Lentil cakes

I just love home made snacks! Hand held larger snacks are my favorite as it is easy to eat walking around.  Lentil cakes are nothing but patties of goodness made to satisfy everyone.

These lentil cakes when shallow fried in a little oil browns well to form a crispy crust. It is a fried food without much guilt and a good complement for rice dishes.

Lentil cakes

• ½ cup red lentil
• ½ cup horse gram or other lentil
• ½ an onion
• two green chillies
• 1 tbsp chopped bell pepper
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp tapioca flour
• 2 tablespoon couscous
• few parsley leaves
• Panko bread crumbs
• vegetable oil for frying

1. Cook lentils in a heavy bottom pan adding enough water.
2. After it cooks, drain excess water and collect the cooked lentils.
3. Take lentils and add onion, chillies, bell pepper, coriander powder, cumin powder and tapioca flour. (Add couscous if needed.)
4. Mix together, season and shape into cakes.
5. Coat with panko crumbs and pan fry in a little oil until crispy on both sides.

Yogurt sauce

• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• salt and pepper
• Parsley leaves to garnish

Mix all the ingredients and use it as a dip for the lentil cakes.

I got 14 cakes with this mixture. Make this lentil cake mix ahead and store as ready-to-cook patties in the fridge for up to a week. When needed, pop them in an oven and bake to get a batch of lentil cakes for a quick side. It can be fried or baked according to individual taste. These lentil cakes have a good crunch because horse gram does not cook to a pulp but retains its texture. You can also use black lentil (Urad) because it holds well and is a bit sticky. Some of the other types of lentils like the red lentils are very mushy when cooked.

Drain as much water as possible from the lentils. Add salt at the end and immediately start making the patties. I added salt in the beginning and let it sit a while and that made it extra moist. Add couscous only if it is still watery as it sucks up extra moisture in the mix. Add a little at a time and leave it to do its work. Tapioca flour is the sticky glue to hold everything together. It can be substituted with a whisked egg.

Panko bread crumbs are Japanese bread crumbs that are extra crispy on frying. Ordinary bread crumbs work well too. Make them into mini patties and serve with garlic, yogurt dip. It makes a delicious party snack. These lentil cakes are spicy and tastes good with herb rice. Herb rice recipe here : herb-rice.

Oh, you can turn them into burgers too. Add some chopped mushrooms to make it meaty and softer for a hearty burger. I am sure it will taste wonderful!

I will bring these lentil cakes to Fiesta Friday #73. Have a lovely weekend!