Red Lentil Patties Recipe

Lentil kofte is undoubtedly one of the most popular recipes of Turkish cuisine. In the fried red lentil patties recipe, I wanted to turn the lentil patties from being a daily recipe into a main dish. It turned out to be a delicious, satisfying and relatively economical recipe. It makes 24 patties with the following ingredients. This is enough to feed four people very well with soup and salad aside.

I have shared many legumes and grain patties until today. These include green lentil burgers, quinoa patties and black-eyed pea patties. The peculiarity of all of them is that they are almost entirely made of the main ingredient that gives their name to their recipes. Due to the consistency of red lentils when cooked, it cannot be made entirely from red lentils. There are two ways to avoid this. The first is to cook the lentils a little like the chickpeas in the falafel recipe or to pour plenty of flour into it. Since the last thing I wanted would be to pour flour into it and destroy the lentil flavor, I eliminated it right away. Since I had a hard time explaining this consistency in the falafel recipe and I knew that it would be more difficult to adjust it for red lentils, I eliminated this option and resorted to a new way. I decided to use the lentil kofte method we know and to thicken the lentils with bulgur.

While doing this, I kept the amount of water lower so that the patties would not scatter while they are fried, I kneaded the meatballs very well and floured the meatballs before frying them. Adding flour  created a nice crispy layer. If you want a more crispy, even crunchy layer, you can dip it in flour, then in egg and then in breadcrumbs. However, in this way, the recipe will of course cease to be vegan.

When you cook the lentils and add the bulgur, check frequently until the bulgur absorbs water completely. If the bulgur does not absorb all the remaining water and the consistency of the mixture becomes runny even though it softens, add a little more bulgur while it is still hot, mix and wait until the water is absorbed. By the way, these measurements are for bulgur added without washed. If you cannot use bulgur without washing it, it would be better to reduce the amount of water a little more.

Make sure you knead the dough very well (like çiğ köfte). Heat the oil completely before placing the patties in the oil. You do not need to cook for a long time, as there is nothing that needs to be cooked in the patties. On medium-high heat, you will only need to make the outsides brown and crispy.

Can I Bake in the Oven?

Technically you can, but it wouldn't be amazing. If the reason you want to bake them is to use less oil, you can also cook in a pan using very little oil. Since it will be cooked directly by touching the pan, not with the temperature in the air, it will still be crispy, not hard.

Enjoy the recipe...

Enjoy...