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Lentil Rice Casserole with Indian spices baked with chickpea flour dumplings. Use veggies and lentils of choice. Vegan Gluten-free Soy-free Recipe.
Casseroles work out well for when you want to put everything in a pot or pan and keep it ready to bake, bake an h our or so before the occassion and serve. This casserole is like a Biryani styke casserole with lentils, rice, spices and topped with a gluten-free dumpling made with chickpea flour. All the layers cook during baking to make a layered casserole. Add the dumplings or serve as is with garlic butter dinner rolls.
Layer the lentils, spices, tomato slices and rice. Add water to cover. Store to bake later. or Bake for 50 minutes. Then top with dumpling batter and bake again. Cool for a minute and serve.
More bakes from the blog… This amazing Nacho Mac and Cheese Casserole, or a hearty Quinoa black bean cheddar casserole. Crowd pleasing Spinach florentine bake, and a holiday Sheldperd’s pie with chickpeas, veggies and sweet potatoes, can all be prepped ahead.
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Lentil Rice Casserole with Chickpea Dumplings
Ingredients
Casserole:
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 bay leaf
- Spice: 1.5 to 2 tsp garam masala + 1/2 tsp garlic powder + 1/2 tsp cayenne, or use biryani masala spice blend, or berbere, or use spice mix from the notes,
- 1/2 cup uncooked brown lentils, washed and picked for stones
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp onion flakes , or 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh onion
- 1/2 cup packed chopped spinach or rainbow chard, optional
- 2 medium tomatoes, sliced (1/8 to 1/4 inch)
- 1/2 cup uncooked basmati or other long grain rice, washed and drained (I used white Basmati rice)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 cloves optional
- 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 1/4 cups water, divided
Dumplings:
- 3/4 cup chickpea flour
- 1/3 to 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp garam masala , or use 1/4 tsp each of ground cumin and coriander
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp oil
- 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1/2 cup finely chopped lightly packed cilantro
- cilantro and lemon juice for garnish
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven too 400 degrees F / 200ºc. Spray or brush oil at the bottom of a baking dish. Sprinkle half of the spice mix and bay leaf on the oil.
- Layer the washed and drained lentils to cover the bottom. Sprinkle the rest of the garam masala/spice blend, salt, onion flakes on the lentils.
- Layer greens on top. Gently pour 1 cup of water in the dish.
- Layer the tomato slices to cover the greens. Sprinkle washed rice on top. Sprinkle cumin, salt, and cloves on the rice. Gently pour 1 1/4 cup of water. At this point you can refrigerate the casserole, without disturbing it too much.
- Place foil and lightly seal. Bake at 400 degrees F / 200ºc for 50 minutes.
Dumpling:
- Meanwhile Make the dumpling batter. Whisk chickpea flour, salt, garam masala and baking powder. Add coconut milk, vinegar and oil and mix into a smooth thick batter. If the batter is too thin, add a tbsp or so more chickpea flour. Fold in the onion and cilantro.
- Uncover the baking dish. Spray water generously on top if the rice appears dry. Drop dollops of the dumpling batter on top. Place foil again on top and bake for 14 minutes.
- Remove the foil and broil for a minute for a crisper dumpling top (optional). Let cool for 5 minutes. Top with cilantro and lemon juice and serve.
Notes
1.5 tsp aleppo pepper flakes (or 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes + 1/2 tsp paprika),1/4 tsp black peppercorns,1/2 tsp garlic powder,1/2 tsp ginger powder Brown Rice: Soak medium grain brown or brown basmati rice for an hour before using. Add 3/4 cup more water tot he casserole and bake for 60 minutes. Nutritional values based on one serving
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have a glass lid that came with my Corningware casserole dish. Would that be sufficient to use instead of aluminum foil or does the recipe really need the foil? The recipe looks great. Want to try this. All your recipes turn out great.
Yes glass lid will Work
I don’t know why I was sceptical that this would work. I expected my lentils to still be rock hard. I am happy that this was one of the easiest and tastiest casseroles I have h made. Fabulous recipe!!
Lentils work well in casseroles!