Moroccan Chickpea and Apricot Burgers: The Burger Quest Continues!

Moroccan spices, apricots, red onion and parsley make this burger so delicious!

My mum used to make the most amazing lamb and mango chutney burgers when I was younger, we’d have them as a treat at the weekend and they’ve stuck in my mind ever since! I knew I would never be able to recreate that flavour in a veggie burger but I had the idea to create something just as delicious with the similar idea of mixing fruits in with savoury.

I love dried apricots with chickpeas they match each other perfectly and can be found together in all sorts of dishes such as salads, tagines and now burgers! There are two types of vegetarian burgers out there, there is the processed “looks like meat” burgers and then there are the speckled with vegetables and variety of flavours burger. The latter is the type that made me so in love with veggie burgers, even before I became a vegetarian! Burgers are serious comfort food for me, great for any occasion and they feel like such a treat. By choosing to make your own burger using fresh ingredients you can indulge in your favourite flavours without worrying that your going to pile on the pounds 🙂 I have served mine without the bread (even though I did have gluten free pittas in the fridge) because I wanted to show that a burger doesn’t have to be served in bread with chips. You can eat it as your main “bulky item” of the meal and serve simply with stirfried vegetables and a sauce of your choice.

Serve simply with stirfried greens and a fresh sauce

As you can see my burger quest is continuing, I am far from running out of flavour ideas and I sometimes find myself day dreaming of running a rustic veggie burger bar in the city or having a burger van at the local farmers markets where I sell a variety of amazing vegetarian burgers, with flavours that surprise people and get people talking. Plus now is a great time to be pushing vegetarian burgers because of the whole “What is in your burger mince?” ordeal.

Haha I just realised I created a new life dream of being a burger flipper!

Anyway back to this recipe…

Makes 4 large burgers or 6 smaller ones

Gluten Free, Vegan, Great to share with friends!
1 Can Chickpeas
1/2 Large Red Onion,2 Cloves Garlic
Small Bunch Flatleaf Parsley
1 tblspn Moroccan Spice (or Ras al Hanout if you cant find a Moroccan mix)
1 tblspn Gluten Free Flour (Rice flour)
14 Dried Apricots
1 teaspoon Mango Chutney
Salt and Pepper

Herby Yoghurt Sauce –
Vegan if you use non dairy yoghurt, Gluten Free1 Pot Fat Free Natural Yoghurt
Bunch Mint
Bunch Parsley
1 Garlic Clove
1 Lemon
Salt and Pepper

Put the chickpeas, red onion and garlic into a blender and blitz until crumbly but not until it becomes a paste.

Scrape the mixture out into a large bowl and add the chopped parsley, flour, Moroccan spice, chopped dried apricots, mango chutney and salt and pepper.

Mix with your hands, giving it all a good squeeze every now and then to bind, and then shape into patties and put on a tray or a plate.

Burgers ready to be cooked!

Put this in the fridge for at least half an hour (or freeze at this point if you want them for a different day). Once they have had time to firm up in the fridge it is then time to cook them. You can fry them in a pan or grill them both methods work. They will take around 4-5 minutes on each side until they have browned up and cooked all the way through.

If you are making the sauce then finely chop the herbs and crush the garlic, then mix the yoghurt and the herbs together in a bowl, squeeze in the juice of the lemon and season to taste, serve piled up on the burger. This will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

Then serve how you like, as you can see I have enjoyed them with simple greens and sauce…..or in the more traditional way, in a pitta with chips!