Red Lentil Dip

Red Lentil Dip is a perfect last minute appetizer for parties. Spicy and a little tangy, this dip will disappear so fast!

This is another traditional dish from my hometown. I’m not sure if other areas of my country know it. Most probably they don’t because this red lentil dip is known in a few villages located in my city. Although it might be served as a dip, people in my village have it as a main dish.

They eat it with a kind of lavash bread made by themselves and have plain onion with it. They don’t even peel or chop the onion beforehand, they just cut them in 4 and serve it as is. You dip a piece of lavash bread into this tasty red lentil dip, throw it in your mouth and bite an onion layer to pair with it. This is how people in my village eat it, but you can pair it with anything like pita or chips to serve as an appetizer.

It is super easy to make this red lentil dip recipe. Although it looks similar to hummus, this one is much easier and quicker. We need to soak chickpeas overnight and boil them for a long time to make hummus while we don’t need these when making lentil dip. Lentils cook faster because they are smaller in size. Your dip is ready in less than 30 minutes!

Do you hate the skin of chickpeas when making hummus? This recipe is for you then because lentils don’t have it and the dip is amazingly creamy. You don’t even need a blender to mash the lentils, you can just do it with a fork.

Red lentil dip will definitely be a big hit in your house and you will be making it quite often.

My favorite spice in this recipe is sumac. So it should be considered as the most important ingredient for red lentil dip. I recommend you to find it before preparing this tasty and healthy dip.

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Red Lentil Dip

Spicy and tangy red lentil dip served with a red sauce, parsley and sumac.

• Author: Zerrin
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 4
• Category: Dip
• Cuisine: Turkish

Ingredients

• 1 cup red lentils
• ¼ cup rice
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• salt to taste
• half lemon, squeezed
• Topping:
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ tablespoon pepper or tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon sumac, for each serving
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, for each serving

Instructions

1. Put red lentils, rice, chopped onion and water in a pot. Cook over medium heat. Bring it to boil.
2. Add salt and spices when it boils and cook until it is very soft and mushy.
3. Start preparing its sauce for topping. Heat olive oil, add pepper paste into it and mix. It’s done in 30 seconds.
4. Add lemon juice into the pot. Using a fork or a whisk, mash the lentils.
5. Take some lentil dip on a plate. Top it with a little pepper paste sauce, parsley and sumac. Serve with extra lemon wedges and chips.