Red Lentil Kofta
This has been a summer devoid of blogging so it must be a revelation to make me enter here! I just had something like this at a restaurant in astoria. They were amazing. I'm going to try my own version as soon as possible. These koftas are served sprinkled wth lemon and rolled up in lettuce leaves.
Ingredients:(serves 4-5)
1.5 cups red lentils
1 cups finely cracked bulgar wheat
3 cups of water (used for cooking the lentils)
4 tbs olive oil
1 big onion, peeled and finely diced
1 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
a handful of dill, finely chopped
6 spring onions, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 lemon's juice
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp mint
salt and pepper to taste
lettuce leaves and lemon wedges for garnish
1)Wash the lentils and cook them in water until lentils are soft.
2)Near the end of the cooking time add the bulghur wheat. Let the bulgur soften for a while.
3)Meanwhile sauté the chopped onions and garlic in olive oil.
4)Add the tomato paste and spices.
5)Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and let the mixture cool for a while(so that you don't burn your fingers while shaping them).
6)Shape them into patties and serve on a bed of lettuce with lemon wedges.
TIP: If you don't feel like measuring ingredients while cooking, be careful in the first step. If you add too much water while simmering the lentils, they will be too watery and it will be very hard to shape them into patties. The important point here is that, when lentils are cooked, nearly all of the water should be absorbed.