Curried Lentil and Quinoa Burger

From Cafe Flora Cookbook, page 175

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 c. red lentils
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 c. quinoa
  • 1 tsp vegetable oil
  • 1 c. diced yellow onion
  • 1 c. diced celery
  • 2 T chopped garlic
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 1 tsp. curry powder
  • 1 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted and ground ***
  • 1 tsp. chili powder
  • 1/4 c. rolled oats
  • 2 T all-purpose or whole-wheat flour
  • 1/2 c. unseasoned bread crumbs, toasted
  • Vegetable oil for cooking

*** Toasting seeds: Put a dry skillet over medium heat.  When the pan is hot, add the spice, shaking the pan back and forth to roll the seeds around so they toast evenly and don't burn.  Toast until fragrant 1 or 2 mintues.  REmove the spice from the pan, and cool it slightly before you grind it.

 

Grinding spices:  Thoroughly clean your coffee grinder, and grind the spice until it's the consistency of cornmeal.  When you're done, clean the grinder meticulously.

 

Accompaniments:

  • Soft rolls
  • thinly sliced onion or lettuce
  • Tomato Chutney

Directions:

  1. Cook the lentils.  Rinse the lentils and put thm in a small pot with 2 c. cold water and the bay leaf.  Bring to a boil and then lower the heat. Simmer, covered, untkl tender, 15 to 20 minutes, adding more water if necessary. (its ok if they're mushy).  Drain and set aside.
  2. Prepare the quinoa.  Thoroughly rinse the quinoa in a mesh strainer under running water until the water runs clear.  This removes the bitter powder residues that coat each grain.  Also, nice to toast the quinoa - see instructions above for seeds.  Quinoa is done when it starts to "skittle" across the pan.
  3. Cook the quinoa.  In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup water(or can use 1/4 part vegetable broth) to a boil.  Add the rinsed quinoa, lower the heat and simmer for about 5  minutes.  Let sit for about 20 minutes to absorb remainder of water.  Fluff the grains with a fork.
  4. Cook the vegetables and spices.  Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion, celery, garlic, and salt.  Cook, stirring often, until the onion is soft and translucent and the celery is tender, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the parsley, paprika, curry powder cumin and chili powder until thoroughly combined.  Set the mixture aside to cool.
  5. Grind the oats.  While you're sauteing the vegetables, put the oats in a food processor or blender.  Grind until all the flakes are broken up, but not as fine as flour.  Set the oats aside.
  6. Mix up the patties.  When all the cooked ingredients are cool enough to handle put them in a large bowl and stir until well combined.  Sprinkle the roats, flour, and bread crumbs over the mixture, and mix thoroughly using you hands. 
  7. Shape the burgers.  Using 1/2 c. mixture per burger, gently shape each protion into a patty about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.  Gently flatten the burgers, and smooth out the jagged edges so they dont break off when you cook them.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (for toasting the buns).
  8. Panfry the burgers.  Heat 1 T oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  (If you don't have a nonstick pan, any eavy skillet works well).  When it's hot, put several burgers in the pan, leaving enough room to flip them easily.  Cook on each side until browned and heated through, 3 to 4 minutes per side.  Add 1 T of oil to the skillet for each pan of burgers you fry.
  9. Serve the burgers.  Split each bun and lay the halves cut side up on a baking sheet.  Bake until lightly toasted, 2 or 3 minutes.  PUt a burger on one half of a bun, lay on lettuce and onions, and top with Tomato Chutney.