Lentil Chickpea Burger

Blogging Marathon# 54: Week 4/ Day 2

Theme: Lentils -- 3 Ways

Dish: Lentil Chickpea Burger

For Day 2 of this week's marathon, I have a protein rich burger made with a combination of lentils and chickpeas. Homemade veggie burgers usually don't hold up too well on the grill, but these burgers didn't fall apart on the grill and tasted awesome after grilling.

Recipe is from Vegetarian Times magazine and it was originally a Greek flavored burger, but I changed it to more of an Indian flavored one. If you want to, change up the herbs and spices and make up your own version.

Also original recipe was served with Greek tzatziki sauce (yogurt, cucumber, mint and dill), but since I was going with a Indian theme, I served my burgers with a dolloped of garlic flavored yogurt. Skip all that and serve the burgers with the regular mayo and ketchup along with some lettuce, tomato and onion. 

Ingredients:

Whole Masoor dal (brown lentils) - ½cup
Chickpeas - 1 15oz. can (1½cups of fresh cooked chickpeas can be used instead)
Onion - 1 small, chopped (1 cup)
Red bell pepper - 1 small, diced (½cup)
Carrot - 2 medium, grated
Garlic - 4 cloves, minced
Eggs - 2 large (I used 2tbsp flax seed meal whisked in 6tbsp water)
Ground Cumin - 2tsp
Ground Coriander - 1tsp
Red Chili powder - 1tsp (adjust per taste)
Mint leaves - ½cup, chopped
Cilantro leaves - ½cup, chopped
Plain breadcrumbs - 1cup
Baking powder - ½tsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Cook lentils until tender either in the pressure cooker or in a sauce pot with lots of water. Drain any excess water and set aside.
• Heat 2tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook for 7~8 minutes or until the veggies are soft. Stir in garlic, cook for 1 minute and turn off the stove.
• Blend chickpeas, mint, cilantro, eggs (or flax egg), cumin, coriander, red chili powder, salt and pepper in food processor 2 minutes, or until smooth.
• Stir chickpea mixture, breadcrumbs, carrots and baking powder into lentils. Shape into 8~10 patties. Layer patties between plastic wrap and freeze.
• Preheat grill to high. Brush patties with oil and cook 6 minutes on each side.

 

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 54.