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Cooking
publickman

Vospov Kofte (Red Lentil Kofte)

3 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago

I watched Vospov Kofte on ATK today


and when I searched for this video online, I found many variations of this recipe. The ATK recipe is not my favorite, and I don't know which one I want to make, but this dish intrigues me because I have a lot of red lentils, not to mention Bulgar, and this looks like a quick and easy dish to make. I may have to substitute celery leaves for parsley, however. I hate the way this guy begins almost every sentence with "So..." and therefore I mute the sound and turn on subtitles.

Do you have a favorite way of making this? I am particularly interested in recipes that use red lentils and Bulgar.

Featured Answer
  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    I made the lentil kofte yesterday and liked it a lot, but it was also a lot more filling than I expected. I did not have parsley, and so I added some minced celery to the onion that I sautéed. I used tomato paste and red pepper paste, which are missing in the Armenian version from ATK, and they added a lot of flavor.

    Here's the composite recipe, which combines Armenian with Turkish versions:

    • 1 cup red lentils
    • 2 cups of water
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 cup buckwheat*, or fine bulgar
    • 1-1/2 tablespoon oil, for frying (I used avocado oil)
    • 1/2 large onion, chopped
    • 1 celery rib, minced
    • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (I prefer less in this case)
    • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
    • 1/2 tablespoon cumin powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon coriander, optional
    • 1 large garlic clove, minced, optional (I did not use this but might in the future)
    • 1 rounded tablespoon tomato paste
    • 1 rounded tablespoon sweet red pepper paste (from Syria or Turkey)
    • 1/3 cup olive oil
    • 2 scallions, finely chopped
    • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
    • Serving: Lettuce leaves (I used Romaine), sumac (optional), lemon juice


    • Rinse the lentils, transfer them to a pot. Add the water and salt, let them boil for 20-25 minutes on medium heat, covered loosely. Stir every few minutes.

    • When the lentils are cooked, remove from heat. Open the lid and cool for 5 minutes.

    • Put the buckwheat in a blender (Vitamix dry ingredient container) and process until it has the texture of sesame seeds. This is not necessary if you are using fine bulgar wheat.

    • Add the buckwheat to the cooled lentils and mix; close the lid and wait for 10-15 minutes.

    • While the buckwheat absorbing water, pour 1½ tablespoon oil into a nonstick frying pan on high heat. Add onion and a pinch of salt in a pan and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add the celery, Aleppo pepper, black pepper, cumin, coriander, and garlic (if using) and sauté for 3-4 minutes more. Add the tomato and pepper pastes, cook them 3-4 minutes and turn the heat off.

    • When buckwheat-lentil mixture and onion mixture have cooled, mix them together in a medium-large bowl. Add 1/3 cup olive oil and knead again.

    • Add scallions and parsley and knead until all ingredients are mixed well. You can chill the dough in the fridge for half an hour at this point.

    • For the traditional serving, shape 1/4 cup portions into cylinders about 3” long and one inch diameter. To shape more easily, wet your hands time to time.

    • Serve your lentil kofte in lettuce leaves and sprinkle with sumac or lemon juice. I cut Romaine lettuce leaves in half, to fit the kofte better.

    *Note: I thought I had bulgar wheat, but it was Bulgarian buckwheat instead, and so I had to process it in my Vitamix to get it to the right texture. I think it was a perfectly acceptable substitute for bulgar wheat.

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