Mercimek Köfte with Lentils & Bulgur

📝 Ingredients

• 150 g red lentils
• 600 ml water
• 120 g fine bulgur
• 1 brown onion (about 120 g)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp tomato purée (40 g)
• 1 tsp ground cumin + 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 30 g fresh parsley (½ bunch)
• 1 lemon (½ juiced for the mixture, ½ cut into wedges for serving)
• 1 lettuce (about 16 nice large leaves)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Colander
• Medium saucepan with lid
• Frying pan
• Chopping board and knife
• Wooden spoon

📖 Steps

1. Rinse the red lentils in a sieve under cold water until the water runs almost clear. Put them in a saucepan with the 600 ml water and bring to the boil over a high heat, skimming off the white foam that forms on the surface.
2. Reduce to a low heat and cook uncovered for 15 min, stirring occasionally, until the lentils break down into a purée and there is almost no water left. Stir more often towards the end: the purée catches easily on the bottom.
3. Off the heat, pour the fine bulgur over the hot purée, add 1 level tsp salt, stir, cover and leave to swell for 15 min. The bulgur absorbs the remaining moisture and the mixture becomes dense: that's normal.
4. Meanwhile, peel and very finely chop the onion. Fry it in the olive oil over a medium heat for 6 to 8 min, until soft and golden. Add the tomato purée, cumin and paprika, and stir for 1 min.
5. Tip the tomato-onion mixture into the pan of lentils and bulgur, then add the juice of half a lemon and some pepper. Stir with a spoon, then knead by hand for 2 min as soon as the mixture is lukewarm, until it's even and a deep orange colour.
6. Wash, dry and finely chop the parsley (leaves and tender stalks), then work it into the mixture. Taste and adjust the salt: the mixture needs to be well seasoned as it's eaten cold. If it sticks to your fingers, leave it to cool for another 10 min.
7. Lightly wet your hands, take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and squeeze it in your closed fist to form an elongated shape marked by your fingers. Repeat until all the mixture is used up: you'll get about 24 pieces.
8. Separate the best lettuce leaves, wash and spin them dry. Place one or two köfte in each leaf and serve at room temperature with the lemon wedges for squeezing over, folding the leaf around them like a little wrap.