Crazy, hectic life? Veggie Burger is the best medicine

So the last two weeks were crazy hectic (challenging workshop that made my brain hurt, creating training material, re-creating material, travelling to Pune and back in one day meaning a 20 hour working day, award ceremony etc)...and I think that the next two will be as well (rolling out the training material, training several hundred people, trying to sort out my visa by talking to nice, helpful government officials etc).

I've been sooooooo tired once I get home after 11 or 12 hours in the office that I've been cooking simple easy food like green or yellow moong dal. And when I haven't had the energy to cook simple stuff, I've had yummy takeaway - chinese and pizza. Last Sunday and Monday were quite creative cooking days though. I made veggie burgers on Sunday and really impressed myself with Misal Pav on Monday.

Today I'll concentrate on the Veggie Burgers and save the Misal Pav for another day (coz who knows when I'll get creative with food again - certainly not before I go on leave at Christmas).

source

So last Sunday I looked up loads of recipes for veggie burgers - from Nigella and Jamie to Sanjeev Kapoor and none really seemed to fit what I was looking for. So I understood the basics and got tips from a lot of different sources and made up my own recipe. I'm just sorry I didn't take any photos! So here goes...

Claire's Veggie Burgers

1/2 cup of channa dal, washed and soaked for half hour
1 tablespoon oil
3 onions, finely chopped
1 capsicum, finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
handful of mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon dhaniya (coriander) powder
1 teaspoon jeera (cumin) powder
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
2 large potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
flour
oil for cooking

1. Cook the channa dal until soft, leave to cool then mash
2. Heat the oil and cook the onion and capsicum until onion is translucent
3. Add the garlic and ginger pastes and the carrots and mushrooms, continue to cook until soft
4. Stir in the dhaniya, jeera and chilli powders and cook the veggie mixture for a few more minutes until mixture is quite dry
5. Mix the mashed potatoes, mashed channa dal and the cooked veggie mixture. It should be quite dry, or the burgers will break apart when cooked. If it's not dry enough you can add a little flour.
6. Leave the mix to cool. Beat the egg and put some flour on a plate to coat the burgers.
7. Just before ready to shape and form burgers, add the salt and pepper and mix in really well.
8. Form the burgers, then take each one and dip in the beated egg and then coat with flour.
9. Pop the burgers on a heated frying pan, griddle or tawa. Pour a little oil around the edge of the burgers so they don't stick.
10. Cook for around 4 minutes each side, until golden crust formed on each side.

Eat - I popped mine in a burger bun with tomato and a slice of cheese, but you should eat yours the way you like them!


I hope that I get time to try out some more new recipes in the coming days... I guess I'll have to look up some 'quick and easy' recipes!