Buckwheat Peanut Burgers- vegan, gluten free, soya free, suitable for Ekadasi

Shown here with cucumber, but goes with just about anything!

Not only was yesterday Ekadasi, but there are a few celebrations coming up this month where we observe Ekadasi-style fasting, such as Lord Balarama's Appearance and Sri Krishna Janmasthami. If you celebrate any of these festivals by following a farali (grain and bean-free) diet then here is another suggestion for you. (To find out more about Ekadasi fasting, look here and here. For more Ekadasi recipes, please click on the tab at the top of the page.) Whatever your chosen diet, though, these burgers are simple yet tasty alternatives to the kind of highly-processed and soya-based ones you can buy. They are so simple and natural, they truly deserve their "clean-eating" label.

This recipe makes about 8-10 burgers, depending on how big you make them.

1 1/2 cups unroasted whole buckwheat grains (1 cup= 250ml)

300g raw whole peanuts (we used organic redskin peanuts)

2 scant tsps coarse black pepper

2 tsps fine seasalt

• Cook the buckwheat in 3 cups of water, until it is completely soft and has absorbed the liquid. (Takes 15 minutes or so.)
• Meanwhile, dry roast the peanuts on a baking tray in an oven preheated to 170C. Take them out when their shells are cracking and they are just changing colour- about 10 minutes- don't overcook them.
• Grind the nuts coarsely, so that they are finely chopped but not powdered.
• In a bowl, mash the cooked buckwheat a bit with a potato masher, just to get it extra-gooey! Add the peanuts, salt and pepper. You will need to get in there with your hands to get it thoroughly mixed.
• Shape into balls, then flatten/ mould with a crumpet ring or similar to form burgers. (This is way less messy if you work with oily or damp hands.)
• We placed them on an oiled baking sheet and cooked on both sides at 200C, but I have to admit they did dry out rather, although nobody but me seemed that bothered about it. It did make them hard to handle without crumbling, though! Perhaps grilling or frying them would solve this one, or maybe adding some grated courgette (zucchini) to the mixture. Let us know if you tried these, or any other methods- that's the great intereactive advantage of blogging as opposed to writing a book!