank you everybody for all your wonderful comments. Do try it. (Maybe without the red pepper!
)
June 17th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Looks yummy. There’s also a very nice recipe for chili with bulgur in the Moosewood Cookbook.
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:15 pm
We love soup and this sure easy chili recipe. But I think, I will use Barley instead of bulgur wheat (just cos I have it at home
).
October 18th, 2008 at 11:27 am
A friend shared this with me a while back and it is now one of my favorite vegetarian meals.
February 10th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Hi Madhuram,
Just discovered your website and it rocks!
Made this chili for dinner. Hope my husband likes it as much as I do.
Charu welcome to my blog. Actually in my place my husband liked it more than me.