Author Notes: I was really missing all of the great falafels I had been eating whilst abroad, but all I had on hand was a bag of red lentils. These are baked and not fried to make them slightly lighter and IMO more versatile (read: can eat at breakfast and not feel guilty) These are ABSOLUTELY NOT falafels but what they are is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside – they can be popped into a tomato sauce over pasta, eaten as part of a salad bowl or my favourite – just as they are, straight outta’ the bowl with sweet pickles. —Jodie Nixon
Makes: 15 patties
Ingredients
-
175
grams Dried Red lentils
-
1/4
Red onion, finely diced
-
1
Garlic clove, minced
-
3/4
teaspoon Smoked paprika
-
3
tablespoons Plain flour (heaped)
-
1/2
teaspoon Hot chilli (optional)
Directions
- Preheat your oven to Gas 5 (190c).
- Rinse lentils and put into saucepan. Cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15/20 minutes or until the lentils start to break down slightly.
- Rinse lentils again with cold water and set to drain through a fine sieve. Drain them well! Otherwise the mixture will be too moist to hold together. Gently press excess water out.
- Add flour one tablespoon at a time and mix well after each addition. you may find that you need to add slightly more if your mixture is too loose.
- Season with S + P to taste
- When they are out of the oven, leave to cool before moving to container as they can be delicate when hot!
Photo by Jodie Nixon