Shuchi Mittal serves up these delicious lentil filled phyllo cups with a crunch on the top.
By Shuchi Mittal
Lentils are a funny thing. Some people love them, and others can’t absolutely stand them. Full of protein, I find them a great substitute for meat in stuffing or thickeners in soup. They are uber versatile with flavors, can be served as an entree or a starter, and quite quick to prepare. In a nutshell, I am definitely in the fan club.
I threw a combined Thanksgiving and Diwali party this weekend for some friends, and these little muppets were quite the hit.
Easy Snack+Happy Friends=Delighted Me!
“As kids we heard, our parents always say
Have your greens and lentils, or the ghost will take you away,
We laugh at it now, years later from it all
Wondering why we ever believed, the story so tall,
For lentils once considered, far from the food we crave
Is now to me a treat divine, and quite a party save,
Colorful and versatile, ever a quick dish to prepare
Dressed & disguised the right way, it’s far from a nightmare,
So the tales have now turned, there are no false scares
And the kids eat it all up, so the ghost can’t have their share!”
PrintLentil Phyllo Cups
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Description
Lentil filled phyllo cups with a crunch on the top
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup dried small red or green lentils
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon pine nuts
- 1 small tomato, diced
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper or paprika
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 12 frozen filo pastry shell, baked/thawed as per instruction
- Indian Aloo Bhujia to garnish (Indian spicy snack- easily found in Indian stores under the brand Haldirams)
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Boil the lentils with the bay leaves in 2-3 cups of water, till tender. Keep aside and cool. Do not drain and of the liquid.
- Heat oil in a pan. Add onion, garlic, cumin seeds and nuts. Saute for 5 minutes or until nuts are lightly browned. Stir in the tomato and all the dry spices and cook till tomatoes are tender. Stir in boiled lentils. Cook on medium flame till the flavors are fused and most of the liquid from the lentils has evaporated. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice.
- Pre heat the oven to 400 degree F.
- Put 1 teaspoon of the lentil dip in each filo pastry, and bake for 5-7 minutes till the phyllo pastry is crisp.
- Remove from heat, top with some Aloo Bhujia (for the crunch) and serve immediately.
- Prep Time: 25 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
