June recipe: Lentil rissoles with garlic and herb sauce

These crisp lentil rissoles are easy to make, and the cold yoghurt and herb sauce is refreshing on a hot day.

You can vary the herbs and the amount of garlic in the sauce according to taste and availability. The rissoles go very well with rice and a green salad.

This quantity should serve two.

Lentil rissoles with garlic and herb sauce

For the rissoles:
4 oz (approx 100 g) split red lentils
8 fl oz (approx 200 ml) water
Half a small onion
1 teaspoon (1 x 5 ml spoon) ground coriander
0.5 teaspoon (1 x 2.5 ml spoon) ground cumin
Approximately 2 teaspoons (2 x 5 ml spoons plain flour for coating

For the sauce:
Approximately 5 fl oz (approx 140 ml) natural yoghurt
Approximately 2 Tablespoons (2 x 15 ml spoons) fresh herbs (oregano, mint, sage, basil, chives, or any mixture of your choice)
1 large clove garlic

To make the rissoles:
Put the lentils in a small saucepan with the water, bring to the boil, and simmer over a very low heat for 15-20 minutes until the lentils have absorbed all the water and formed a soft mass. Stir from time to time to stop the lentils sticking to the pan.

Chop the onion. Fry in cooking oil over a medium heat for a few minutes until soft and beginning to colour.

Stir the onion and spices into the cooked lentils and season with salt and pepper.

Divide the lentil mixture into four, and form between your hands into four roughly circular rissoles about 1 cm thick. Coat each rissole in the plain flour.

Fry the rissoles in cooking oil over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Turn the rissoles and fry the other side for 1-2 minutes. Lower the heat and continue to fry for another 3-5 minutes each side, turning once more, until the rissoles are golden brown.

To make the sauce:
Chop the herbs. Crush the garlic. Mix both into the yoghurt

Spoon the sauce over the rissoles to serve. Serve with rice or new potatoes and a green salad.