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!
