Mercimek Köftesi Turkish Red Lentil Kofte (Vegan)
I got this from the Almost Turkish food blog, looks yummy! I looove red lentils though I'll probably cheat and use rice, kasha, or barley since I tend to not keep bulgur around heh. This is a completely dairy-free recipe that is both vegan and kosher. I guess any kind of onion would work but I imagine a tangy red onion would compliment the lentils well, or sweet yellow for a nice complex flavor, but white will work just fine.
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INGREDIENTS
Nutrition- 1cup red lentil
- 2cups water
- 1⁄2cup fine bulgur
- 1teaspoon sea salt
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1
- 1teaspoon cumin
- 1tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 -2
- 2 -3
- 1⁄4
- 7
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DIRECTIONS
- Boil the lentils in the water, uncovered, until they soak up most of the water, about 25-30 minutes.
- Add the bulgar and salt. Mix once and loosely cover to let the bulgar expand, then remove from the heat and let rest on a potholder about 10 minutes to let it cool off.
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and add the chopped onion and cook until soft, about 10-15 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste and cook another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the cumin and remove pan from heat. Stir once the heat is off.
- Add the onion-tomato paste-cumin mixture to the pot with lentils and bulgar, which should be cool by now. Add a few shakes of cayenne pepper to heat it up if you like.
- Add half of your parsley (about 1-1.5 tablespoons worth), the green onions, and lemon juice to the pot, and mix well.
- Take pieces of the kofte out of the pot and form them into kofte shape. The same size and shape as a Twinkie works, though traditional kofte is about half the size of a Twinkie.
- You can then arrange the lettuce leaves on a big plate and serve that way, but the real deal way to eat them is wrapping each kofte up in a lettuce leaf.
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