Mercimek Koftesi - Turkish Red Lentil Kofte

This is one of popular vegetarian appetizer that I tried from Almost Turkish blog.The snack is made of red lentils (masoor dal) and bulgur and these are cooked and then mixed with spiced and browned onion and then shaped into koftes or patties as I have done and then consumed.No pan frying or baking or deep frying etc.This is what that attracted me to these as I wanted to taste them as it is the first time I was seeeing a kofte without frying,steaming or baking -simply shape and eat. It is traditionally served kabab shaped with lettuce leaves but erm,..for my ease I have made them into round patties.Thanks Burcu of Almost Turkish for the recipe.

Ingredients:

Masoor Dal /Red Lentils: 1 cup
Bulgur Wheat: 1/2 cup

Onion: 1 medium

Spring Onion/Scallion: 2+ white and green parts separately chopped
Tomato Paste: 1 tbsp
Hot Pepper Paste: 1 tbsp (optional)(I used normal chilli flakes)
Cumin powdered :1-2 tsp

Salt
Fresh Parsley: chopped almost 3 tbsp + more for garnish
Olive Oil

Preparation:

Wash and clean and cook red lentils in adequate water as needed.When the lentil is almost cooked and there is just a little water remaining,add salt and bulgur and stire and cover the dish and remove from the heat.Let the dish sit for around 10 minutes or so,when the bulgur gets cooked and mixture becomes completely dry.

Chop the onions finely.Also chop the white and green part of the scallion and keep them separate.Finely chop the parsley .

Heat a pan with olive oil and add onions and saute.Add the white part of the scallion along with the onions and continue to saute till soft.Then add tomato paste,little salt and red chilli flakes or hot pepper paste.Cook for 2 more minutes and then remove from heat.Mix well with lentil-bulgur mix.Add chopped parsley and mix well adjusting salt.

Shape into koftes or patties and garnish with green part of the scallions and more chopped parsley.Serve wrapped in a lettuce leaf.I shaped into patties and served with ketchup and a yogurt dip.

I wanted these to be spicy so I added the chilli flakes.Hot pepper paste or Aleppo pepper if available can be added.I liked the patties with tomato ketchup and also spiced yogurt.My daughter also liked it thgh my husband did not .And to think my daughter does not like bulgur but my husband does especially in soups.So it depends individual taste or I do not know....This is also one dish where I added lots of parsley.Normally i find parsley is sharper compared to coriander and I tend to avoid it or reduce it ,but this time there was no reducing the amount and it turned out much better than expected.The simple cooked dal without any shallow or deep frying or any so called spiced gravy was a new experience for me.If you like bulgur then this is the snack for you.Hope Srivalli accepts a plate of this for MLLA#18, an event by Susan.