Mercimek Köftesi
Mercimek Köftesi are naturally vegan lentil balls from Turkey that are made with a mix of red lentils and bulgur. They are different from the more common Çiğ Köfte, which are traditionally made with bulgur and raw meat. Nowadays, many Çiğ Köfte recipes tend to swap the meat for lentils, making them more similar to Mercimek Köftesi, although they still differ in their spices and methods.
Ingredients
- 180 g red lentils
- 100 g fine bulgur
- 1 large onion
- 50 g tomato paste
- 50 g biber salçası (Turkish red pepper paste)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 4 spring onions
- 50 g parsley
- 1 tbsp pul biber
- 2 lemons
- little gem lettuce (for serving)
Instructions
- Wash the lentils under cold water, then add them to a sauce pan along with 450 ml water. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid (slightly ajar so that it doesn’t boil over), then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until the lentils are soft. Turn off the heat and stir in the bulgur. Then cover again (this time entirely) and leave until cold enough to handle.
- In the meantime, peel and finely chop the onion. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan, add the onion and cook on medium heat until softened (5 minutes). Stir in the tomato paste, red pepper paste and cumin. Turn off the heat and set aside.
- While the paste is cooling off, trim and finely chop the spring onions. Roughly pick the parsley leaves, removing the thicker stems, and chop as well. Tip the lentils and bulgur into a large mixing bowl. Add the paste, spring onions, parsley, pul biber, the juice of one lemon, 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 1 tsp salt and mix everything together.
- Use wet hands to shape the mixture into small sausages (around 30g each), squeezing them with your fingers in the end to make the traditional indents.
- Separate the lettuce leaves and divide them over a platter. Stack the lentil balls on top, followed by lemon wedges. To eat them, place a lentil ball on a lettuce leaf and drizzle it with extra lemon juice.