Ethiopian Lentil Pastries
These are delicious as an entree, a main or a party food. While a little time consuming, they are well worth the effort. You can also experiment with adding a tasty mash on top of the lentil mix (eg. sweet potato), or making them as a casserole instead of individual parcels. They are tasty on their own, and also well complimented with bbq or HP sauce :-)
To make a vegan version, use either vegan puff pastry, or filo pastry
Makes 10
Ingredients
Preparation
Combine the lentils with the water, soy sauce and crushed garlic in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Put a lid on the pan and let the lentils simmer on low heat for 40 minutes until tender and the liquid is mostly incorporated (they do not need to be entirely dry).
Remove the puff pastry from the package and let them thaw at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Heat the olive oil in a large and deep non-stick frying pan over medium to low heat and fry the onion, carrot and celery until the carrot is soft, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and spring onion and cook the mixture for a few more minutes. Now add the spices and cook briefly, until they the lovely aromas are released. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lentils with the onion mixture. Let the lentil filling cool until it is 'handleable'.
To make a vegan version, use either vegan puff pastry, or filo pastry
Makes 10
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup green lentils
- 1.5 cups of water
- 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon crushed garlic (~2 cloves)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion, diced finely
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced finely
- 1 stalk of celery, diced finely
- 2 cloves garlic, diced finely or crushed
- 1/2 bunch spring onion, sliced thinly
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cardamon
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red chilli
- 1 pack of puff pastry (preferably with 10 individual square sheets)
- extra olive oil and curry powder
Preparation
Combine the lentils with the water, soy sauce and crushed garlic in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Put a lid on the pan and let the lentils simmer on low heat for 40 minutes until tender and the liquid is mostly incorporated (they do not need to be entirely dry).
Remove the puff pastry from the package and let them thaw at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Heat the olive oil in a large and deep non-stick frying pan over medium to low heat and fry the onion, carrot and celery until the carrot is soft, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and spring onion and cook the mixture for a few more minutes. Now add the spices and cook briefly, until they the lovely aromas are released. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the lentils with the onion mixture. Let the lentil filling cool until it is 'handleable'.
Place a baking sheet on a large oven try or two smaller baking trays. If the pastry is not pre-cut, roll the pastry on a floured surface and cut into square pieces 10cmx10cm, and a 2-3mm thick. Put some extra olive oil in a small container and brush the pastry on one side. Place the oiled side down on the baking oven tray and put about 2 - 2.5 tablespoons of filling in the centre of the pastry, being careful not to overfill or put any filling within 1.5cm of the edges.Then pick up the corner with no filling in the near vicinty and join it with the corner directly opposite. Then use two hands to close one of the other corners, picking up the package and gently shifting the filling towards the other side of the pastry, where necessary. Do the same on the other side. When the package is complete fold the edges inwards to ensure they stay closed during baking.
Put the flaps onto the baking sheet. Coat the top of each flap with some oil and sprinkle with a little curry powder. Slide the baking sheet in the oven and bake the flaps 20 minutes until lightly golden. Serve warm or flaps let them cool and serve cold.