This is one of my most followed vegetarian recipes. Which has to mean something…

Prep

1. Dice the onion finely. Crush the garlic. Crush and very finely dice the lemon grass if using fresh. Assemble the spices. Whizz white crustless bread in a processor or with a stick blender to make breadcrumbs. Set them aside.
2. Drain the chickpeas. Squeeze the lime. If it’s dry, warm it quickly in a low oven or sit it on a radiator in winter or bash it on a surface and roll it around a bit. That should release the juices.
3. Scatter the white coating flour on a large dinner plate or board. Lightly season it.

Cook

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion and garlic. Cook over a low heat, stirring for 5 minutes or until soft, translucent and still uncoloured.
2. Add the chilli, cumin, coriander, turmeric, lemon grass. Stir and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add the mushroom and lime juice. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring, to soften. Tip the mix into a bowl to cool down. Meantime, semi-blitz the drained chickpeas with a stick blender/processor but don’t turn them to a paste. Retain some texture. Crush them with a fork if you like. Add to the cooling mix along with the breadcrumbs, Tabasco, coriander, salt and pepper. Mix with the fork.
4. Coat your hands with flour to ease the shaping process. Divide the mix roughly into 6. Shape each section into a burger shape. You may need to wash/dry/re-flour your hands in-between.
5. Put the burgers to chill for at least 15 minutes.
6. Heat a large frying pan. Add olive oil. Fry the burgers for 5 minutes per side or until cooked through. You want them to be slightly crispy on the outside and hot all through. If you’re making more than 6 you can fry them off in batches and keep the cooked ones warm in the oven at 180C until they’re all done.

Plate

1. Assemble the burgers: lightly toast the rolls. Mix mayo with a little curry paste, crushed garlic and lemon juice. Spread onto the rolls. Add the burger, and some home-made raita (yoghurt and cucumber with crushed garlic). Or add guacamole, grated cheddar and tomato, shredded iceberg lettuce. Or an onion ring, curried mayo and a fried whole chilli.