Indian Vegetarian Burgers

Vegetarian substitutes for meat have been gaining in popularity over the years, and even many of the fast food places entered into the market for such foods. Somewhere around a third of India's population is vegetarian, and that figure "could" even be higher.  

 

As I'm sure many of you know, the foods of India are often "spicy," and you can certainly adjust the heat level of these "burgers." Scrub the potatoes well and you can leave the skins on, if you'd like. There are lots of chili pepper varieties used on the Indian Subcontinent, and many of the specific types are not available all over the world, but "generally," you can substitute other types of chilies; as for instance, you can use jalapeño chilies in place of the various green chilies used on the Indian Subcontinent. As I've mentioned in some other articles, I've had jalapeño chilies that really had no heat; I mean, they were like green bell peppers; but on the other hand, I've had jalapeño chilies that could bring smoke billowing from your nostrils. So, use the number of chilies to accommodate your desired level of heat, but remember, chilies also provide a degree of flavor. 

Ground coriander is not the same as fresh coriander, which is better known as cilantro in many parts of the world. Ground coriander is the spice made from the seeds. As for cardamom, you can buy ground cardamon in a jar (some say bottle), or you can buy, or you might already have, whole green cardamon pods, and you can grind them yourself (I often use a mortar and pestle, and sometimes a spice/coffee grinder). You might find ground fennel in some supermarkets or spice shops, but certainly not in all. Or you can use a spice or coffee grinder, or a mortar and pestle and grind about 6 or 8 fennel seeds for this recipe.

 

You don't have to be precise in how you chop or cut the veggies, because they will be mashed or processed after cooking. You don't want the veggies, lentils and peas to be mushy, and you don't want them dripping with moisture, so drain them super well. The lentils and split peas will be processed too, so they don't have to be cooked until totally tender, as if you were making soup or curry, but you don't want them to be hard either. By the way, if you don't have red lentils, or if you can't find them easily, use brown lentils; the earth won't shift because of it.  

I know the list of ingredients looks long, and there's a reason for that ... IT IS! But it includes the spices often used in Indian cooking. Generally speaking, I'm not a real big fan of commercial Indian spice blends like garam masala or curry powder (and there are others). Many people of India, and from the overall Subcontinent, as well, make their own spice blends at home; so, they are not "standard." I keep a couple of commercial spice blends for occasional convenience, but I often prefer to add individual spices to recipes myself; thus, that's another reason for the list of spices here. The long list doesn't mean any of this is complicated, because it isn't. All you're doing is measuring out various spices and adding them to the recipe.

Serve with fried potato wedges

 

Ingredients (4 to 6 burgers):

 

2 1/2 cups chopped potatoes

1 1/2 cups chopped carrot

1/2 cup green beans

1/3 cup red lentils (or brown lentils)

1/4 cup split green peas

1 onion (tennis ball size), peeled and quartered

1 1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled

4 cloves garlic

1 to 3 chilies (depending up desired heat level)

1/4 cup fresh coriander, known to many as cilantro

2 teaspoons ground coriander (NOT the same as ground up fresh coriander, ground coriander is a spice made from coriander seeds)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground cardamon 

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground fennel 

1/2 teaspoon ground mace

about 1/3 cup breadcrumbs (more if needed, I prefer fine breadcrumbs for this, not panko)

1/4 cup flour + 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper + 3 to 4 tablespoons water

1/2 to 3/4 cup of breadcrumbs (separate from amount above)

oil for frying 

hamburger buns, lightly dry toasted, then buttered

lettuce leaves

tomato slices

onion slices

1/2 cup mayonnaise + 1 clove minced garlic + 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper + 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Use a pan that can hold the potatoes, carrots and green beans. First, cook the potatoes and carrots in lightly salted boiling water, but keep them rather firm, NOT mushy, then add the green beans for just a couple of minutes before removing the vegetables from the heat, as the beans shouldn't take long to cook. DRAIN WELL!

Cook the lentils and split peas in lightly salted simmering water until softened, but again, NOT mushy ("about" 15 minutes) ... DRAIN WELL

Mash about a third of the vegetables, lentils and split peas to a coarse mixture in a large bowl (this will provide some texture to the burgers). Process the rest of the vegetables, lentils and split peas, along with the onion, ginger, garlic, chilies and fresh coriander until just finely chopped; add to the bowl with the coarsely mashed ingredients; add the spices (ground coriander, cumin, ground cardamom, ground turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, cloves, ground fennel, mace) and the 2/3 cup breadcrumbs; mix together very well (remember, this mixture needs to be able to hold together as a "burger-type" patty, so if it needs more breadcrumbs, don't hesitate to add them). 

Roll the mixture into rounds (golf ball to tennis ball size), then press them to make patties (I make them about 1/2 inch thick). Mix together the flour, pepper and water in a shallow bowl (it should be thick, but not really a paste). Put the breadcrumbs onto a plate or into a shallow dish. Dip the patties into the flour mixture, then into the breadcrumbs to coat.

Fry the patties in oil over medium heat until browned on both sides  

For the mayonnaise, mix the ingredients together well. Serve with any or all of the toppings.

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Oblige (Obligation)-"Oblige" is related to "ligament," a word borrowed by English from Latin, and to "liaison," a Latin-based word borrowed from French, and to "league" (the noun meaning "confederation, alliance, association"), another Latin-based word borrowed via French, which had it from Italian. The prefix "ob" goes back to Indo European "ep(i)," which meant "toward, near, against, to." The main body of the word "oblige" goes back to Indo European "leig," which had the meaning, "to bind." This gave Latin "ligare," with essentially the same meaning, "to tie, to bind." The combination gave Latin "obligare," meaning "to tie to, to fasten;" thus also, "to bind to responsibility, indebtedness, liability." This passed to Latin-based Old French as "obligier" meaning "to commit to something, to pledge oneself to something," and then became "obliger," and English borrowed the word circa 1300 as "obligen" meaning "to commit/pledge oneself to something (sometimes involving an oath), to feel compelled to do or behave in a particular way,"^ later also, "to be indebted (or to feel indebted) to someone." The noun "obligation" goes back to Latin "obligationem," the accusative form of the verb "obligare" (see above). This passed into Old French as "obligacion" meaning "legal or perceived responsibility or duty, a pledge, commitment or contract to do something (often to pay indebtedness)." English borrowed the word in the early 1300s, initially as "obligacioun," from French, but with influence from Latin. 

 

^ Verb forms ending in "en" was how English indicated the infinitive form in those times, and how its cousin, German, still does. As such, English speakers didn't have to insert "to" into sentences, as the "en" signified that same meaning; thus, "obligen" meant "to oblige." English later changed its way of conjugating verbs by dropping the "en," but usually adding "to" to statements like, "I have to go;" whereas, German still just uses the "en" form; thus, "Ich muss gehen," meaning "I have to go," but it also means, "I must go," it can be translated either way (notice English doesn't have to use "to" when we say, "I must go," with "must" being an auxiliary verb).