Krsna Kirtana Songs est. 2001                                                                                                                                                      www.kksongs.org

Red Veggie Burgers

Edited: July 13, 2008

(originally written in September 9, 2001)

 

Hare Krishna!

 

As a seventeen year old, in the movement for four years, it took me some time to learn how to get adjusted to prasadam. By the mercy of the devotees, I have learned how to make veggie burgers. Unlike store brand veggie burgers, these burgers don't have eggs, onion, and garlic in them. In addition, the store brands has fat added to it. After many trials, I have finally perfected the veggie burger recipe.

 

Unlike many recipes, this one is subject to personal taste and desired thickness of the individual patties.

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

          BASE:

1 pack of silken tofu ("Nasoya" brand is the best)

 

Dry oatmeal or rolled oats (I recommend getting a fresh pack, since a great deal of oats or wheat germ will be used)

 

SPICES: (with the spices, you will use a great deal of each. With the exception of salt, sugar, and black pepper, I recommend getting fresh full bottles of the spices as you will at least use half of a typical 1.37 ounce size of a spice bottle)

 

Hing

          ˝ cup Soy Sauce

 

“THE GREENS”

Basil leaves

Parsley leaves

Oregano

Sage/Thyme

         

          “THE REDS”

          Paprika

          Powdered Red Pepper

          Crushed Red Pepper (option, not recommended)

          Cumin Powder

          Cumin Seeds (optional, not recommended)

          Chili Powder

         

          “FINAL INGREDIENTS”

          Couple of shakes of black pepper

          Salt (to taste)

          One cup of sugar

 

          Ghee (optional frying)

          Non-stick Canola Oil spray (for fat-free cooking)        

 

1. Take the block of tofu and place it in a big mixing bowl. With the tofu, constantly add the oatmeal into the mix. As the oatmeal is added to the tofu, the mixture should develop into a very thick consistency. Continuously knead the dough to a suitable consistency.

         

2. Add the following ingredients in the following order: hing, soy sauce, the greens, the reds, and the final ingredients. As each ingredient is added, thoroughly mix the spices throughout the dough. Remember that tofu is very bland by itself. It takes a great deal of spices to get it flavored. Ghee can also be added to the mix, although one must be careful not to add too much. Adding ghee will alter the taste of the burger and make it more salty than spicy.

 

3. After mixing thoroughly, take a small amount of this dough and roll it up to form a ball. Smash the ball down to make patty shapes. It the patty begins to crumble, make the patty into a ball again and add some water or oil. This should help keep a unified patty. The more oil or water in the patty, the more juicer it is. However, adding water or oil to the patty will affect the spicy nature of the burger.

 

4. At this point, one will have many options

          A. BAKING

Place this on an oven for 400 degrees Farenheit for about 10 minutes or if you see that the burger is getting golden brown. Take the burger out and flip the side and put it back in the oven for about 5 minutes or until it becomes golden brown.

 

B. GRILLING ON THE PAN

As if one were to prepare pancakes, place the patty on the pan. You may use non-stick cooking spray or ghee/oil to cook the burgers. Constantly flip the burgers until the burger smokes or both sides look toasted.

 

C. FRYING

Place the burgers in a saucepan filled with oil or ghee. Keep the burgers frying until both sides are nicely brown.

 

How To Serve:

 

Typically, during the heating of the burgers, I would take bagels and toast it with a pan. I would also get tomatoes sliced, lettuce cut up, two slices of cheese ready and my pizza sauce (or bonafide ketchup if you prefer) ready so that when the burgers come out, just by placing the burger on the bagel with cheese on one side, the hot burger will melt the cheese.

 

Then, you've got the "Singha King" Veggie Burger ready to offer to Lord Krsna! I personally eat veggie burger prasadam with pakoras (or cooked potato slices) and decaf soda! Now, that's a 99 cent value that is karma free!

 

Other Options:

 

One may also make balls from the veggie burger dough and fry them to form veggie meatballs. They are ideal for each pitas, spaghetti, and raviolis.

 

POST PUBLICATION:

 

This article was posted on www.chakra.org and www.dipika.org. Since the original article, as presented above, was released, there has been variations that are possible in making veggie burgers. It is possible to cook the burgers on the griddle under olive oil. In doing this, it is very important to be careful that the dough consistency is even. With the baking method, the even consistency was not as important as the griddle method.

 

UPDATED: July 29, 2009