Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 60 minutes
Filiz Huseyin is one third of acclaimed Maltese vegan eatery the Balance Bowl. Below, the British Turkish Cypriot chef shares the recipe for one of the restaurant’s signature dishes, the Classic Delish, which was named ‘Best Veggie Burger in Malta’ in 2019 – just six months after the restaurant opened.
Ingredients – serves 1 juicy portion:
Brown seeded bun x1
Dehydrated soya chunk x2
Veggie broth (water and veggie stock cube)
Avocado
Homemade zingy mayo
Blended Nachos
Paprika
Cajun
Salt
Pepper
Hand full of Mixed Salad leaves
Pinch of raw onion
2 slices of tomato
1/2 sliced gherkin
Preparation
Make your Patty
Stage 1
Get your dehydrated soya chunks (you can buy this from any leading supermarket and also popular in Polish shops) and bring it back to life by boiling in a veggie broth comprising a 1/2 litre of water and a veggie stock cube. Throw in 2 tablespoons of Cajun spice with salt and pepper to taste.
Once the water is boiling, add your soya chunks. Reduce the heat and let it simmer. Once the soya chunks are soft all the way through, drain and leave to one side to cool.
Top tip: don’t worry if they float, cover to steam.
Stage 2
Prep your Avocado
Grab a ripe avocado – you should be able to sink the tip of your finger in to check if its ready. Cut half the avocado and keep the other with a raw onion cut off to stay ripe.
Using only half an avocado, deseed and take skin off using a large spoon (scoop it out like an ice-cream), and pop it in a small bowl ready to mix. Squeeze half a lemon, add to the avocado along with a pinch of salt and pepper, and mash them all up with a fork. The texture can be rough or smooth – as you desire.
Stage 3
Let’s get the salad bits together. Grab a small handful of mixed salad leaves. Cut 2 thick slices of tomato, then thinly cut half a salty gherkin, and cut 3 slithers of semi-circles of onion. Your salad is ready, and you can put to one side until you’re ready to serve.
Stage 4
This is where the Magic happens 🙂
Get 2 bowls
To the 1st bowl add 2 cups of panko breadcrumbs (from crustless white bread, available from all good Asian supermarkets) or anything that comes close. Add 1/2 tsp of paprika, 1 tsp of Cajun spice, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
For the 2nd bowl, add 1 cup of water to 1/2 a cup of rice flower, and mix until it’s a good consistency.
Ready to get messy?
Dip your chunks in the wet mixture and cover fully. Then pick them out, drain slightly and drop them into your magical dry mixture. Double up for extra crunch…
Stage 5
Nearly there guys…
Get a pan of vegetable oil on and heat up. Just make sure it’s around 180 degrees. Do a sizzle test with the edge of the chunk, make sure you use tongs!
Once your oil is ready, pop your burger in and cook for 3 minutes – around the time it takes to cook and change colour. When cooked, should go a slightly darker colour.
Once cooked, remove carefully with tongs and drain on kitchen towel.
Stage 6
FINAL PART – you will be so proud of yourselves!!
Cut your bun in half. I like to toast mine a little under the grill, though some prefer it soft. It’s up to you.
Add your shop-bought mayo on both sides of the bun.
To the top bun add a generous portion of your lemon smashed avocado. On the bottom bun, add your salad bits and place your 2 soya chunks in. Marry them together and just admire.
Enjoy 🙂
Love FILIZ
