Making lentil flour

I have been asked how to make lentil flour by MusicFoodLife

"Can you explain how to make lentil flour?  Do you need to cook it first, or do you just clean and grind it?


Thanks"


I don't cook the lentils first.  I am slightly ashamed to admit I never even clean it- I just tip the lentils straight from the packet into the flour mill!


There are three ways  to get the flour:

The first is to find a supplier that provides it ready ground.  The urid lentils I use are availailable from Indian retailers - often labelled Papad flour.  Southern Indians use this lentil flour in their dhosa and other fried/steamed foods.

If you can't find it pre-ground their are two ways to make the flour.

The traditional southern Indian way is to soak the lentils first and then grind them.  Soaking and the usual slow fermentation releases extra nutritional value in the lentil.  If you do this you need a good blender (or the traditional heavy flat stone and stone roller and lots of effort).  Just whizz with some of the liquid until you get a smooth paste.  You can then use this as the start of any recipe that has liquid in it, though it may be difficult to make pastry as that usually has very little water added.  I haven't tried that.

The third route is to grind it in a flour mill.  Again a blender used dry may work.  A coffee/spice grinder should work.  I have a flour mill which does an excellent job but this may be beyond most people's means.  I got one when I realised how awful the pre-packed gluten free four in the UK was, and I tried making flour out of anything I could think of.

I hope this helps - feedback from anyone who tries this would be useful.