Lentil Croquettes

The Recipe

Serves: 4-6 people
Preparation: 35 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Croquettes quickly became popular in France and spread to other countries, including Spain, where they are known as "croquetas," and the Netherlands, where they are called "kroketten." Today, croquettes are enjoyed all over the world, with many variations in their fillings and coatings.

Croquettes, a wonderful French invention was developed to use leftover ingredients such as meat or cheese.
It contains a binder such as flour or potatoes and is then coated in bread crumbs and fried until golden and crispy.
Lentils and potatoes - such a hearty snack, dressed in a tangy raita or tahini sauce, how can you resist?

This recipe has a few steps but is pretty simple and can be made in bulk and frozen for later… if you don’t gobble them up at once!

 

THE INGREDIENTS

340g green lentils
3 bay leaves
2 clove garlic
120g onions, finely chopped
500g high starch potatoes such as Russet
4tsp chilli powder
4-5 tbsp roasted curry powder
2.5 tsp coriander powder
2.5 tsp ginger powder
2-3 tsp fine sea salt
20g chopped coriander
2 lemon zest
4-5 tbsp flour
Sunflower oil for frying

Coating
200g plain flour
300g panko crumbs
2 eggs
Have the eggs, panko and flour all in separate bowls.

THE METHOD

  1. Cook the lentils in water with bay leaves and garlic until tender, strain and remove the garlic and leaves.

  2. Peel and cut the potatoes into quarters, boil in salted water until crumbly.

  3. Strain the water, mash the potatoes in a large bowl.

  4. Fry off the chopped onion until translucent. Place into the bowl with the mashed potatoes

  5. Stir in salt, spices, zest and lentils until thoroughly combined. Lastly add flour to bind the mixture

  6. Shape the potato/lentil mix into medium sized patties (60g).

  7. Place the patties on cling film and place them in the fridge to allow them to firm up and hold shape (overnight is ideal)

  8. Dip the patties into the flour, then eggs and then panko

  9. Fry until golden

  10. Place onto a paper towel to drain off the excess oil

  11. Serve warm with tahini sauce, raita and lemon wedges

 

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