Red Lentil Burger

Welcome to my Ayurveda & Yoga blog! I’m Evangeline and I’m an RMT and holistic health coach. I started my blog during covid to stay connected to my clients and share my love of cooking healthy, AYURVEDIC INSPIRED meals.
Ayurvedic cooking is a conscious approach to preparing and cooking tasty, nutritious, balanced meals using spices and herbs, and taking into consideration the external conditions such as the season and time of day, in addition to how you are feeling.

Here’s a quick, tasty basic recipe for veggie burgers made with fresh ingredients. In fact this recipe is so simple, that the basic ingredients are just lentils, water and ghee or olive oil. Once you get the hang of this, you can add spices, greens, grains, whatever your heart desires. It is summer here right now, so I’ve been keeping in mind summer spices to add to my cooking which this recipe contains.

After many attempts and variations on veggie burgers resulting in patties falling apart or being too soft, the secret is allowing the lentils to sit for a few minutes in open air after cooking which brings the perfect balance to the wet and dry elements of the ingredients to form a perfect patty. I have also learned over the years that applying Ayurveda’s fundamental principles of balancing tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, astringent) with natural, fresh ingredients and spices have resulted in creating tasty, colourful nutritious meals for my family. Lentils are high in fibre with a mild astringent taste and is balanced out by the sweet taste in most vegetables such as zucchini, carrots and corn.

Vegetarian Burger served with Zucchini and Carrot Ribbons sautéed in Ghee and Thyme and Fresh Corn on a bed of Arugula and Beet Leaves wilted with Ghee

Vegetarian Burger

Yields: 4 medium size burgers
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Cool Down Time: 5-10 minutes
Frying Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup red lentils

1 cup water

1 tsp ghee or olive oil

1 Tbsp ghee or olive oil for frying

½ tsp ground fennel

½ tsp ground coriander

⅛ tsp ground cardamom

⅛ tsp ground cumin seeds

⅛ tsp turmeric

1 Tablespoon flour

Soma Salt to taste

Directions

1. Soak lentils in cold water for 10 minutes, then rinse well until the water is clear.

2. In a medium-size pot heat ghee or olive oil on low heat, then incorporate the spices.

3. When aroma is released, add lentils and mix all together, then add water.

4. Turn heat up to medium-high and bring to a boil. Allow the lentils to boil for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then cover with a lid and turn heat down to low to cook for another 10 minutes. If you wish to add some soft leafy greens, you can do so in the last couple of minutes of cooking.

5. Open lid. At this point the lentils will be cooked and mushy. Add flour and salt and combine all together. Let sit for about 10 minutes until the lentils become more firm to form into patties.

6. Fry up the patties on medium heat in ghee or olive oil until golden brown on each side.

Serve with grains or in a bun, and with vegetables topped with your favourite toppings or chutney, or a simple drizzle of lime!

Enjoy!

Vegetarian Spinach Burger served with Thyme Lime Rice & Roasted Pistachios and Pan-Fried Zucchini and Asparagus with Crushed Fennel and Coriander Seeds