Lentil fritters. One word: nom. These little guys are delicious and PACKED with tons of fiber and protein. And if that’s not amazing enough: they are suprisngly easy to make. Serve them as an appetizer for your Indian feast. Or, simply make them for a fun mid-day treat. Don’t forget to pair them your favorite dipping sauce, such as a mango chutney! Yum!
Ingredients:
2 cups dry lentils. Any standard lentil will do. I prefer the red variety, but I use whatever is sitting in my pantry.
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1 bundle of cilantro, roughly chopped
1 spicy pepper, small chopped or diced (jalapeno, serrano, habanero… you choose your fire. Or omit it all together, if you’d like)
ginger: grated, pressed, or finely chopped (amount will depend on your love for ginger. I could easily use up to 4 tablespoons of grated ginger, and still want more)
1 to 3 cloves of garlic
salt (to taste)
Indian spices (optional, but a teaspoon of coriander, cumin, garam masala, and chili, are all recommended)
frying oil (canola or a high heat coconut oil work well)
Directions:
Soak lentils in a fair amount of water for 1 to 3 hours. An hour is fine for thinner lentil, such as red, but up to three hours won’t hurt, and will actually be beneficial in the texture.
Drain water from lentils.
In food processor: puree lentils, ginger, garlic, spices, and about 3/4 of your cilantro.
Once pureed, add: spicy pepper, onion, leftover cilantro, and pulse (you want onion and cilantro pieces to be visible, they add a nice look, and a great texture)
Add salt to taste.
In large, deep pot, add: frying oil, at least two inches deep. Heat to medium/medium high.
Once heated, begin scooping out batter to form small spheres, about the size of a golf ball. The batter will be fairly wet, that’s okay.
Gently plop ball into frying oil. Frying time will vary on the size of the fritter, but usually 3 to 4 minutes will be just fine 🙂 They will go from a tan, to golden, to a deep brown color, when ready.
Remove finsihed fritter from oil and place on a paper towel or cloth (not a nice one!) to soak up extra oil.
Serve hot and enjoy!
And may I highly recommend pairing them with this Spicy Indian Pizza? It’s fantastic.
12 Comments
good post
Drea – I made these last night… absolutely DELICIOUS! But then again, anything I've made from your recipes turn out just as great. Thanks for sharing!
I tried these tonight and they were delicious, so much so that my 17-month-old wolfed hers down then kept stealing mine!
Ummm, totally delicious! I need to make some of these babies asap. xoxo
New follower to your blog! I loved your post our on Bridget's blog and had to check out yours 🙂
Oh geez! This is on my list of things to do this weekend now! Looks super yummy!
oh NOM is right. can't wait to try these.
mouth is watering. I make lentil balls much like this and they are delicious- I do a couple of different things but I am totally trying this way now. thanks love.
Oh man oh man, this looks yummy! I must try this!
So I'm a fairly new follwer of yours but I've already tried the garlic/paprika/bread soup and the chickpea patties and I have to say both are RIDICULOUSLY good. This recipe will go onto the list of new things to make since i've never worked with lentils before. I'm not vegan or vegetarian but I really enjoy cooking your recipes and I can't wait to try more!
I'm one of your newest followers – love the blog, and can't wait to try this recipe! I'm thinking my meat loving husband might even like these Might be the whole fried thing… yesterday I made zucchini and squash noodles with homemade pesto and the saving grace that got him to eat it is I sprinkled it with bacon…anything to get in those veggies!
Mmmm! This looks so good!
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