Orange bulgur with zucchini, sugar apricots, poppy seeds and sumac-mint yogurt

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 140 g bulgur
• 280 ml orange juice
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp thyme, dried
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp coriander powder
• ⅛ tsp cumin powder
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil for frying
• 400 g zucchini
• 125 g sugar apricot(s)
• 2 small onions
• 20 ml orange juice
• 1 tbsp blue poppy seeds
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tsp vegetable oil for frying
• n. B. Pepper, black
• 100 g natural yogurt (3.5% fat)
• 2 tsp sumac
• ½ tsp honey
• ½ tsp mint, dried
• n. B. Salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes

First, prepare the dip by blending yogurt with sumac, honey, and dried mint until smooth, seasoning with salt, and letting it sit in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour so the red color from the sumac can infuse into the yogurt. Wash the zucchini, trim off both ends, and cut the zucchini into small cubes. Place it in a sieve with the vegetable salt, mix well, and let it sit for at least 30 minutes, stirring the vegetables occasionally. Score the sweet apricots all around, remove the stones, and cut the flesh into strips. Peel the onions and slice them lengthwise. Wash the bulgur to remove the starch and drain well in a sieve. Heat vegetable oil in a pan and fry the bulgur for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the thyme, turmeric, and coriander powder, and heat briefly. Deglaze with the orange juice. Add the salt and bring everything to a boil. Then, cover the bulgur and let it swell over low heat for about 10 minutes. Then, remove the pan from the heat, stir in the olive oil, finely chopped parsley, and cumin powder, and let the bulgur swell, covered, for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a non-stick pan, dry-roast the poppy seeds over high heat for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until they smell toasty. Transfer the poppy seeds to a small bowl and set aside for later. Heat the vegetable oil in the pan and sauté the onions over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes. Add the well-drained zucchini cubes and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, for about 4 minutes, until they begin to brown. Then add the sugar apricots, stir everything together for about 1-2 minutes, deglaze with the orange juice, add the poppy seeds again, and briefly boil the orange juice down while stirring. Finally, season to taste with freshly ground black pepper. When serving, place the bulgur in the center of the plate, arrange the vegetables around it, and pour the dip over the bulgur. Notes: Poppy seeds and sumac are inexpensive to buy at any Turkish supermarket. If you don’t have poppy seeds, you can toast sesame seeds in a pinch, but the intense roasted aroma that gives the vegetables their special flavor can only be achieved with poppy seeds. If you don’t have sumac, you can acidify the yogurt with a little raspberry vinegar, but then you’ll miss out on the reddish color and the special flavor of the sumac. If you use soy yogurt and agave syrup, the dip, and thus the entire dish, is vegan.