Making food is a relatively new frontier for me - I've only been vegetarian-cooking since 2010. I'm no professional but I love the process of creating things. I find it therapeutic, and the most fun part is that the end result can be eaten! My family members, partner, and most of my friends are not vegan/vegetarians, so my aim is to make food so good that people don't even care about it being meatless. Thankfully, I've had more hits than misses!
I normally don't share my recipes, firstly because most of them are lifted directly off the internet or from a cookbook, and often just amended slightly according to my own resources. Secondly, when I create dishes by myself, I don't use measurements, which could lead to a recipe with plenty of ambiguous statements like 'a handful of' and 'a gazillion itty bitty bits of'.
But my latest kitchen experiment - Vegan Chickpea Patty - was a huge success, and the picture of the final product has garnered enough online response for me to share my recipe to the best of my ability, with original web link references.
Vegan Chickpea Patty
(Serves 6-8 people)
INGREDIENTS
2 cans of chickpeas, drained
4 tablespoons of flaxseed
1/2 tablespoon of red salt
7 stalks / half a fistful of coriander
Half a large carrot
A medium-sized red bell pepper
A large red onion
5-6 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of instant oats
A teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons of cumin powder
Black pepper
Water
Olive oil
Burger buns / Wholegrain bread
3 small tomatoes
A head of romaine lettuce
Guacamole
METHOD
1. Flaxseed is an excellent substitute for egg, which is needed to keep the patty together. Flaxseed adds fibre, protein and healthy omega-3 oil to the dish. Blend the flaxseed in a blender until fine, then simmer with water on a low fire for 2-3 minutes until it thickens to a raw egg type of texture. The flaxseed:water ratio should be 1:3, but the water evaporates easily so add a little more water into the pan if you see the mixture getting too goopy. Turn off the fire and wait for the mixture to cool.
2. Blend chickpeas, flaxseed and salt together in a food processor until most of it is mushy. Set aside.
3. Chop finely the coriander, carrot, red pepper, onion and garlic. Add oil into a saucepan on low heat and toss in the carrot, followed closely by the red pepper, onion and garlic together. Stir fry for 2 minutes at the most - we don't want to fully cook these ingredients yet. Turn off heat, and mix in cumin powder, cayenne pepper and black pepper.
4. In a large bowl, mix semi-cooked ingredients and raw coriander with the chickpea mixture.
5. Mold mixture into patties. Mine were slightly bigger than the size of my palm, which was enough to make about 8 patties.
6. Coat patties with instant oats. You may press the oats in to keep them there, but keep the pressure delicate just in case the patties break.
7. Line the saucepan again with oil, and cook your patties on low heat. You may apply brief slight pressure to the patties against the pan with a spatula. Let each side cook for 2-3 minutes. Try not to flip the patties more than once.
8. Remove from heat and serve on buns or bread with sliced tomatoes, lettuce and guacamole. For once I felt a little lazy and used ready-made guacamole straight from a jar, but homemade ones taste SO much better and can be easily made with this recipe.
9. NOM NOM TIME
Note: Leftover uncooked patties can be kept in the fridge for 3-4 days. You could even eat them 'raw' if you wish!
Link references:
Thanks for your interest in this recipe, and here's to the Jamie Oliver in all of us!
- Davina
