Myriad Musings

I have never eaten the authentic meat burger - beef or otherwise.  I am a vegetarian by birth and a eggetarian by choice.  So my recipe may not taste anything like "the authentic burger". I have had a huge variety of vegetarian burgers though, greasy, subtle, in your face spicy, bucolic grass healthy... the works. At a wide variety of places McDs, Street Corners, Restaurants of varying starhood... And that qualifies me to come up with my own version of how a veggie burger should be. Even if it doesn't qualify me to claim the title definitive for it :) The venture was inspired by my promise to Gau to make him a good burger for his lunch box.I went overboard and did everything from scratch, the bun, the sauce and the patties. Burger Patti 300g potato, cooked, peeled and mashed 1/2 cup dry beans (I used Karamani, anything would work) soaked overnight, cooked and drained. 1 medium sized onion- finely chopped 1 medium sized capsicum - finely chopped. 2 green chi...

I cook chana daal with methi, onions, garlic and tomatoes; Serve it with roti and/or rice it is a blah lunch.  I cook the same chana dal, drain the water, fry the methi leaves, onion and garlic.  Mix everything together, form into patties and insert between two halves of a burger bun, it suddenly becomes irresistible?  How is that possible?  I prefer the former version, my son the latter. Does the addition of raw veggies, mint sauce and a slice of cheese really change the taste so much?  Or is he just eating wth his eyes?  Cool modern burger as opposed to my grandmother's fare? I usually add a potato to bind the chana and methi together and to give him some much needed carbs.  This is usually a hit in his lunch box, served with ketchup on the side and NO fries.

School has reopened for my son, so no more IPL until midnight and waking up at 10.30 AM :) The poor darling has classes from 7:25 in the morning and he has to leave by 7.05 even if we drop him off. This means I am at work by 7:45 and my PhD will finally get somewhere. He wanted a veggie burger for his first back to school lunch box. For the Patty: 3 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cooked 1/2 litre 3% milk made into paneer (I added yogurt to just boiled milk to make it) 1 small capsicum finely chopped 1 medium onion finely chopped 1/2 cup soaked overnight and cooked karamani 1 tbspoon chopped coriander Mash all above ingredients together and make into a dough Divide into 5 parts Shape each into a patty 0.5 cm thick cook on a well buttered pan on medium heat until browned on each side. I know this looks overdone, but trust me it was awesome according to hubby and too healthy according to baby Oh, The French Loaf makes lovely burger buns, not the dry kind I used to ...