Red Lentil Falafel

 

Happy Purim!  It's too bad one of the most fun holidays of the year is followed by a month of deep cleaning.  I was debating between falafels and Turkish red lentil meatballs for the vegan part of this feast, and compromised with red lentils as the base for falafels.

I found a recipe on Tasty Simply Vegan, because you should probably click on the vegan site Google coughs up if that's the cuisine you're searching.  Also, because I'm still using up parsley.  I'm adding other herbs and spices to my version because that's what I like.  You can also add red pepper flakes if you want something spicier.  Red lentils are delicious, but can be a little bland without help.  I made a tahini sauce that could double as dipping sauce for the crudités.

Okay, I must sort and rinse beans, rice, or some kind of grain nearly every week.  This time, I ran out of hands for a moment and set the strainer down in the bowl I had just poured off the water into.  It finally occurred to me that I can just set the strainer in the bowl, add water and swish around the lentils, lift the strainer, and dump the water.  It's like those pasta cooking pots with the strainer built in.  This is going to make rinsing quinoa so much easier.  I don't know why cooking shows skip this part and just dump the rinsed item in the pot.

1 C dry red lentils
*1 small onion
*3 cloves garlic
*1 C parsley leaves
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
2 Tb flour
oil for frying

1.  Sort lentils and rinse well.  Red lentils tend to have a lot of crud on them.  Soak in 2-3 C water for one hour, until the lentils have split and absorbed about half of the water.  Drain and let drip dry while you prepare everything else.

2.  Chop up the onion into 1" pieces and toss in the food processor with the garlic, parsley, and spices.  Run processor until onion is minced.  Add drained lentils and run again into a coral-and-green paste.  Scrape into a bowl and stir in flour.

3.  Add oil to a medium skillet, enough to fully coat the bottom.  Preheat on medium-high.  When the oil is hot enough for drops of water to pop, spoon in heaping tablespoons of falafel mix.  I used a 1 oz (2 Tb) cookie scoop and got 20 two-bite falafels.

4.  Fry falafels until browned and crispy, then flip to cook other side, about 3 minutes per side.  I chose to flatten mine into patties rather than leave them as balls because I wasn't deep-frying.  If the outsides are browning in under 3 minutes, turn down the heat a bit.  You want to make sure the insides are cooking before the outside burns.

5.  Remove cooked falafels to a paper towel-lined plate, add more oil to the pan as needed, and continue to make them until all of the mix is used.  Can be served warm, room temperature, or chilled.  You could have a side sauce of tahini, tzatziki, Italian dressing, or any other sauce you prefer.

Makes 20, 4-5 servings as a main

Difficulty rating  π