Spiced Lentil Patties
Believe it or not, I actually wrote down the recipe for these delicious Indian inspired Spiced Lentil Patties over a year ago. After having cooked too many lentils, I knew they were going to go into a patty of some sort, I just had to figure out the right combination of spices. These patties are packed full of spices, but in such a good way. Some, you may already have in your spice cabinet and others you may have to find at a specialty store (such as the ground fenugreek, but it’s perfectly fine to omit it).
I’m a huge fan of Indian food and I often experiment and play around with various spices to get the taste that I’m looking for. I’m certainly not encouraging you to run out and fill your spice cabinet with a lot of spices that you may not use but once or twice, but I am encouraging you to experiment with different spices any opportunity that you get. Feel free to tone down the spices where you see fit. I decided to serve my patties inside of some warm naan (which I bought) and they’re accompanied with my version of a Cucumber Raita.
This recipe will make about 11 to 12 patties, about 2 inches in diameter. These patties also will require a little advanced planning because I suggest that you freeze them for at least 4 to 8 hours or overnight. You can try doing a little less, but they do stay together better if you start off with them being frozen. So…no I told ya sooo’s if they fall apart. 🙂 I like to use a freezer safe container to store them (separating each layer with saran wrap. I usually cook 6 at a time and keep the rest stored tightly for later.
When frying, treat these like cooking fish, only flip (with a fish spatula if you have one) once, if you can help it. The less you handle them, the better. So repeat after me: I will gently place them into my skillet and leave them alone (only peeking to see if they are golden brown before flipping) until I flip them onto the other side. 🙂
These can be eaten by their lonesome, or sandwiched in between some warm naan to make it a meal. That’s totally up to you. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s makes some patties!
Get the Recipe: Spiced Lentil Patties
Ingredients
For the patties:
- ¾ cup rice, about 1 ½ cooked rice
- ½ cup red lentils, about 1 cup cooked
- a good drizzle of olive oil, extra-virgin or neutral oil
- ½ cup carrots, shredded or grated
- 1 small red onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ⅛ teaspoon ground fenugreek
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 cup bread crumbs, I used Panko
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
For the raita:
- ½ medium cucumber, seeded and finely diced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
- ⅔ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 small scallion, thinly sliced
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
- fine sea salt , to taste
Equipment
- food processor
- 1 Large Skillet
Instructions
For the patties:
- Cook the rice and red lentils according to the package and allow to cool.
- Heat a good drizzle of oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add in the onions and carrots and sauté until softened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, sweet paprika, garlic powder, fenugreek, cayenne pepper and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Once done, remove skillet from the heat and set to the side.
- In a food processor, add the rice, red lentils, bread crumbs, onion/carrot mixture, egg, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Pulse several times. Please see picture above for what the texture should look like. You will then begin to form your patties as I discussed above.
- When you’re ready to cook your patties, heat a good drizzle of oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Place no more than six patties into your pan to give you room for flipping and fry on each side until golden brown, about 5 to 10 minutes. Handling as little as possible and only flipping once. Once done, place to the side on a plate.
To make the raita:
- Combine the cucumber, cilantro, yogurt, cumin, scallion, cayenne pepper, and salt in a small bowl and mix well together. Serve along side the patties and enjoy!
So delicious! I’ve made these a few times now and they’re always devoured quickly. I was able to get away without freezing them before frying but your mileage may vary.
Oh yaaay! That brings me joy!
These were so delicious! I also served mine on naan with cabbage and in addition to the raita I added some mango chutney for some sweet heat. Thanks for this recipe!
Hi Alex! Oh wonderful! So happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for giving the recipe a try and love the addition of the mango chutney!
Hi, these look delicious, just wondering if I could make them with brown rice.
Hi Carol! Thank you! Sure…I’ve used them with both white or brown rice. Just be sure to use the same amount of cooked rice. 🙂