meyhane pilavı or meyhane-style spicy pilaf

I can’t even begin to tell you how delicious this pilaf is and I am kicking myself for not trying it out before. I must admit, my mum never cooked it at home so I had to research it in Turkish. The original is a non-vegan one however, many non-meat ones are quite popular by the looks of things. Since I had quite a few banana chillies in my fridge at the moment, I thought this was the right time to give it a try.  And, I’m glad I did.

The name “meyhane” means traditional Turkish pub which dates back to Byzantine times and it’s a miracle that meyhanes survived the usual alcohol bans during Ottoman Empire.  I guess we need to thank minorities of Istanbul like Armenians, Jews and Greeks for this. Read more here.

Recipe for Meyhane Pilavı or Meyhane-Style Spicy Pilaf

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:
1 cup bulgur (coarse variety), washed and drained well
½ brown onion, chopped
1 small banana chilli, deseed and chopped into small squares
1 tsp concentrated tomato paste
½ tsp hot chilli paste
2 tsp (heaped) Massel stock powder beef style
2 cups boiled water
1 tbsp vegan margarine
½ tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp dried spearmint
½ tsp Turkish chilli flakes
Salt and pepper

Method:
• Mix the stock powder and boiled water together in a bowl and set aside.
• In a shallow saucepan, heat the oil and vegan margarine and add the onions and chilli peppers. Sprinkle with a little bit of salt and fry them until they are fully cooked.
• Add the tomato paste, hot chilli pastes, dried mint, salt, pepper, Turkish chilli flakes as well as the stock you prepared earlier on. Stir carefully and make sure that both pastes are dissolved fully.
• Lastly, add the bulgur. Stir well. Put the lid on. Once it boils, reduce the heat and cook until all the moisture is absorbed.
• Remove from the heat and place a sheet of paper towel between the pot and its lid. This’ll absorb the rest of the moisture nice and easy.
• Serve warm and afiyet olsun Peoples 🙂