698. Lentil and Carrot Kebabs

Foodiemonday/bloghop & MEGA BLOGGING MARATHON -SEPT 2017

#80TH BLOGGING MARATHON

THEME: PROTEIN RICH DISHES/LENTILS

DAY:15

While writing this post, I was feeling a bit uncomfortable presenting 2 events together. And then I thought why not as my recipe takes care of both.
So let me talk about both the events.

The FoodieMonday/Bloghop is a close knit group of 15 who take turns to decide on a weekly theme. We prepare the dish accordingly and our posts go live every Monday. We also post it on our Facebook page tagging all the members.Simple and straight forward. The initiator of this group is Waagmi who blogs at Cooking is Funn.  This week Alka who blogs at Culinary Xpress chose lentils as our #110 theme.

It was apt that if I’m preparing a lentil dish then it should be shared on the mega Blogging Marathon as the theme is Protein Rich Dishes.

Blogging Marathon started by Srivalli who blogs at Spicing Your Life is where a group of bloggers get together every month and for at least 2 weeks blog recipes on different themes for 3 consecutive days. She runs the Mega Blogging Marathon twice a year where the participants blog recipes on the chosen theme for the whole month i.e. from Monday to Saturday with Sundays being the rest days. So basically 26 recipes have to be posted for the theme, one each day.

I recently joined the Blogging Marathon and thoroughly enjoy the varied themes. I’m taking part in the Mega Marathon for the first time. I just plunged into the deep end of the pool not knowing what’s ahead. Planning, researching and more planning is what I’ve learnt from this event.

Its from both these groups that I’ve made some good friends, got to know other bloggers and all are a friendly and helpful bunch. There is no question that both groups are unique.

Coming to today’s recipe, I decided to make lentil and carrot kebabs. Masoor or lentils is a great substitute for meat in any dish. Lentils are a good source of protein and high in fiber. They are easy to prepare, have a nutty earthy taste, rich in magnesium and a good source of iron too. Kebabs which originate from the Middle Eastern Cuisine are basically cooked, grilled meat dishes. As the popularity of this spread to the other Asian countries and some European countries, varieties of kebabs too grew, adapting to the needs of the individual places, tastes and ingredients available. Kebabs can be on skewers, either as meat pieces or ground meat or seafood. Along with that vegetables and fruits were added. There are other variety of kebabs that are not on skewers but are shaped round or oval and grilled, baked or fried.

In India, kebabs became popular during the Mughal Era and some were developed to serve to the vegetarian population where the meat was replaced by lentils, paneer and starchy vegetables.

I got the idea of making lentil and carrot kebabs from here. You know how usually kebabs are served with sliced onions, tomatoes and other veggies, some eat it some leave it. I decided to serve a nice minty chili salsa on top of the kebab.That way everyone had the kebab and the salad too. A great dish to serve as a starter or a snack. Serve with chutneys, flavored yogurt of your choice.  I made a nice coriander, chili, mint yogurt dip.

Protein sources in this recipe are lentils, chickpea flour

By no means am I claiming or supporting any sort of fad diet that are the latest craze in the fitness world. I’m just trying to include non meat non fish dishes from which you can get your protein source. 

LENTIL AND CARROT KEBABS
Makes 20 – depending on the size

1 cup cooked lentils (whole masoor)
2 cups peeled and diced carrots or 3 big ones
½ cup diced onion
6-8 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
¼ cup chopped fresh coriander
¼ cup chopped mint
½ – ¾ cup bread crumbs or coarsely ground oats
¼ cup chickpea flour (besan), dry roast it on a tawa, skillet or a pan
1-1¼tsp salt
1 tsp fennel powder
¼ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp cardamom powder
¼ tsp mace powder
¼ tsp cinnamon powder
¼ tsp clove powder
1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp pepper powder
½ tsp cumin powder
½ -1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp ginger paste
1-2 tsp chilli paste or use 2-3 finely chopped chillis
2 tbsp lemon juice
1tbsp oil

salsa:
2 tomatoes
1medium onion
10-12 mint leaves
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp red chilli powder

Extra oil for greasing and for shallow frying

1. I soaked ½ a cup of lentils for 30 minutes and then cooked them till done. Be careful that they don’t get overcooked.
2. Drain out the water from the lentils. Spread the lentils on a kitchen towel so that all the water gets absorbed.
3. Steam diced carrots till done.
4. Heat oil in a pan and fry the onion and garlic till the onions begin to brown.
5. Take the pan off the heat. Add ginger and chili paste. Mix well.
6. Process the cooked lentils, carrots and onion mixture into a coarse mixture using a food processor.
7. Take out the mixture into a bowl.
8. Add rest of the ingredients.
9. Mix it well.
10. Grease a plate or tray with some oil.
11. Take a tablespoonful of the mixture and roll it into a round flattish shape.
12. Repeat step 11 till the mixture gets over.
13. Heat some oil in a skillet, frying pan or tawa over medium heat.
14. Cook the kebabs on both sides till its golden brown.
15. Serve it hot with some salsa and chutney or yogurt dip as a snack.

Check out what other Mega Blogging Marathoners have made for Day 15:

https://static.inlinkz.com/cs2.js

 

Sending this recipe to the following events:

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 80