Desi Burger

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons oil, divided

• 1 cardamom pod

• ½ inch piece whole cinnamon

• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

• 500g lamb, ground or minced (alternatively you can use beef or chicken)

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon coriander powder

• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder

• 1 teaspoon cumin powder

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fr esh coriander

• ½ cup (50g) bread crumbs

• 4 burger buns

• ½ cup mayonnaise

• ½ cup coriander chutney ( Cooking with Indian Spicebox has a great chutney recipe!) Additional condiments and toppings: hot sauce, ketchup, onions, lettuce, tomato slices

Directions 1. In a fr ying pan, heat one tablespoon of the oil, and add cinnamon. Then add the car damom and the chopped onions, and gently light golden brown. sauté until Set aside the onions area to cool. Discard the cardamom 2. Put the ground lamb and cinnamon pieces. into a bowl, and add the browned power, chilli powder, onions, egg, salt, coriander cumin, fresh coriander and bread 3. Mix well, then shape crumbs. the meat mixture into flat patties. is your choice. The size and thickness 4. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a pan (you can use the used to sauté the onion) on a same pan you medium-high flame, and cook flipping after a few minutes the meat patties, on each side. After the outsides heat to cook the meat through. are brown, lower the The doneness is up to you! 5. Set the patties on a paper towel to soak up any extra gr ease. few minutes. Let them sit for a 6. Mix the mayo and chutney in a small bowl. 7. Slice, butter (if you wish) and ver y lightly toast the buns. mayo-chutney sauce on Then spr ead the both inner sides of the buns, additional preferred and add the patty plus any toppings.

If you don’t have breadcrumbs at home or don’t want to use store- crumbs, simply toast a slice or bought two of bread. Let the toast cool and, using the finest side of a grater, grate the toast into breadcrumbs – or you could just break the toast into smaller pieces and run them through your food processor.

“Desi is the colloquial term for Indian. Of course there is absolutely nothing Indian about a burger, but you can ‘ desi- fy’ anything with the addition of spices, fresh coriander, and onion. I know many of you will think, ‘Why mess with a good thing?’ but trust me (and especially when it comes to ground lamb), spices make the meat sing and you will be rewarded with loud praises and happy groans”