Sometimes only a burger will do. Sometimes there is nothing more joyful that wrapping both hands around a meat-filled sandwich and tackling it cobra-style. It’s most certainly a universal sentiment and I (like most Indians) am a big advocate of any kind of hand to food to mouth style eating.
There’s real pleasure in the making of one too mainly because it’s so beautifully simple. Just chop, mix and fry. The smoky charred lamb works really well with fresh coriander and warm ginger and covered with the hot sweet tomato chutney, it makes for an exciting mouthful indeed.
Spicy lamb burgers with sweet tomato chutney
Yields: enough for four
Note: Besan is chickpea flour and is readily available in most bigger supermarkets you could use plain white flour to bind your mixture together instead.
Ingredients for the burgers:
- 400g lean minced lamb
- 1 onion, very finely chopped
- 1.5 tablespoons of besan (chickpea flour)
- 1.5 tablespoons of grated ginger
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons of garam masala
- 1 green chilli, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons of fresh coriander, finely chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- A few grinds of the pepper mill
To serve: spinach leaves, burger buns, red onion and fresh tomatoes.
There is a fair amount of chopping to be dutifully attended to in the making of this burger – and I would suggest you chop everything finely so that it has a chance to cook when you’re frying the patties.
First chop the onion, chilli and coriander. Pop them in a bowl. Grate the ginger and mince the garlic – add them too. Add the salt, garam masala, pepper and finally the mince and using your hands – give everything a proper mix through.
At this point, i’d turn your attentions to the chutney and leave the mixture to rest for 10 minutes (see below)
Now, divide into eight balls and flatten into round patties with your hands. In a non stick pan, add a tablespoon of oil (I use olive oil) – when hot add the patties and cook for 4 or 5 minutes on each. Check that they are cooked right through. Remove them from the frying pan and serve.
Sweet tomato chutney
Yields: enough for 4 burgers
Ingredients:
- 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- 100g soft brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 dried red chilli, deseeded and chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
Quarter the tomatoes and de-seed and chop the chilli. In a small saucepan, add the oil – then the ginger and turmeric. Stir fry for a few seconds on a medium heat before adding the tomatoes and sugar. Now you just need to wait for the tomatoes to start cooking – they’ll start to breakdown and release their seeds after a few minutes. Stir every now and then until eventually it all starts to thicken – which is usually around 10 minutes. Transfer from the pan into a bowl and leave to cool and thicken – then lavishly slater it all over your burger.