Armenian food is a lot of different things. Depending where you are, it’s influenced by Turkish food, Lebanese food, Syrian food. But Eech is uniquely Armenian, says Ani Chemilian.
We joined her in the Learn the Dish Test Kitchen to learn her recipe, which helped her survive through university. Watch the video below!
Ani’s Eech Tips
Eech is an excellent, authentic, vegan salad for any meal. Ani is, of course, biased, but we’ve peer reviewed this recipe as delicious.
When sourcing the ingredients, Ani suggests you make sure you find fine bulgur. You can use coarse, but it will need to cook longer and won’t combine the same.
Everything in Eech is done on the stovetop, but make sure you leave enough time to make it! The Eech should cool completely before you serve. That makes it a great meal to make well ahead of when you plan to eat it.
Ani combines onions, red and green peppers in oil to soften. Don’t sauté, just cook the onions until they’re clear before adding the peppers.
With spices toasted, and her tomato paste and sauce in, Ani adds a cup of water and her lemon juice and brings the mixture to just shy of a boil.
Fresh lemon juice makes all the difference, but bottled will do!
Ani doesn’t completely boil the mixture, she just lets it begin to bubble, and then adds in the bulgur.
Often, depending how long you’ve cooked it, the Eech won’t be quite watery enough at this stage. Ani adds a little more water so that the Eech doesn’t give so much resistance when stirring. You want the liquid to absorb into the bulgur, to make sure it isn’t too firm.
Once cooked, Ani chills the Eech, and then spoons some into a square dish and packs it tightly. When serving Eech, she tells us, the traditional way is to have a shaped portion on a bed of lettuce.
She then adds parsley and green onions to garnish. The presentation is on point.
Dietary Notes:
Dairy free, Nut Free, Peanut Free, Vegetarian, Vegan
Bulgur contains gluten.
What you’ll need:
1 onion, finely chopped
½ red bell pepper, chopped
½ green bell pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon (15 mL) paprika
1 teaspoon (5 mL) salt, and more to taste
1 cup (240 mL) tomato sauce
2 tablespoons (30 mL) tomato paste
1 cup (240 mL) water,
2 lemons, juiced
1 cup (240 mL) fine bulgur
½ cup (120 mL) chopped parsley
Lettuce for plating
Chopped green onions for garnish
The Steps:
Bring a saucepan to medium heat on your stovetop with some olive oil. Add onions and fry until softened and beginning to brown.
Add red and green peppers and fry until the peppers soften, 3-4 minutes.
Add paprika and salt, and fry until aromatic, stirring continuously, about a minute.
Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, water and lemon juice. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat, stir in the bulgur. The mixture should be somewhat liquidy, so add water as necessary.
Let simmer, covered, for 20-30 minutes, stirring periodically.
Remove Eech from heat and let cool. Chill the dish before serving.
Optional: pack chilled Eech into a shaped, serving-size dish
To serve, lay a bed of lettuce on your serving plate. Upturn the serving-size dish of Eech onto the lettuce and let the Eech rest on the plate. (If not following step 8, simply spoon the Eech onto the lettuce). Sprinkle parsley and green onions on top.
Enjoy this hearty dish! It’s a meal all to itself, or can be a great compliment to any meaty main.