Black Eyed Peas Burgers - KBC & SRK

Food news from India
We are finally seeing some quality food shows on the Indian tele scene. Madhur Jaffrey's flavours of India is fun to watch. Kylie Kwong on Discovery Travel & Living provides us that touch of exotica with her two shows - Cooking with heart and soul and Simply Magic. Now, the 'hostess with the mostess' - Nigella Lawson is finally on Indian tellies with her show Nigella Feasts, Mondays 8.30 pm.

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Ever since I tried making burgers with the leftover dried Kaala Chana (brown chick peas) a few weeks ago, we make sure we have a Rachael Ray-esque burger night atleast once a week. Since we are vegetarians, I must say we have a WIDE variety of options to try out. Veggie-burgers, lentil burgers, soy burgers, I can go on and on and on.

The Kaala Chana burgers tasted excellent. Hubby loved them when stuffed between two slices of whole grain bread and grilled on my newly acquired grill pan with a dab of Olivio. This bunch, made with black eyed peas, looked similar but tasted totally different. The process is simple. Soak the beans, pressure cook/ cook, drain, mash. Then add any spices and flavours you fancy, shape them into good sized hunks, bake or grill them and you are good to go.



There are many ways to use them too-

• Make a simple salad with pickled onions, tomato, carrots. Scoop it on a slice of bread, place the burger, drizzle your favourite sauces, cover with another slice and dinner is ready.
• You can even deep fry smaller sized balls to make yummy finger food.
• You can do a bean salad with these, by cutting the burgers into strips and tossing them with chopped peppers, onions, tomato and a light dressing of lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Black eyed peas burgers
Category: Dinner, Snack, Vegetarian burgers, TV Dinners
Prep time: Soaking time for peas - 6 hrs or overnight
Cooking time: 1 hr
Makes 12 medium sized burgers

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ingredients
1.5 cups of black eyed peas - soaked overnight
3-4 tbsp of coriander leaves - chopped
1-2 tsp of cayenne pepper powder (as per your taste)
1-2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of cumin powder
5 cloves garlic finely chopped
1-2 tbsp of roasted sesame seeds
oil to brush on the burgers

for assembly
slices of bran or whole wheat bread / burger buns
a cup of onion slices pickled in vinegar and salt
a cup of sliced tomatoes
a cup of grated carrots / cabbage
coriander chutney (optional)
sauces of your choice - I used the Mexican chilli sauce (Medium hot salsa picanta) and the green Salsa Habanera (made from the hottest chillies in the world)

directions

Pressure cook the soaked peas in 4 cups of water for 2 whistles. Keep at sim for 5 min. Switch off cooker. Cool and drain well.
OR
Cook them in boiling water for 35-40 minutes until soft but not fully mashed.

Preheat the oven at 200 C or heat your grill pan.

Place the drained peas with the other ingredients for the burgers except oil in a bowl. Mash gently with a fork mixing all ingredients well. Taste for salt and spice.

Shape into burgers 2" in diameter. Place on a greased baking sheet. Brush the tops with oil and bake for 15 minutes. You could grill them on a stove top pan or a grill, as per your convenience.

Assemble each burger between two slices of bread and the salad with a choice of sauces. Enjoy warm with a cold drink of your choice. If you use the hot sauces I did, then trust me, you'll need it.

Serve it on a tray - and hey don't forget the remote. With ShahRukh Khan hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati (Indian version of Who wants to be millionaire?) TV dinners are here again.

Technorati tags: black eyed peas, vegetarian burgers, TV Dinners, KBC, SRK