Mal Kelly's Spicy Bean burger recipe

I love these burgers with some baby leaf spinach and roast veg or pasta bake.. The original recipe came from a book, the name of which i can't remember. I've played with it and altered it to change the taste and texture to suit my own tastebuds, moods and ingredients.. I expect you'll do the same :-)

Ingredients:
(makes about 4 main portions)
1 cup of cooked brown rice
1 cup of cooked  & rinsed red kidney beans
1  heaped tablespoon of mixed chopped nuts
Finely diced onion & garlic according to taste
2-3 heaped tablespoons of tomato puree
1-2 teaspoons of curry paste
a sprinkle of dried chilli flakes
Sea salt and coarse ground black pepper to season.
oatmeal, about 1 cup

Method:
In a large bowl, mix or mash the tomato puree, kidney beans, onion &garlic and curry paste until it forms a kind of sticky paste. Add in the nuts, rice and chilli flakes and seasonings & mix evenly  Take the oatmeal and loosely cover a chopping board with it.

If you want to make round burgers, take a fist sized amount of the mix and press it flat against the oatmeal. Repeat until out of mix, then sprinkle more oatmeal on top then place in the fridge for 10 minutes to set.

Cooking:
Start on a medium -high heat (the oil should NOT smoke) with a little sunflower oil, turn frequently for first few minutes, then reduce heat and allow full flavour to come through. Cooking time about 10-15mins.

Variations:
Mix it up a bit -  black turtle beans, adzuki beans, puy lentils and red lentils can all be used as well as, or instead of the beans. This version of the recipe is vegan frendly, but you can always add an egg or 2 if you find they don't stick as well with lentils. Overcooking the brown rice a little can also make for a stickier mix. To supercharge the nutrient content, add in a mix of seeds such as sesame, pumpkin and sunflower, or some milled linseed or flaxseed.

These burgers are tasty, nutritious and cheap to put together. Canned beans from lidl do the job fine, as do seeds from aldi.

Update 15/2/2011:
Aldi have canned red kidney beans for 25c per can, lidl 39c, tesco own brand 79c, Bachelors 129c