Mushroom & Chickpea Burgers

This is one of my most followed vegetarian recipes. Which has to mean something…

Prep

  1. Dice the onion finely. Crush the garlic. Crush and very finely dice the lemon grass if using fresh. Assemble the spices. Whizz white crustless bread in a processor or with a stick blender to make breadcrumbs. Set them aside.
  2. Drain the chickpeas. Squeeze the lime. If it’s dry, warm it quickly in a low oven or sit it on a radiator in winter or bash it on a surface and roll it around a bit. That should release the juices.
  3. Scatter the white coating flour on a large dinner plate or board. Lightly season it.

Cook

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion and garlic. Cook over a low heat, stirring for 5 minutes or until soft, translucent and still uncoloured.
  2. Add the chilli, cumin, coriander, turmeric, lemon grass. Stir and cook for 3 minutes.
  3. Add the mushroom and lime juice. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, to soften. Tip the mix into a bowl to cool down. Meantime, semi-blitz the drained chickpeas with a stick blender/processor but don’t turn them to a paste. Retain some texture. Crush them with a fork if you like. Add to the cooling mix along with the breadcrumbs, Tabasco, coriander, salt and pepper. Mix with the fork.
  4. Coat your hands with flour to ease the shaping process. Divide the mix roughly into 6. Shape each section into a burger shape. You may need to wash/dry/re-flour your hands in-between.
  5. Put the burgers to chill for at least 15 minutes.
  6. Heat a large frying pan. Add olive oil. Fry the burgers for 5 minutes per side or until cooked through. You want them to be slightly crispy on the outside and hot all through. If you’re making more than 6 you can fry them off in batches and keep the cooked ones warm in the oven at 180C until they’re all done.

Plate

  1. Assemble the burgers: lightly toast the rolls. Mix mayo with a little curry paste, crushed garlic and lemon juice. Spread onto the rolls. Add the burger, and some home-made raita (yoghurt and cucumber with crushed garlic). Or add guacamole, grated cheddar and tomato, shredded iceberg lettuce. Or an onion ring, curried mayo and a fried whole chilli.

Useful Cooking Information

Weight

Metric Imperial
10 g½ oz
20 g¾ oz
25 g1 oz
50 g2 oz
75 g3 oz
110 g4 oz
150 g5 oz
175 g6 oz
200 g7 oz
225 g8 oz
250 g9 oz
275 g10 oz
350 g12 oz
450 g1 lb
500 g (½ kg)18 oz
700 g1½ lb
900 g2 lb
1 kg2¼ lb
1.3 kg3 lb
1.8 kg4 lb
2.2 kg5 lb

Volume

Metric Imperial
50 ml2 fl oz
75 ml3 fl oz
100 ml3½ fl oz
125 ml4 fl oz
150 ml5 fl oz¼ pint
200 ml7 fl oz
250 ml9 fl oz
300 ml10 fl oz½ pint
425 ml15 fl oz¾ pint
600 ml20 fl oz1 pint
800 ml1½ pint
1 l1¾ pints
1.2 l2 pints
1.5 l2½ pints
1.8 l3 pints
2 l3½ pints

Measurements

Metric Imperial
5 mm¼ inch
1 cm½ inch
2 cm¾ inch
2.5 cm1 inch
3 cm1¼ inches
4 cm1½ inches
5 cm2 inches
10 cm3 inches
15 cm4 inches
20.5 cm6 inches
23 cm9 inches
25 cm10 inches
30 cm12 inches

Spoon measures - mean level measures unless the recipe says 'heaped'

Eggs - are always large for baking, unless recipe says otherwise


Oven Temperatures

Gas °F °C
Mark 1275140
2300150
3325170
4350180
5375190
6400200
7425220
8450230
9475240

Fan assisted ovens - remember to reduce temperatures by 20°C

Most Useful US/European Conversions

ButterUS 1 cup / 2 sticks8 oz220 g
SugarUS 1 cup6 oz175 g
FlourUS 1 cup4 oz110 g
LiquidUS 1 cup8 fl oz225 ml
Prepped OnionsUS 1 cup4 oz110 g
Cheese, GratedUS 1 cup4 oz110 g
Diced FruitUS 1 cup5 oz150 g
Fresh BreadcrumbsUS 1 cup2 oz55 g

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