Dilled Chickpea Burger With Spicy Yogurt Sauce
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
No one will ever know these burgers are made of chickpeas, unless you tell them. Shallots, chickpeas, tahini, and spices are combined and sautéed to crisp perfection for one of the most satisfying veggie burgers we’ve tasted.
Here we’ve stuffed them into pita pockets and doused them with yogurt sauce, but they’re just as wonderful with ketchup and mustard, or raw onion and a little hummus and Israeli Salad (page 81). These are thinner patties that should be cooked until crisp. Handle them as little as possible, and let them cook well on the first side before flipping. yogurt sauce.
Serves 6
1 cup plain vegan yogurt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, well-drained and rinsed
1/3 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
1/2 cup shallots, minced
2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons tahini
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
About 1/4 cup vegetable oil, for oiling the pan
6 pita pockets or buns
To make the yogurt sauce, place all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir until blended thoroughly.
To make the burger, lightly mash half of the chickpeas in a medium bowl. Add the dill, shallots, bread crumbs, and lemon juice and mix well.
In a food processor, combine the remaining chickpeas, tahini, salt, pepper and cumin until smooth. Add to the mashed chickpeas, mix well, and form into six to eight patties.
Oil a 12-inch skillet over medium heat and cook the burgers until very crispy and dark golden on both sides, about 6 minutes. Don’t flip them too much! Drain on paper towels or brown paper bags on a wire rack.
Stuff the patties in pita pockets. Drizzle with yogurt sauce.
From Mayim’s Vegan Table: More Than 100 Great-Tasting and Healthy Recipes from My Family to Yours by Mayim Bialik with Dr. Jay Gordon. Reprinted courtesy of Da Capo Lifelong Books.
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