Saturday, January 29, 2011

Mercimekli kofte ( lentil balls )

This recipe is from cook book called bereketli olsun by Gonul Candas. This is side dish. Turkish people says meze. I made some changes and posted it with those changes.

Ingredients (servings: 4)
•    1 cup red lentil
•    1 cups bulgur
•    2 cups water
•    3 tsp salt
•    3 tsp cumin
•    1 tsp red pepper flakes
•    1 tbsp tomato or red pepper paste
•    1/4 cup  olive oil
•   half bunch dill chopped
•    3 scallions, chopped thin
•    Half bunch of parsley, minced
•    Lettuce and lemon for serving

 Preparation Method
Clean the lentil, wash it and drain. Pour 2 cups water in a pot, add 1 tsp salt and the lentil in it. Boil it over medium heat until  tender (about 20 or 30 minutes). Lentils should be easily mashed after boiled. Take the pot from heat.
Add 1 cup bulgur into the same pot, while it is still hot. Combine it with bulgur and put the lid on. Wait it for 15 minutes until bulgur absorbs all the water in the pot.
Then transfer this mixture in a large tray. Add pepper paste, 3 tsp cumin and red pepper flakes into it.
 Add 2 tsp salt and start to knead it. They should be combined very well. 
Then add finely chopped scallion and parsley, dill  and olive oil into it, knead it just to combine these greens into it, do not work on it much.
To serve it, take a piece from the mixture and shape it in your palm (one hand is enough) in two or three movements. You’ll see a nice shape with your finger marks on them. Put some leaves of fresh lettuce and place these lentil balls on it. Serve it with lemon slices.


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