RECIPE: CHICKPEA & QUINOA BURGERS
Chickpea & Quinoa Burgers are protein rich with delicious savoury flavours, healthy and filling too. Served with hummus, salad leaves, tomato, cucumber, onion and cheese, it is an excellent way to add vegetables to your family’s diet.
So who says that burgers are junk food? Burgers can be healthy and tasty at the same time. Instead of serving them with the normal french fries opt to serve it some salad or oven roasted fries. We prefer to enjoy burgers without the fries.
A NEW HOME – 12/09/2016
As most of my followers know, my blog is not only for recipes but I share events, experiences and thoughts too. So it is obvious that I would pen down the event of moving to our new home in Bangalore. As my has decided to stay on in Bangalore and work, hubby and I thought it is best we buy an apartment, that way she saves money on rent.
TOO MUCH STUFF
Moving homes is not a joke at all. In fact it is very stressful. When one accumulates all the things one has into boxes, you realize that it is a lot of stuff! How much can one person own in a lifetime? A lot! New gadgets, new crockery, new clothes, new shoes, all with different designs and colours and we buy it.
The world of advertisement is certainly doing a very good job. Any new products on the market and we want it. When it comes to kitchen stuff, I have a tendency to accumulate a lot! My daughter on the other hand loves her shoes and bags. At the new place, she had special drawers fitted in her bedroom for just shoes and bags!
PATHETIC MOVER SERVICE
The movers we got in touch with to help came highly recommended! For sure I am not recommending them to anyone! As a matter of fact, the movers are paid to put all the stuff in appropriate boxes, label them, move them and help us to unpack. First of all, they did not turn up on time. Several calls, and they lied that they are on their way! Showed up after a delay of 4 hours.
Moreover, they dumped everything and anything in the boxes without labelling them. As a result, I was really angry but couldn’t do anything. By the time we reached the new apartment, it was night. Of course, my daughter and I were just too exhausted. In the end, asked the guys to go as we thought it is best we unpack by ourselves. Exhausted and hungry, we ordered some food and went to bed. Luckily we had set up our rooms with the furniture before hand.
PATIENCE BY THE TONNE
Then comes the worst part…. setting up home. If patience could be weighed, then I probably have a tonne of it! Patience with all the various fundis as we call them in Kenya or repairmen/vendors. Right from the guy who is suppose to measure your windows for the curtains to the bathroom accessory fitter, no ones really keeps time. So waiting patiently for them to turn up had become a part of my daily routine.
Once they complete the job they have come for, they leave the mess for us to clean! Generally, they are suppose to clean up the area after they complete the job.
ON A HAPPIER NOTE
Having said all that, the most satisfying part of the whole process is when the house slowly takes the shape of a home. And yes, my daughter and I are getting there slowly but surely. Finally, the kitchen is functional, we’ve got a small garden in the balcony and hopefully by the end of the week, our bathrooms will be fully equipped, curtains will be hung up and we’ll have more time to prepare for my daughter’s upcoming wedding.
FUNCTIONAL KITCHEN – PREPARED CHICKPEA & QUINOA BURGERS
After a whole week of eating spicy, greasy but delicious take away food, I am ready to cook something in my kitchen. In fact, we both were missing burgers so that is what I prepared. Mildly spiced, protein rich and healthy too.
SUNDAY FUNDAY
By the way, Sunday Funday is a group of Food Bloggers. Every Sunday we share some fun, traditional, hearty or easy recipes to make Sunday Family Meals a bit more exciting. To join this fun group, visit the Sunday Funday Facebook Page. Request to join in.
THEME: CELEBRATE HAMBURGER | BURGER MONTH
Did you know that May is the Hamburger Month in US? I didn’t till I got a notification from Days Of The Year Calendar. Therefore, I thought let Sunday Funday Members celebrate Hamburger Month with their favourite burger.
WHAT IS A HAMBURGER?
Generally, a hamburger is a type of food that consists of meat patty placed on a round bun or roll and served. One can add condiments like mayonnaise, or other sauces, salad ingredients, pickles and cheese. So how did this favourite of so many people get the name hamburger? Actually from Hamburg, Germany. Yes, simple as that.
