Cypriot Pourgouri Pilafi (Πουργούρι Πιλάφι)

Pourgouri pilafi is Cyprus by surname: coarse bulgur cooked with browned fide, onion, and tomato until the grains sit separate and glossy. It is not rice pretending to be pilaf. It is the island's everyday grain pot, cheap, filling, and good with yogurt beside it.

The one method is the browning of the fide. Let the little broken noodles go properly golden in olive oil before the onion and tomato enter the pan. That toasted taste carries through the whole pot, so the bulgur becomes warm and nutty instead of merely boiled.

I keep this one plain because that is its dignity. A good tomato in season, or honest crushed tomato when the calendar says no, and pourgouri coarse enough not to turn mushy. Your grandmother cooked by eye because she'd made it a thousand times. Here are the numbers until you have.