Yurdanur Yilmaz, PhD-student Food Sciences from Turkey The WUR community is home to all the flavours of the world. Yurdanur Yilmaz (32), a PhD student of Food Sciences from Turkey, shares a recipe for Turkish lentil balls.
‘Lentil balls are basically meatballs without the meat. In this recipe, the minced meat is replaced with red lentils, making it a good alternative for both vegetarians and vegans. It reminds me of home, where my mum often makes lentil balls when she invites relatives or friends over to have a good time together.’
Ingredients for 5 portions
- 1 cup red lentils
- ½ cup fine bulgur wheat
- 1 onion
- 1 small spring onion
- 50g parsley
- 50g dill
- 1 lettuce
- 5 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 lemons
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Preparation
- Cook the lentils till they soften.
- Mix the bulgur into the moist cooked lentils. Leave the mixture with the lid on at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a pan, add the finely chopped onion and fry it.
- Add tomato paste, salt and pepper and fry for about 3 minutes. Then add the onion and tomato mixture to the lentils and bulgur. Knead well.
- Finely chop the spring onion, parsley and dill and mix into the lentil mixture.
- Lay the lettuce leaves on a flat plate.
- Take a handful of the lentil mixture to form a medium-sized ball. Aim to make about 25 lentil balls.
- Cut the lemons into two and squeeze onto the lentil balls.
- Arrange the lentil balls on the lettuce leaves and decorate the plate with slices of lemon.
- Afiyet olsun! (Enjoy your meal)
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