Barley and Red Bean Burgers

I am back after a hiatus of almost 2 years. A lot has happened in these two years. Our family is now complete with the birth of our second little girl and we are on a new adventure in Dubai,UAE. The thing I love most about this city is the variety and quality of food available. It is quite the paradise for foodies like me. Not to mention the availability of ingredients. You get anything and everything needed for Indian, particularly South Indian cooking which is refreshing after living in Cape Town, where Indian ingredients were few and far between. I hope to write more often with some new and interesting recipes and some good old traditional ones as well. Today’s recipe is a burger  I threw together this week and it turned out to be very tasty,nutritious and healthy.

Barley and Red Bean Burgers with Guacamole

Barley and Red Bean Burger

2 cups cooked barley

1 can rinsed red/kidney beans (you can definitely try this with black beans as well)

1 capsicum finely chopped

1 onion finely chopped

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

8-10 button mushrooms finely chopped

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp pepper

Salt to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

Oil to pan fry burgers

1 cup breadcrumbs – to coat and pan fry the burgers

 Guacamole

2 ripe avocados

1 onion minced

1 clove garlic minced

1/3rd cup coriander chopped finely

salt to taste

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp lemon juice

For the Burgers:

Combine cooked barley and red beans in a mixing bowl and mash together

Start by adding oil to a hot pan and immediately add the garlic, onions and capsicum and saute until well cooked, add the mushroom as well and saute until the mushroom has cooked.

You can then add the chilli and cumin powder and salt to taste and saute until well combined

Once this mixture cools add it to the barley and red bean mixture and until the flavours incorporate and set aside

Make patties and set aside

Just as you need to make the burgers heat oil in a shallow pan, coat the burgers in breadcrumbs and pan fry until crispy on the outside

For the guacamole

The best guacamoles I have eaten have been pounded together using a mortar and pestle so this is the only way I make my guacamole nowadays.

Add chopped avocado,onion,garlic,cumin powder,chilli powder and salt and pound away until well combined. Add freshly chopped coriander leaves and mix together. Top it off with some freshly squeezed lemon juice and chill until you are ready to serve.

Note: Next time,I might add an egg or a boiled potato to the recipe as a holding agent to hold my burgers in better shape, as the shape wasn’t consistent this time around.