When German Immigrants came to United States they brought with them the Hamburg Steak. Hamburgers became a sensation as sandwiches at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. Tatars (Tartars) a nomadic tribe that invaded Central Asia and Eastern Europe during the Middle Age, introduced raw shredded beef to the people. The Germans added spices to it, fried or broiled it and was better known as Hamburg Steak.
MEMORIES
As the hamburger became more popular world wide, beef patty was replaced with patties made from different ingredients. Growing up initially, my mum didn’t make hamburgers or burgers for us. First introduction to it was when Wimpy first came to Nairobi. But while my dad and brother enjoyed the chicken burgers, the rest of us had to fill our tummies with french fries only.
Then vegetable burger found its way into our household. The usual vegetable patties my mum use to make were put in between a sliced bun and served with ketchup, lettuce, tomato and onion.
When my kids were growing up, burgers was fun food for them and an opportunity for me to add a variety of veggies, beans, lentils to the patty.
CELEBRATING HAMBURGER MONTH WITH SUNDAY FUNDAY MEMBERS
- A Day in the Life on the Farm: Hawaiian Burgers
- Palatable Pastime: Queen City Burgers
- Our Good Life: Mushroom Burgers with Chipotle Mayo
- Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Truffled Beef Sliders
- Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Smash Burgers
- Sneha’s Recipe : Keto Coconut Flour Pancake & A Sandwich Burger
- Dana’s Table: The Apple Pan’s Hickory Burger Sauce Copycat Recipe
- Making Miracles: Mushroom Swiss Bacon Burgers
- Mayuri’s Jikoni: Chickpea & Quinoa Burgers
INDIA’S ‘HAMBURGER’
In fact, the famous street food vada pav is India’s version of a hamburger. Vada in this context refers to the deep fried spicy mashed potato coated with chickpea batter. Pav is bread. First introduced to the Indian Sub Continent by the Portuguese, pão became pav over time. The pav is a small squarish soft bun. It is smeared with a hot dry chutney, vada is added to and served with deep fried green chillis.
CHICKPEA & QUINOA BURGERS
As I mentioned above, as soon as the kitchen was functional, I opted to make burgers. Actually, the whole idea of adding quinoa to it came about as a bit of quinoa in the pantry and wanted to use it up. As I am not a huge fan of mayonnaise or pickled jalapeno, gherkins, capers, etc, my burger took up a new avatar. Served it with hummus.
At the time I posted this recipe, didn’t realize that the photos were quite horrible. In fact, this post was screaming for a makeover and this theme gave me the opportunity to do so.
The spices and herbs vary every time I make these chickpea and quinoa burgers. It all depends on what I have in the fridge and pantry. Occasionally I have served it with a thick yogurt dip where I add some fresh coriander, mint or dill with a small amount of garlic.
This post was first published on 12/09/2016. Updated on 01/05/2022
INGREDIENTS REQUIRED FOR CHICKPEA & QUINOA BURGERS
FOR THE PATTY
- Chickpeas – cooked. I have used canned chickpeas. If you want to start from raw chickpeas, then soak them overnight in warm water. Next day drain out the water, wash the chickpeas. Put them in a pressure cooker or Instant Pot with some water and salt. Cook them till done. If you are using a pressure cooker, then they get done after 3 whistles. For the IP I use the pressure cook option.
- Quinoa – cooked and should have no water left. I prefer using leftover cooked quinoa as it is not moist.
- Potato – to bind the ingredients together. Boil, peel and mash or grate.
- Chickpea Flour – I keep roasted chickpea flour or besan ready. Comes in handy for all recipes that need a bit of flour for binding. If you don’t have chickpea flour, use oat flour or bread crumbs. The reason we add the flour is so that it soaks up moisture from the patty mixture.
- Cumin Powder – jeera, jiru powder.
- Pepper Powder – use black or white pepper powder.
- Paprika – I prefer using smoked. Use any you have or replace it with Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder.
- Salt – add according to your taste. Be careful as both cooked chickpeas and quinoa have salt.
- Onion – use white, red, yellow, peeled and finely chopped.
- Ginger – peeled and grated or minced.
- Garlic – peeled and minced.
