Indian Burgers

As promised, here is the burger recipe to go with the naan bun recipe. The burger is durable, but is better suited to the oven than the grill. 

INGREDIENTS
Makes 6 large burgers
- 1 medium onion, minced
- 1/2 cup coarsely grated zucchini
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups chopped cauliflower (small pieces)
- 2 cups small diced potato
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp minced ginger
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp ground fenugreek
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten
- 1/4 cup chickpea flour

METHOD
1. Mix together onion, zucchini, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
2. Blanch cauliflower and potato in boiling salted water for 5 mins. Remove from boiling water and plunge into cold water. Drain. Rinse again with cold water and drain well.
3. By this time the onion and zucchini should have released a bunch of water. Squeeze out as much water as you can with your hands and place onion/zuke mixture in a new bowl.
4. Add 2/3 of the potato/cauliflower mixture. Mash the remaining 1/3 of the mixture with a fork, and add to the bowl. Add the garlic, ginger, cilantro, spices and salt and mix well.
5. Add the gluten and chickpea flours and mix well.
6. If necessary, mush/squeeze the mixture with your hands to bring it together.
7. Line a baking sheet with parchment and lightly oil it.
8. Divide mixture into 6 and press into a ring mold to make the burgers. Mist with oil and place in the fridge to chill.
9. While burgers are chilling, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake burgers for 10 mins, then flip, spray with oil, and bake for another 10 mins. Let stand for 5 mins before serving.

As you can see from the pic, I served these with with onion rings on top. I used this recipe, but cut the onions into rings and fried them separately. I dressed the burgers with vegan mayo, green tomato chutney, lettuce, and tomato.

Naan Buns

When we were in Quebec City last week vegan food for the entire family was pretty hard to come by. We ended up eating at a burger place that had some vegan options: tofu on a bun, or something they called L'Indien. It was more like a large falafel on a bun, but the kids were more or less pleased with it. The idea is a good one, so I made my own version when I got home (caveat: I did not actually eat the original burger because fried food and me don't get along. Thanks, Crohn's!). First up, the naan bun. Next, the burger.

INGREDIENTS
Makes one dozen buns
- 2 cups warm soy milk
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp yeast
- 775g/1lb 11oz all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3 tbsp oil

METHOD
1. Whisk sugar and lemon juice into the soy milk. Whisk in yeast and set aside to fully dissolve and get frothy.
2. Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
3. Add oil and yeast mixture to the flour and bring together into a dough. Knead for about 5 mins, or until smooth. Shape into a ball and placed in an oiled bowl, covered, to rise for an hour.
4. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and shape into boules. Press each boule into a flat, puck shape with your finger tips. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or two, depending on the size of your oven and baking stone). Mist buns with oil, then cover. Place another baking sheet on top of the buns (this will let them rise but keep the puck shape) and let rise for about 45 mins, or until almost doubled in size.
5. While bread is rising, place a baking stone on the middle shelf of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.
6. The buns work best if you bake them directly on the hot stone. I slide the parchment off the pan and on to the stone, but you could just put the pan right on the stone. In any event, brush the buns with water (top with poppy seeds if you want), and place in the oven. Reduce heat to 400 degrees.
7. Buns right on the stone will bake in 8-9 minutes. Buns on the sheet won't be far behind. Bake until buns are a deep golden brown and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom.
8. Cool on wire racks and enjoy!