Okara Patties with Cilantro and Chaat Masala

Having experienced some success with my previous Okara Burger, I thought I would try again to make an Okara Patty, hoping for a stronger flavor. My older son’s friend yelled up the stairs to me that it was the best burger he had ever tasted. The twins even came around and tried them out — and ate every morsel. Success! I won’t have to compost the okara anymore!

The amounts and types of flours that you use can be entirely changed to suit your taste buds: This is just what I did this time around. I can picture corn, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms … even zucchini being great additions. I used Chaat Masala (also called Spiced Salt, though it doesn't always contain salt) because I happened to have ground some up another day. Mine is not as complex as others — although I can’t remember exactly what I included in it — and I adapted it from a spice mix recipe in The Spice Box cookbook. Curry powder would also work.

Ingredients

2 ½ cups — okara or soy pulp, left over when making soy milk

1 cup — chopped cilantro and parsley

2 large — onions, chopped

1 carrot — chopped

Several — garlic tops and greens, chopped (or use garlic cloves and green onions)

2 long, large — radishes, chopped

2/3 cup — whole wheat flour

½ cup — tapioca flour

½ cup — gluten powder

Liberal seasonings of — chaat masala, turmeric, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, black pepper and tamari

Method

As with the previous Okara Burger recipe, sauté the onions and carrots, adding in the spices and garlic at the end. 

Mix the vegetables and spices into the okara, along with the radishes and flours.

Stir in the chopped cilantro and parsley.

Form into patties or balls. Recipe will make sixteen large patties or numerous falafel-like balls.

Bake okara patties at 350F on liberally olive-oiled cookie sheets for forty minutes on one side, then flip them and bake ten minutes on the other. You know your own oven best. You may have to switch the cookie sheets from top to bottom or increase or decrease the temperature or cooking time. I sit one on the top shelf to one side, and the other on the bottom shelf to the other side. The shelves are a couple of inches apart.

Serve with green salad and noodle salad or potato salad. These okara patties did not hang around, but I bet they would have frozen very well or been a tasty lunch the next day.