THE SLOPPY INDIAN LAMB BURGER

"The journey of a thousand pounds begins with a single burger." - Chris O'Brien

 

My cousins came over this Sunday and we had  lamb burgers for dinner. This was so much fun to make and despite the elaborate ingredient list it's pretty easy to put together. I think it's impossible to survive only on brussel sprouts and broccoli but if you have to eat junk food I tell myself home made is better than store bought. Definitely try these if there are a bunch of boys at home - I found one to be quite filling but my cousins inhaled two each so proportion ingredients appropriately.

This is a really Indian tasting burger in flavour (thus the name). If you're from Delhi tell me if it reminds you of the Wimpy's burger?

What you’ll need for about 10 burgers:

For the burger -

1 kg lamb (mince)

½ cup toasted cashews

1 diced bell pepper

2 diced onions

2 tsp cumin powder

1 ½ tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 tsp garam masala

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp red chilli powder

2 diced green chillis

Oil for frying

For the sauce -

2 packs tomato puree (400 ml)

2 tbsp garlic paste

2 tsp ginger paste

2 diced green chillis

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp garam masala

3 tsp oil

Salt

Pepper

For Assembly –

 

Burger buns

Sliced onions

Cheese slices

How to:

A. Put together the patty –

1. Knead together the lamb mince, cumin powder, garam masala, salt, pepper, chilli powder, ginger garlic paste. Put aside.

2. Dice the onions and green pepper. Chop the green chillis fine. Add to the lamb mince and knead it in so it’s well mixed.

3. Take a pan and dry roast the cashews. Just move them around in the pan till they brown a little. Chop after the cashews cool a little and add to the lamb mince. Knead in.

4. Pat the mince into burger patties, remember that when you drop it in the hot oil it will shrink but at the same time if the patty is too large it will crumble. Don’t worry if the patty isn’t the size of the burger buns because you can cut up two or three patties and put them together later.

Note: Try frying a little of lamb first so you can make sure the seasoning is fine.

5. Heat about 2 inches of oil in a large-ish pan or kadhai. Once the oil is hot pop in the lamb cakes one by one. If you’re scared of the patty crumbling try putting the lamb cake on a metal spatula and inserting it in the oil – once it firms up a little you can try flipping it to make sure it’s evenly cooked.  Like I said earlier, don’t worry even if they’re the size of large kebabs, it will still work.

6. Once they’re nicely browned, pull them out and set them on paper towels to soak the extra oil.

B. Make the sauce -

1. Heat oil in a sauce pan and in a couple of minutes add the ginger, garlic, garam masala. Stir.

2. In a minute, add the tomato puree, green chilli, salt, pepper and red chilli powder. Stir.

3. Let the sauce thicken and reduce a little. Taste to see if the flavor is right or if you want to add anything more. I added a little more garlic paste and salt because I felt the sauce was getting too sweet and tomato-y.

C. Assemble the burger –

1. Slice the buns in half and toast till lightly brown.

2. Add a cheese slice and place your lamb patty on it. If you’re finding the patty small then slice another one in half and arrange to fill the bun.

3. Pour a generous quantity of the tomato garlic sauce – it will be messy but otherwise the lamb gets dry so don’t be shy.

4. Top with slices of onion and the other half of the burger bun. Squish down. Serve with home made potato wedges.

Once served expect to see this:



Hungry Brother 1

 





Hungry Brother 2