carrot Archives - VegBurge

We’re currently trying to move house (hopefully we’ll have updates on that soon!) and the new place is going to be close by a Waitrose. Basically, this means new hunting grounds for veggie burgers! The first thing we’ve found is the interestingly named Indian spiced bhaji burger. It seems a bit like a contradiction in terms – how can a bhaji also be a burger? – so it was certainly worth a try.

First of all, I think it’s fair to say that these are definitely burgers. The name bhaji comes from the ingredients more than anything else, as to be honest they don’t actually taste or feel like bhajis at all. Maybe Waitrose are missing the point a bit with the name – it really should drop the bhaji and have the name curry burger or something similar. I’ve never understood why supermarkets will have misleading product names, as this doesn’t necessarily make it more appealing – what if you love burgers but hate bhajis? You would have missed out on this for no reason.

Anyway, after popping it in the oven we tried one each to see what they are like. They’re £2.39 for two, so really you have to hope for something quite special to justify spending £1.18 per burger – especially when competing supermarkets are likely to sell them at a lower price. I can certainly say they are very interesting, with good Indian flavours that have not been drowned out in the processing. It’s a good looking burger with bright colours, and you can both see and taste slices of carrot and peas in amongst the potatoes. It has a soft, squishy texture on the inside, which is an experience in itself. The exterior is a little more firm, but still soft to bite through.

The first thing you notice is the curry flavour, which is also mildly spicy. There’s actually no warning on this for the package, which might concern those who don’t like spice. It’s just an interesting combination overall, and though it would never replace a proper veggie burger for me, it’s good to have something different now and then.

On the VegBurge scale, I give this…

Taste – 7/10

Price – 4/10

Rest of experience – 7/10

This week’s Hello Fresh dish was a sweet potato and carrot curry, which contained more of the dreaded green beans but did promise goodness with the sweet potato at least. This is a good example of a recipe I would never have tried normally – I hate green beans, carrot always seems a bit boring, and I’ve certainly never heard of a curry that combines the two of them. We gave it a try though – as always!

The first thing I noticed was that the directions are a little off. You are told to put exactly 400ml in a pan to boil the carrot and sweet potato, but that was nowhere near enough. I added more to help them cook, which they did beautifully – but then you’re told to add the curry paste without draining the water. Even with boiling it for 20 minutes, there was far too much water. I drained the extra and then about half again, and as you can see below, the sauce was still far too watery.

Hello Fresh Veggie Curry

The veggies were also just really boring. I would have preferred to add the stock pot to them instead of the rice – in fact, I cooked my own recipe and did exactly that a few days after we ate this, and it was amazing. The rice did taste good here, but it was a little too creamy – the taste and texture not something I normally associate with rice, making it a bit off-putting.

There isn’t much I would leave the same about this recipe if I was making it again – in fact, I think you’d have to call it a new recipe by the time you got to the end! The green beans were more palatable than I expected, however: boiling brings out the best in them.

So, let’s see a #curryfail in action – here’s the Vine!

VegBurge

Reviewing veggie burger recipes, restaurants, fast food, and more…

carrot

Waitrose Vegetarian Indian Spiced Bhaji Burgers

Vine Post: Hello Fresh Sweet Potato and Carrot Curry