Kisir, Turkish bulgur and herb salad

Put the bulgur in a large bowl.

Add 470 millilitres of water, half of it boiling and half at room temperature, and leave 15 minutes until the bulgur is ready.

Mince the parsley very fine, rocking the knife back and forth and folding the herbs back into the centre of the board.

Pull the mint leaves off the stems and mince them slightly coarser than the parsley; add to the parsley.

Slice the spring onion greens into half centimetre rounds and the white parts half that thickness or smaller; add to the herbs.

Pour the soaked bulgur out into a tray.

Add the tomato paste and the hot red pepper paste.

Add the cumin, Aleppo chilli flakes, black pepper, salt and extra virgin olive oil.

Mix by hand, compressing as you go to break up the bulgur clumps and distribute the pastes; knead just under five minutes until the colour is uniform.

Add the chopped herbs and spring onions and knead one to two minutes more until evenly distributed.

Pour a third of a cup of pomegranate molasses evenly over and mix it in; taste for tart, sweet and bright.

Adjust with a tablespoon or two more molasses, or lemon juice if it needs sourness rather than sweetness.

Line a platter with romaine lettuce leaves. Squeeze handfuls of the kisir into clumps and drop them onto the platter.

Finish with more chopped spring onion, ribbons of sliced mint, and optionally more pomegranate molasses or a squeeze of lemon.