Friday 28 March 2014

Mercimek koftesi (red lentil balls)

A few years ago, I won a holiday to the beautiful hotel Bordubet in Turkey.


I went with a friend, and enjoyed it so much that I've been back with my husband, twice. One aspect we love is the food, especially some of the local specialities they serve. I enjoyed one particular dish, a kids of cold lentil pattie, so much that I asked for the recipe,  but the language barrier meant I couldn't understand it when I got it!

So I was delighted to find the recipe on the Tesco Real Food website - Red Lentil Balls or Mercimek Koftesi. I bookmarked it months ago and finally got around to making them yesterday. The first thing I noticed was how incredibly easy they are to make - the reason I'd left it so long was that I thought I'd have to set aside a whole afternoon for them  - and the second was how cheap they are too. I made half the quantity given,   and I reckon it cost around £1 in total, which made a generous helping for 3 or a starter for 4-6. You may find it costs you a little more if you don't buy spices and lentils in bulk and have fresh parsley in the garden, as I do.

And the third thing I noticed? That they were absolutely delicious! Not quite as smooth textured as those I'd had in Turkey, but I presume that's because our bulghur is a coarser texture than was used in the originals, but apart from that I reckon this recipe absolutely nails it!





I'm joining in with Bookmarked Recipes over at tinned Tomatoes  and Credit Crunch Munch at Fab Food 4 All  and Fuss Free Flavours


Credit Crunch Munch  recipes is a blog hop - you can join in and see the other entries here

1 comment:

Anne said...

I have a giant bag of red lentils and lost a recipe I had earmarked so am glad to find a replacement that looks easy, and easy too!