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Lentil Fritters

A fried patty made from boiled lentils, onion, parsley, breadcrumbs, eggs, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Lentil Fritters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lentils

  1. Boil the lentils in 1 quart of water for 30 minutes.

  2. Drain the lentils and place them in a cloth to remove excess water.

Make and fry the fritters

  1. In a bowl, combine the lentils, onion, parsley, breadcrumbs, eggs, pepper, and salt.

  2. Heat oil in a pan over high heat.

  3. Drop tablespoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil and fry until golden brown.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Lentils + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together322 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Lentils + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,221 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lentils
Form the bulk of the fritters and give them a soft, hearty texture.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so the fritters hold together while frying.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb moisture and help the fritters keep their shape.
Onion
Adds moisture and savory sweetness that deepens the flavor.

The step that matters

Drain the lentils well. Excess water makes the mixture loose and can cause fritters to fall apart or steam instead of browning in the oil.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lentils, parsley, egg, pepper):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Kalefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lentils, parsley, egg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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