Makrut lime, lemongrass, chilli, ginger and coriander lentil fritters
Another recipe from the Commonground festival menu
For the last Commonground festival the catering team needed to come up with a snack recipe to cater for our vegan guests. We also wanted it to be gluten free and pretty simple to prepare. But of course it still needed to be delicious! We had halloumi and spinach deep fried spring rolls for everyone else so we didn't want anyone who was vegan to feel like they were missing out.
And thanks to the lovely Helen Walker discovering Michael Smith's super yummy crispy lentil fritter recipe, they didn't miss out at all! It is such an easy recipe to prepare that I can hardly believe how good they were. They tasted a bit like a falafel but dare I say better? Light, fluffy, crispy....all the things!
I had totally forgotten about these gems, but they popped into my memory recently and I decided to give them a go. Me being me, I of course couldn't stick to the the original simple recipe and had to experiment and make it more complicated. I tried making them with Indian spices and serving it with yoghurt but it was the Thai version that was the clear stand out.
I added chilli, Makrut lime, lemongrass, garlic and fresh turmeric and served them with a sweet tangy Thai chilli sauce. Yum! I love Thai flavours, in particular kaffir lime leaf. I think if I had to choose, Makrut lime leaf would be my favourite smell in the world. Big call I know but seriously they smells so good! And not to mention the taste.
You of course could make the original version (see link below) if you want to keep things simple and they will still be amazing. Once you have made them and got the hang of it, I highly recommend you get experimenting and see what others flavour combo's you could come up with!
Original recipe can be found here: (https://www.lentils.org/recipe/crispy-lentil-fritters-by-chef-michael-smith/
Kaffir lime, lemongrass, chilli, ginger and coriander lentil fritters
Prep time: Approximately 50 minutes plus 2 hour soaking time for the lentils
Makes: About 16 fritters
Dietary guide: This recipe is gluten free and vegan. For a FODMAP friendly adaptation see the end of the recipe.
Ingredients
1 cup of split red lentil (soaked in cup of water with ½ teaspoon of salt for 2 hours)
1 tablespoon of minced ginger
1 teaspoon of grated fresh turmeric or turmeric powder
2 golden shallots finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 long red chilli de-seeded and chopped
1 teaspoon of sugar
½ cup of roughly chopped fresh coriander
1 small lemongrass stalk white part only (remove tough outer leaves) very finely chopped*
8 Makrut lime leaves very finely sliced*
3 coriander root well washed (optional)
3 cups of vegetable oil for frying
Lime wedges for serving
Chilli sauce of your choice for a dipping sauce (I suggest something sweet and tangy)
Cooking note: This recipe requires some knife skills to be able to finely chop the lemongrass and Makrut lime leaf. If you prefer, you can whizz them up in a small food processor. I suggest if you do this, add the garlic, ginger and coriander root as well to make sure there is enough in the processor for the blades to be able to do their job.
Method
Place the lentils and water (don't drain) into a food processor and whizz for 1-2 minutes or until it starts to come together (it should have the texture of porridge). Add the remaining ingredients and whiz for another minute or until well combined. Store in the fridge if not using straight away.
To fry the fritters, heat the oil to about 175 degrees Celsius in a small - medium saucepan. If you don't have a thermometer, test with a cube of bread – it should go brown in a minute when the oil is at the right temperature.
Using 2 metal tablespoons, shape the fritters into small egg shaped fritters and drop into the hot oil. Repeat with the remaining mix cooking in batches of about 3-4 fritters at a time - overcrowd the pot and they won't go crispy.
Drain on paper towel and season. Repeat until all the fritters are cooked. Serve immediately with a chilli sauce of your choice and some fresh lime.
Delicious with a cold beer or cocktail!
FODMAP friendly adaptation: Monash says that 1/4 of cooked red lentils are safe on the FODMAP diet which allows for 2-3 of these fritters if you omit the garlic and shallot. However, the lentils in this recipe are not technically boiled so I can not guarantee that you will be able to tolerate these fritters. If you prefer, you make the FODMAp version of my corn fritters.
