Bean Patty

 

International Women’s Connection and Cooking

 

Reach out to women from other countries!The International Women’s Connection (IWC) provides a safe, welcoming place for international wives of professionals, military and students in our city. I joined IWC back in the Fall of 2007, when I was new in the town & was learning to live in a new culture. During the past four years I’ve learnt new crafts, met people from different continents, learnt about their food habits & cultures. At  IWC, we work together as a single team even though this means individuals have different backgrounds and skills.This is what makes  IWC unique & successful. We all share our passions /skills , there is no competition or pressure of any kind at any level. Among various other passions, one of them which we share is our love for cooking. Every month we have a cooking class where one of us demonstrates one recipe which is unique to our respective homelands.

 

 

 
I had the opportunity to give a demo on how to make veggie patties in the October cooking class. You may wonder that how is that unique to India. This is actually a variation of the popular “Aloo Tikki” ( Potato patties). I’ve come up with half a dozen recipes of Veggie Patties after trying different veggies & beans in new proportions , flavoring each recipe with just couple of Indian spices. None of them will fit into the description of  “ Aloo Tikki” as potato is just one of the ingredients used in similar quantities as other veggies / beans.

 

 

Burgers are our  family favorites or should I say every-ones favorite?? Just say burgers & we all have a good appetite. Officially known as a Hamburger but affectionately called a Burger, it is eaten more than any food other than pizza.

Veggie burgers are quite popular these days. Made right, they are delicious but fragile. These meatless cousins of the ‘Big Mac’ are easy to make with no special ingredients required .You will never want to have a frozen burger again once you have tried making these at home. You would want to do that for two reasons: Homemade burgers are much healthier; you can always control the amount of cheese & other dressing to be used ; secondly, they are less expensive than the frozen ones.

 

Whenever you think about making  a meal out of it always remember – A hamburger is not inherently an exotic food. However, in the hands of the right creative (or crazy) individual, that single slab of patty and two buns can become nothing short of spectacular.

Makes: 6                                  Serving Size: 1

Cooking time : 20 minutes           Preparation Time :  10 minutes

Course : Main                           Difficulty level : Easy

Ingredients

For the Patty

 

1.           2 medium sized Potatoes, Boiled , cut into small pieces
2.          ¼ cup Carrot, grated
3.          ½ cup frozen corn, thawed
4.          ½ cup black beans, boiled
5.          2 teaspoons salt ( or as per taste )
6.         1 teaspoon black pepper
7.         2 teaspoons garam masala ( from Indian Grocery Stores )
8.        2 teaspoons ginger paste
9.        1 teaspoon green chilli paste ( OPTIONAL )
10.      2 bread slices
11.   1 tablespoon oil for pan frying

 

For the Burger
6 Whole wheat burger buns

3-4 leaves Romaine Lettuce

8-10 tomato slices

8-10 onion slices

low fat Mayonnaise

Ketchup

Mustard sauce ( Optional)

Cheese ( optional )
Miscellaneous items

Potato/bean masher

Non- stick  medium sized skillet

Broad paddle

Directions

 

• Mix all the veggies & beans from 1 to 4 using a potato/bean masher.
• Add all the spices from 5 to 8 to the above mashed mixture. Mix well so that the spices blend with the veggies & beans.
• Soak the bread slices for 5 seconds in tap water. Drain all the water out of the bread slices by gently squeezing them between the palms of your hands.
• Add the well drained  bread slices to the mixture above. Mix all the ingredients again.
• Make small round  patties. This mixture should make 6 medium sized patties.
• Heat oil in the skillet at medium flame & pan fry all the patties. Flip them over after 6-8 minutes. Cook the other side for another 6-8 minutes. Both the sides should look golden brown when ready.
• Layer each burger bun with the veggie patty,  lettuce, tomatoes, Onion , mayonnaise & serve with ketchup.

 

 

Future Possibilities

 

• You can try baking the patties instead of pan frying them.
• Skip one of the vegetables  & try a new one.
• Next time add your regional spices instead of Indian ones. I bet you will be amazed at the results.
• Use bread instead of potatoes. Its for binding the rest of the stuff together.

Storage

 

• Once cooked , you can store the veggie patties in a refrigerator for couple of days.
• And you can probably freeze them too. I’ve never done that but I assume that they should stay  alright for few weeks atleast!  If you do that please let me know.

 

 

Nutirition

 

• This veggie burger is a good source of carbohydrates, magnesium & vitamin A.
•  Low in fats

Fun Facts

 

• At $499, the world’s largest hamburger commercially available, tips the scales at 185.8 pounds and is on the menu at Mallie’s Sports Grill & Bar in Southgate, Michigan. It is called the “Absolutely Ridiculous Burger”, which takes about 12 hours to prepare. It was cooked and adjudicated on 30 May 2009.
• Of all the sandwiches , burgers are the most popular ones.
• On an average, an American eats three burgers in a week.