Vegan Mofo #8 - Joni’s Curried Split Pea Burger...

Vegan Mofo #8 - Joni’s Curried Split Pea Burger

The Book - The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet
The Author - Joni Marie Newman
The Recipe - Curried Split Pea Burger
Page # 54 Tzatziki Sauce on page 193
Difficulty - Easy
Duration - 1 hour. If you make the split peas ahead of time then you only have to throw the ingredients together and bake for 30 minutes. Super easy.

Joni Marie Newman is the self-proclaimed Queen of Veggie burgers, and she along with Celine Steen and now Tamasin Noyes have come up with some really wonderful, magical and innovative burger and sandwich recipes. Since I own most of those cook books don’t be surprised if you see an overwhelming number of posts reviewing sandwiches from a handful of the same people. I’m trying to keep it varied but the whole reason I chose sandwiches for my Mofo project was because I hardly ever make them, so what better time then now to put those sandwich and burger cook books into rotation?

Anyway - On to the actual ‘burger.’ This curried split pea burger is very similar to a falafel. Just add curry powder and use split peas instead of chickpeas. Though it’s less complicated then a falafel, as falafels are always fried and typically also contain ingredients like onion, garlic, cilantro chilies or what have you. This is a very simple back to basics burger that utilizes simple wholesome ingredients. Split peas, curry powder, whole what flour, sesame oil, salt and pepper, and a little tiny bit of non-dairy yogurt. They’re easy to make and I like that they’re baked rather then fried. I almost always prefer to bake my veggie burgers I feel it yields a firmer result plus I don’t like the added oil.

When these are ready to eat you can serve them on a bun like a traditional burger or follow Joni’s suggestion and stuff them into a pita with sliced tomato, onion, and cucumber with a nice thick drizzle of her tzatziki sauce. I chose the pita route and even though I make a mean tzatziki of my own I decided for the sake of this post that I’d try Joni’s version. It turned out pretty good and again it was nice and simple. Some non-dairy yogurt, fresh dill, chopped cucumber, minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. The perfect accompaniment to this delightful burger. I think the only thing I did differently is that I used extra garlic and dill for the tzatziki - personal preference - and I added more curry powder to the burgers. Just to suit my own tastebuds. Since it’s such a simple recipe it’s easy to play around with, so enjoy it!