Qatmabour/Katmabour/Գաթմապուր

Vaհe H Apelian

Qatmabout with and without mint

Qatmabour is a favorite Kessab dish. I have my fast-food version of qatmabour, which I find equally tasty. If interested continue on reading.

Qatmabour is also one of my favorite Kessab dishes. Whenever I visited my mother, she made qatmabour for me and kept it in the refrigerator. It is an everyday Kessab simple dish. It can be savored at any season.

The Armenian word Գաթմապուրը  may be phonetically spelled and transliterated as qatmabour or katmabour. 

The other day I asked my cousin Stepan J Apelian the recipe of qatmabour. He sent me the following: ““Boil the bulgur (preferably No.4) well, until the grains open. Sprinkle with salt and let it cool. Then beat the yogurt well, and slowly add cold water according to taste. Light or thick, as you like.

Add to the cooled bulgur, while stirring at the same time. Very simple.” 

Stepan also noted the following. “The people of Kessap say "Jajukh with a lot of water, and the qatmabour with a lot of water are for the rich. The thick and solid ones are for the poor. You choose.”

It occurred to me to also check the Kessab recipe cookbook I have: “KESSAB, recipes from my childhood” by Zevart Keshishian. It is a beautiful, hard cover book, almost 200 pages long and has the recipes of all Kessab food I know. I checked there too. I found the recipe presented as Kakmabor. The recipe called for 1 cup of bulgur #4, 3 cups of water, 2 cups of buttermilk, salt and pepper and dry mint. The preparation is simple, much like Stepan had described: “Add bulgur to boiling water, cover, and simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until well cooked. Set aside. Combine cooked bulgur with buttermilk, sprinkle with dry mint, and serve cold.”. Buttermilk she noted is made by mixing equal amounts of yogurt and water, and a pinch of salt. She calls Kakmabor, “Bulgur with Buttermilk.”

Let us be reminded that taste is acquired. Not all foods taste equally appetizing to all. I have my version of qatmabour Instead of using bulgur, which takes 20 to 30 minutes to prepare, I use old fashioned quaker oat and resort to microwave as directed, which takes a little over 2 minutes. I set the microwaved oat aside, as I prepare the yogurt, and then combine the two, and at time, I sprinkle powdered mint I have prepared from my garden mint.

Voila, oat qatmabour, or instant qatmabout, see the picture above.

By all accounts qatmabour, with bulgur or  with oat, such as regular Quaker oat, is a healthy dish. Try it. More likely than not, you will like it too.