Adzuki Beans & Brown Rice Burger with Sweet Potato Fries

Blogging Marathon# 33: Week 1/ Day 3
Theme: Combo Dishes - Tikkis/ Burgers
Dish: Adzuki Beans & Brown Rice Burger with Sweet Potato Fries
It has been unseasonally warm for the past couple of days and we are totally enjoying this weather. I took my mom, my almost 3 year old niece and my 1 year old to New York city (NYC) yesterday. We live about 20 minutes away from the city, but never go there to actually see places. I usually go there on business, either for a meeting or a seminar, never as a tourist.

I always wanted to take the NYC bus tour and finally did it yesterday. Its fun to sit on the open top double decker and see the sights of the city. I enjoyed the tour, but I want to do it again without the kids, so I can enjoy the city even more :-)

Well we came back home ravished and good thing that I had these adzuki bean-brown rice burgers frozen and ready to cook. All we had to was to bake some Sweet Potato fries and chop up some veggies for topping and in less than 30minutes we had a filling and delicious lunch.

Whole Foods sells Adzuki bean-brown rice burger. I never bought them but wanted to try that combo for a long time. Adzuki beans need only 2~3hours to soak and cook pretty quickly. In addition to the beans and rice, I added some bread crumbs, flour and a flax egg for binding. I flavored the burgers with Indian spices like kasoori methi and kitchen king masala. My focus group (my mom, sister and husband) liked them.

These burgers are quite sturdy and didn't fall apart when cooking like other vegan/ veggie burgers. I'm not sure if they can stand up to grilling, but I think they might(will update when I try grilling them). They also freeze very well, so make a big batch and freeze the uncooked burgers to eat later.

Ingredients: (Makes about 8 - 10 ¼cup burgers)

Adzuki Beans/ Red Chori - 1cup
Brown Rice - 1cup (I used brown basmati)
Onion - 1small, chopped
Pepper - 1 small, chopped
Garlic - 1clove, minced
Red chili flakes - ½tsp
Red chili powder - 1tsp (or to taste)
Kitchen King Masala - 1tsp (Can be substituted with Garam Masala or Curry powder)
Kasoori Methi - 2tsp, crumbled
Bread Crumbs - 1~1½cups (I used wholewheat bread crumbs)
Flax Egg - 1 (1 tbsp flaxseed meal whisked in 3tbsp water or use 1 egg)
Flour - 2~3tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Wash, rinse and soak adzuki beans for at least 4~6hours. Cook the beans and rice separately until tender. I pressure cooked them separately, beans for 5 whistles and rice for 3 whistles.
• Drain the excess water and let them cool for a little bit.
• In the meantime, heat 2tsp oil in a saute pan and cook until translucent about 3~4minutes. Next add garlic clove and cook for 1 minute. Next add the chopped peppers and cook until tender, about 6~8 minutes. Season with salt, chili powder, kitchen king masala & kasoori methi. Mix well and turn off the heat. Let the mixture cool slightly.
• Combine the beans, rice and the onion mixture in the food processor. Process until the mixture comes together.
• Remove it into a bowl and add bread crumbs, flax egg, flour and form a smooth dough that doesn't stick to hands.
• Take ¼cup of mixture and form into patties. Place some breadcrumbs in a plate and roll the patties in the breadcrumbs on both sides. At this point, burgers can be made right away or can be frozen for later.
• Heat 1tbsp oil in a saute/ grill pan. Cook the burgers on medium-low flame until golden on both sides and cooked through, about 3 minutes on both sides.
• Serve on sandwich buns with the choice of toppings.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked up today for BM# 33.