This recipe will give you about 8 to 10 vegetarian burgers.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of dried chickpeas or 4) 14 oz. tins
• 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon of Spicy Moroccan Sauce
• Juice of a lemon
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 egg white
• 4 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander/cilantro (this is nice but not essential)
• Gram flour (chickpea flour) or wheat flour to coat.
• Sunflower or Rice oil for frying

Instructions:

1. If you are using dried chickpeas for this vegetarian burger recipes, soak them in plenty of water overnight.
2. Drain the beans, then boil in fresh water for about 40 minutes or until soft.
3. Put the cooked chickpeas in a food processor with the onion, garlic, cumin seeds, Spicy Moroccan Sauce, lemon juice and salt.
4. Whizz the mixture for a couple of minutes until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl or dish.
5. Lightly beat the egg with a fork and add to the bowl with the chopped coriander (cilantro). Mix very well. If the mixture seems wet, you can add some breadcrumbs or crushed crackers.
6. Now shape the mixture into vegetarian burgers. The best way to do this is to take a fistful of the mix and roll it into a ball between your palms. Place the ball on a board scattered very liberally with gram flour. (You can also use wheat flour to coat but gram flour gives a lovely golden colour to the burgers and has a pleasant savoury flavour.) Roll around to coat and then flatten slightly to make a burger shape.
7. There are a few ways to cook veggie burgers. To fry, heat a thin layer of rice oil in a pan or skillet and fry the vegetarian burgers for a few minutes on each side. I like to transfer them to a hot oven for a few minutes to give them a nice even crisp coating but you can skip this step if you like.
8. Alternatively, if you want to cut the fat, cook the veggie burgers in the oven on a baking pan that has been lightly sprayed with oil. Cook in a hot oven for about 20 minutes. If you are cooking the burgers on the barbeque, brush with oil first and barbeque as normal.

To Serve:

I love these chickpea burgers with a yogurt sauce.

Like most vegetarian burger recipes, these also freeze very well. Shape and cook the burgers as normal, then open freeze on trays for a couple of hours. Before using, defrost the chickpea burgers and reheat them in a hot oven for about 10 minutes.