Veggie Burger

Fast food has taken India by storm in the past few years and the first thing that comes to mind when people refer to fast food is a list of items like Burgers, Pizza, French Fries, Noodles etc. Burgers are relatively new to India and thanks to some of the global food joints like Mc Donald’s, Burger King and KFC to popularize this so rapidly in Urban India.

I still remember the excitement about having the burgers from Mc Donald’s during my childhood days, as it was just introduced in India. It was available only in the big metro cities then and was really considered as a special meal. Things have changed quite a bit now and though the excitement for this dish has subsided, but still an extremely popular food amongst the kids and adults equally.

Kids love burgers and I am sure many would even love to have it three times a day, but the parents are well known to criticize this dish for being unhealthy and has a reputation of ‘junk’ food. The veg patty used in the popular eating joints typically contain some preservatives and kept frozen for a long time and this could definitely attribute to being unhealthy. However it is quite easy to make a relatively healthier version of this dish at home by making the patty from a wide range of veggies and protein packed kidney beans or chickpeas.

In this recipe, my main focus is going to be on making a scrumptious, super crisp and flavourful veg patty which is the most core component for a veggie burger. This patty is loaded with veggies like potatoes, carrots, peas, sweet corn onions and cooked rajma which also adds the protein element to the dish. Trust me, rajma adds such a wonderful texture and flavour to this patty and if you are serving this to your kids, they would not even realize it and relish happily.

The other important ingredient which I use in this recipe is jalapenos. You could either use the picked ones available in bottles or you could use fresh ones too. You could of course skip or minimize the amount of jalapenos if your kids do not like spicy food. In addition to this I also use caramelized or deep fried onions to make them the real gourmet burgers!

I normally use the store bought buns, but you could bake your own too. You could also use whole wheat burger buns to make it further healthy.

Tips for making the perfect Veggie Burger

The veggies and rajma are to be cooked and well drained and dried for few minutes. There should not be any residual water as this would make the patty mushy.

Add some bread crumbs along with plain flour and corn flour in the veggie mix for a good binding. The patties are to be double coated by dipping in a flour slurry first and then bread crumbs and this activity is to be repeated twice for a crispy crust.

The patties are to be frozen at least for an hour before frying. This would ensure that the patty does not break while frying and will also yield a crisp veggie patty. You could also store the veggie patties in freezer for up to couple of weeks.

The patties can either be shallow fried or deep fried. Deep frying them would yield patties which would be crisp through inside as well.

Soak the iceberg lettuce in ice cold water for 15-20 minutes before using them in the burger. This would give an additional crunch to the lettuce.

Make a mix of mayonnaise and tomato ketchup along with some chilli sauce for the spread to be applied on the burger buns. You could also use the hot and sweet tomato ketchup for an added zing.

Serving Suggestion

Veggie Burgers are best enjoyed with some crispy French fries or Potato wedges on the sides and a glass of cold drink to wash it down.

Veggie Burger

Kannan

Veggie burger is made with burger buns and a crisp veggie and bean based patty, served with sweet caramelized onion, fresh tomatoes and a mix of mayonnaise and ketchup.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Soaking & Resting Time 8 hours hrs

Total Time 9 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Course Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

  

• 0.5 cup Kidney Beans or Rajma
• 3 Potatoes
• 2 Carrots
• 3 Onions
• 2 Tomatoes
• ½ cup Green Peas
• ½ Sweet Corn
• ½ Capsicum
• 15 slices Pickled Jalapenos
• 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 2 tsp Paprika or Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
• 2 tsp Roasted Cumin Powder
• 1 tsp Coriander Powder
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 3 tbsp Plain Flour
• 3 tbsp Corn Flour
• 2 cups Bread Crumbs
• 3 tbsp Chopped Coriander Leaves
• ¼ cup Eggless Mayonnaise
• ¼ cup Tomato Ketchup
• 1 tbsp Red Chilli Sauce
• 6 Iceberg Lettuce Leaves soaked in ice cold water
• 6 Cheese Singles
• 6 Burger Buns
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste

Instructions

 

• Soak the kidney beans or rajma overnight and pressure cook with some salt.
  
• Drain the rajma water and let it dry for sometime. Mash the Rajma roughly.
  
• Boil the potatoes along with some salt and mash them. Do not overcook the potatoes.
• Boil sweet corn, chopped carrots and peas with some salt and drain them well. Once they are dried, mash them. Do not overcook the veggies.
• For making the bread crumbs, blitz 6-7 slices of white bread in a mixer.
• Now in a large mixing bowl, add the mashed rajma, potatoes and veggies and add half cup of bread crumbs, 1 finely chopped onion, 6 to 7 pieces of picked jalapenos finely chopped, finely chopped capsicum, finely chopped coriander, kashmiri red chilli or paprika powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala, 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste, 1 tablespoon corn flour, 1 tablespoon plain flour, salt to taste. Mix all the ingredients well and bind to a dough type consistency. Do not add any water while mixing.
  
• The mixture should look like this once well mixed.
  
• Take a big portion of this mix and roll and flatten with hands to the shape of a disc type patty. Roll the corners on a flat surface for perfect corners. Repeat this process for the remaining mixture. This recipe should yield approximately 6 veggie patties.
  
• Take 2 tablespoons of corn flour and plain flour each and add around ¾ cup water and a pinch of salt and mix well and make a slurry.
  
• Spread the remaining breadcrumbs on a plate.
  
• Now coat the patty on both the sides in the slurry.
  
• Now coat the patty in the breadcrumbs.
  
• Repeat coating the patty in slurry one more time and in the bread crumbs again.
• Do this double coating of slurry and bread crumbs for all the remaining patties.
  
• Freeze the prepared patties in the freezer for at least 1 hour.
• In the meanwhile, dice the onions lengthwise and deep fry them on medium flame till they are golden brown. Keep them aside.
  
• Mix mayonnaise, ketchup and chilli sauce to form a homogeneous sauce. Keep them aside.
  
• Soak the iceberg lettuce leaves in ice cold water. Cut the tomatoes in round pieces.
• Heat oil in a kadai or pan and fry the frozen patties on a medium flame till it is golden brown in colour. You could also shallow fry them.
  
• Drain the patties on a kitchen towel.
  
• Cut the burger buns in half and toast them slightly on tawa with some butter.
  
• Apply the mayonnaise and ketchup mixture generously on both sides on the toasted bun.
  
• Now on the base of the bun, keep one slice of cheese single, lettuce leaves, followed by the fried patty, two slices of tomato, some pickled jalapenos pieces, fried onion.
  
• Place the top piece of the toasted bun and serve hot along with some French fries or Potato Wedges.
  

Notes

• It is very important to drain the water from the boiled rajma and veggies thoroughly. Any residual water would make the patties mushy.
• Double coating the patties with the flour slurry and breadcrumbs would yield crispier patties.
• Make sure to press the breadcrumbs in the  patty well to ensure they stick to the patty, else they could separate out of the patty while frying.
• Freezing the patty is an important step, as it firms up the patty and it is easier to fry.
• Fry the patties on a medium hot oil, else they would turn brown quickly and doughy inside.
• You could also shallow or pan fry the patties.
• You could also use raw slices of onions instead of caramelized onions. In addition to this you could also add some sliced cucumber if you wish.

Keyword Burger, Kids-Friendly, Patty, Snack, Veggies