Spinach-Chickpea Burgers

From Veggie Burgers Every Which Way, Lukas Volger, Wakefield Press, 2010.

When the author states that this is one of his favourite burgers then you must give it a go to see whether it also suits you.

It was an easy burger to make. Firstly, a teaspoon cumin seeds went into a pan with hot olive oil. They were followed by a goodly amount of baby spinach leaves (about 5 cups). When the spinach had wilted it was taken off the heat and let cool. It was now squeezed tightly to remove as much liquid as possible. The spinach was then chopped.

In the blender a can of chickpeas, drained, 2 eggs, salt and the juice of half a lemon were churned until blended and reasonably smooth. They went into a bowl and the spinach mixture was added. Now besan (chickpea flour) was added a tablespoon at a time until the mixture was a consistency that was sticky but held together reasonably well.

It still felt a bit loose to me so it went into the frying pan a heaped tablespoon at a time and was formed into rough burger shapes as it was cooking. It was fried for a couple of minutes on each side and then went into the oven (180ºC) for about 15 minutes more.

I served it with baked vegetables rather than in a bun. Perhaps it would have been better in a bun with a good sauce, some mayo and salads. As it was it was dry and not overly tasty. I do find that whenever besan is used as a thickening agent in burgers that the result does tend to come out like this. The besan appears to soak up the juices and flatten out the result. I may try these again but use a different ingredient. I suspect that breadcrumbs would have worked much better.

Taste: ✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