Lentil Stuffed Buns
Ginger, garlic, onions, coriander, smoked paprika, and turmeric, mingle with canned lentils and tomatoes to make these Lentil Stuffed Buns a delightfully delicious and fun snack or lunch!
Packed with tons of flavor from ginger, garlic, onions, coriander, smoked paprika, and turmeric, this canned lentil and tomato sauté is delicious.
My daughter and I like to dig into this lentil tomato sauté with pita chips or enjoy it on the side with some Sri Lankan roti or store-bought biscuits.
But what is more fun and delicious is stuffing this sauté into store bought biscuit dough or homemade whole wheat bun dough and baking up some Lentil Stuffed Buns!
Growing up in Sri Lanka, stuffed buns were more popular than sandwiches. Most of my aunts and uncles had their favorite stuffed bun recipe that they’d compare with my mom’s. Sri Lankan stuffed buns are packed with epic flavor! Usually made with a mutton or beef or chicken filling, the Sri Lankan stuffed buns I used to enjoy were intoxicatingly delicious.
Recently, I’ve started making more stuffed buns at home. First there were these Spiced Chicken Stuffed Buns, then there were these Curried Chicken Stuffed Buns, then these Black-Eyed Peas and Greens Stuffed Buns (that have become a New Year’s tradition now) and these Peanut Chicken Stuffed Buns.
They are a joy to eat ~ though not as much of a joy to share!
I kid, I kid!
Maybe…
And, stuffed buns are so portable. Of course, these days “portable” has a new meaning in our home. These days portable foods are enjoyed in front of the TV or as we paint yet another room in our house as opposed to on a drive or mid-hike snack.
How do you get the stuffing into the buns?
If you use store bought biscuit dough or make your own, then getting the filling into these buns is as easy as:
1) Adding a couple spoonfuls of filling into a circular piece of dough,
2) Brushing the edges of dough with egg wash and gathering 4 main points together,
3) Pinching together the other in-between points together and securing them with a smidge of egg wash, and
4) Rolling the buns over and placing them on the lined baking tray with the pinched side down.
If you don’t want to use store bought biscuit dough, and you manage to snag some whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour and some yeast, then you can make your own bun dough like I did when I made these Chicken Stuffed Buns (I’ve also included the bun recipe below).
I’ve been trying to eat more veggies, beans and legumes while I stay at home and stuffing them into buns is an easy and tasty way to do so.
While I used lentils in this Lentil Stuffed Bun recipe, you can easily change it up and use light red kidney beans or chickpeas or your favorite bean instead.
At some of the stores we’ve been to, we always manage to find canned beans, legumes, and tomatoes on shelves, so I’ve been making a whole bunch of variations of these buns keeping the other ingredients the same.
If you make this recipe, I’m hoping you find it as delicious as it is fun to make and eat. Stay healthy and well, until next time.
Ingredients
For the whole wheat buns (if not using store-bought biscuit dough):
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 pkg Active Dry Yeast
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- 3 tablespoons butter melted
- 1 egg
- 3/4 tsp salt
For the Lentil Tomato stuffing:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 red onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 inch piece of ginger
- 1 can diced tomatoes w/green chilies
- 1 can lentils
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- Salt and pepper to taste and parsley to garnish.
- 1 Egg for egg wash
- sesame seeds optional
- *1 can store bought dough if not making dough from scratch
Instructions
For the whole wheat buns
- Warm milk by placing it in the microwave for 20 seconds or so.
- Add sugar to milk and mix well.
- Then add in the Active Dry Yeast and set aside for 10 minutes. The yeast should have "ballooned" by this time and be frothy.
- Add 1 cup all purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour to a bowl and then add the milk/yeast mixture to it. Mix with a wooden spoon.
- Then add in 1 (one) egg, salt and melted butter (I melted my butter by placing it in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl and microwaving it on 20 second intervals until it was melted).
- Add in the other 2 cups of wheat flour and mix well. At this point you can set the spoon aside and use your hands to knead the dough.
- When dough is slightly tacky, place it in a large greased bowl. Wrap bowl with plastic wrap. Place a warmed towel over it and place in a dark dry place for 1 hour to proof.
- While this is proofing you can make the filling.
For the Lentil Tomato stuffing:
- Peel and chop the red onion and garlic. And, peel and grate (or finely chop) the ginger.
- Add oil to a pan and add in the red onion. Let onion saute about 10 minutes or so over medium heat, stirring often so it doesn’t burn.
- Then add in the garlic and ginger and let saute another 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Open, drain and drain the canned diced tomatoes and add it to the onion garlic ginger mix.
- Then drain and rinse the lentils and add these to the pan as well, along with the coriander, smoked paprika, and turmeric.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with parsley.
- Let stuffing cool to room temperature before stuffing store bought buns or made from scratch buns.
To Assemble:
If using from-scratch dough:
- When the dough has proofed and has doubled in size, remove the plastic wrap and towel and punch dough down. Then, split dough in 2. Wrap one part with plastic to keep moist and spread the other one out using a rolling pin.
- Use a bowl to cut circles into dough.
- Spoon 2 or so tablespoons of filling into each circle.
- Brush edges with egg wash.
- Seal the buns by flipping the sides over the filling and pinching them together. Then lay buns down, with sealed side on the bottom on a parchment lined baking tray. Repeat until all the dough and filling are used up.
- Preheat oven to 150 degrees, place a damp towel over the stuffed buns and place them in the oven to proof for another 30 minutes.
- When they are done, they should be slightly bigger. Remove them from the oven.
If using store-bough biscuit dough:
- Open can of biscuit dough and roll out a biscuit disc.
- Spoon 2 or so tablespoons of filling into each circle.
- Brush edges with egg wash.
- Seal the buns by flipping the sides over the filling and pinching them together. Then lay buns down, with sealed side on the bottom on a parchment lined baking tray. Repeat until all the dough and filling are used up.
For both store bough biscuit dough as well as made-from scratch buns:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Beat the remaining egg and brush it over the buns.
- Sprinkle buns with sesame seeds and place in 375 degree oven for 20-22 minutes.
- Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Love this – such a fantastic idea
I love the idea of stuffed buns – this would be such a fun way to get kids to eat their veggies!
Can you use milk substitute? My son has a severe dairy allergy.
Thank you