- Green Chillis – optional. Add finely chopped or minced.
- Fresh Coriander /Cilantro – if the stems are tender also chop those up and add to the patty mixture. Coriander stems tend to be very flavorful.
- Lemon Juice – add according to your taste. I like to add a bit more for that lemony taste.
- Oil – any oil of your choice. I have used sunflower oil. We need oil to grill or cook the patties. I have cooked them over a tawa or skillet. You can use the air fryer, deep fry them or bake them in the oven.
TO SERVE
- Round Buns – ready made burger buns or homemade. If I am baking them at home then I like to use Cemita Buns.
- Tomato Slices
- Cucumber Slices
- Salad Leaves – use lettuce or any other salad leaves. At the time of making these burgers I had mixed salad leaves in the fridge so used those.
- Cheese Slices – any cheese of your choice. I love to use cheddar or Monterey Jack especially the one with jalapeño.
- Butter – like to spread over the cut buns so that one toasting they become a bit crunchy. But you can omit it.
- Onion Slices or Rings – peel and cut the onion into slices or rings. Use red, white or yellow.
- Hummus – home made or ready made. I like to use Mango Hummus if I am making the hummus at home. Ready made one I prefer garlic hummus.
The above are just a rough guideline as to what you can use. Feel free to add other ingredients like pickles, mayonnaise, ketchup, etc.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE CHICKPEA & QUINOA BURGERS
CHICKPEA & QUINOA BURGERS
Ingredients
FOR THE PATTIES:
- 1 cup chickpeas cooked
- 1 cup quinoa cooked
- 1 cup potato mashed or grated
- ½ cup onion finely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh coriander chopped
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp ginger minced or grated
- 1 -2 green chillis finely chopped or minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp chickpea flour
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp pepper powder
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 3-4 tbsp oil
- 5 tsp salted butter soft
FOR SERVING:
- some salad leaves
- 1 large tomato cut into rings
- 1 medium cucumber cut into round slices
- 1 medium onion sliced or cut into rings
- 5 slices cheese
- 5 burger buns
- 5 tbsp hummus
Instructions
PREPARATION OF CHICKPEA & QUINOA PATTIES:
- Mash the chickpeas or process them in a food processor to a coarse texture.
- Add the mashed potato, quinoa and chickpea flour.
- Add all the spices, salt, coriander and lemon juice.
- Mix everything well.
- The mixture should not be watery at all. You should be able to bring the ingredients into a dough.
- Divide the mixture into 4 -5 parts. It depends on the size of the buns. If you use mini buns then you can easily make 8 patties.
- Oil your hands lightly with some oil. Form each part into a thick round disc, according to the size of the buns.
- Put the patties in the fridge for 30 minutes.
COOK THE PATTIES:
- Heat a wide pan/skillet/tawa over medium heat. Add oil and place the patties in the pan.
- Let the patties cook till they turn light golden brown.
- Flip them over and cook the other side till it becomes light golden colour.
- Remove the cooked patties from the pan and keep them on the side.
TOAST THE BUNS:
- Cut each bun into half.
- Apply about ½ tsp of butter on each part.
- Lightly toast them under the grill or on the pan/skillet/tawa.
GET THE CHICKPEA & QUINOA BURGERS READY:
- Now its time to assemble the burgers.
- On both parts of the bun smear hummus. You need about ½ tbsp for each part.
- Put some salad leaves on the bottom half of the bun.
- Place the patty on the salad leaves.
- Add a slice of cheese.
- Top with sliced cucumber, onion and tomato.
- Place the top parts of the burger buns over the patty and veggies.
- Chickpea quinoa burgers are ready to be served.
Notes
- Serve the burgers with your choice of vegetables.
- You can serve tomato ketchup and chilli sauce with the burgers.
- Add finely chopped spring onion to the burger filling if you like.
- Best to use leftover quinoa. If you cook it fresh 1/2 cup gives 1 cup of cooked quinoa. Drain out all the water.
- There is no fixed rule as to what should go first on the bun. Some like to add veggies and cheese first and then the patty. Some add veggies, patty and cheese on top.
PIN FOR LATER:
A little request:
If you do try this recipe then please either
add a comment below,
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