Lentil and Chickpea Burgers with Coriander Cream Sauce

Several months ago, Miss Yunks won The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook in a giveaway from Getting Stronger, Burning Fat.  The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook is full of beautiful photography and flavorful vegetarian recipes for any meal or snack for any occasion.  From vegetable side dishes, breads, soups and pasta bakes to muffins, eclairs, and tarts this book has it all.

I’ve flipped through it several times and every photographed dish calls out to me, Pick me! Make me! Don’t worry Double Choc Muffins, I’ll get to you.  I had to start somewhere and I chose to start with Lentil and Chickpea Burgers.  I love veggie burgers and have begun to experiment making my own.  I knew this burger would be full of protein and flavor.  The recipe says it makes 10 burgers so I cut the quantities in half.  I ended up with four burgers.  The ingredients include tandoori mix powder, which I didn’t have.  I googled what spices make up tandoori mix and learned its a combination of garam masala, ginger, garlic, cumin, and cayenne pepper.  I used a little of each spice, minus the garam masala.  The instructions say to grill the burgers; I cooked them in a small frying pan with a little bit of butter for each burger patty.  The cool garlic sauce pairs really well with the hot spicy burger.  I used a bit too much garlic and will use about half the amount next time.  I really liked this meal and the leftovers the next day.  I would definitely serve them at a summer BBQ – with much less garlic!  Because they’re made with chickpeas, they reminded me of falafel.  Preparing the burgers in balls or small patties like falafel would be a fun idea to make a unique filling for a pita pocket.

Lentil and Chickpea Burgers with Coriander Garlic Cream
Adapted from The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook

Makes 4-5 burgers

Ingredients for burgers

1/2 cup red lentils
1 tsp oil
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/4 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
6 oz (half a can) chickpeas, drained
1 T fresh grated ginger (I used Gourmet Garden – so easy!)
1 egg
1.5 T chopped fresh parsley (I used Gourmet Garden again)
1 T coriander
1 cup breadcrumbs

Add lentils to boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes until soft.  Add oil to fry pan and cook onion until soft. Add spices to onion.  Using a food processor, blend together half of the lentils, all of the chickpeas, the onion with spices, ginger, and egg for about 20-30 seconds.  By hand, mix in the rest of the lentils, parsley, coriander, and breadcrumbs.  Form patties with hands and fry for about 3-4 minutes on each side in a pan, or grill on a barbecue.

Ingredients for Coriander Garlic Cream Sauce
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (recipe called for sour cream – recipe also calls for cream which I omitted)
1 crushed garlic clove
1 T fresh chopped parsley
1 tsp coriander

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.