For those of you that may not know, my mother-in-law is Turkish. In Turkish, kofte means, “a little patty.” This is another one of her family’s recipes. It is very good! If you have been wanting to try different foods, I highly suggest giving this a go. This recipe calls for bulgur, but I was out of it so I subbed quinoa and it came out great. Might be an option for those looking for a gluten free recipe. 🙂
Lentil Kofte
Lentil Kofte
Ingredients
- 2 cups red lentils
- 1 cup fine bulgur
- 1 medium to small onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 bunch green onion chopped
- 1/2 bunch parsley chopped
- 1 lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cook 2 cups of red lentil in 6 cups of water until soft.
- Take it off the fire, add 1 cup of fine bulgur and teaspoon salt , cover the pan with a lid and let it sit until all the water absorbed and forms a soft doughy consistency. About 20-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, saute the chopped onion with olive oil.
- Then add tomato paste, pepper paste, cumin and paprika, mix them all and cook for just few minutes more. Take off fire.
- Now add lemon juice mix well. (sometimes I use only half a lemon juice and add pomegranate juice or molasses/sauce for the other half)
- Now add this mixture into lentil and bulgur mixture as well as chopped green onions and chopped parsley.
- Mix all well, place in a serving dish with green salad leaves. (I use romaine lettuce) and use them as a vegetable wrap to serve with lentil koftes.
Recipe Notes
Feel free to add extra cumin, salt or red pepper paste if needed. I really like the taste of cumin, so I added another extra teaspoon. This also makes a good size batch that should last a few days.
I have a few other recipes that are Turkish as well. My White Bean Salad and Red Lentil Soup are two others.