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Masala Chilli Burgers

Serves 4-6 depending on size of burgers/burger eaters

You will need:

Olive oil

800g Lamb mince

Decent-sized onion

Garlic clove*

Root ginger*

Chillies

Tomato puree

Tomato ketchup

Turmeric

Ground cumin

Ground coriander

Fresh coriander

 

*I only used these because they were knocking around in the fridge.  You could leave these out

**I used three green finger chillies and two big red ones.  I should have probably used 5 green chillies (i.e. one per person).  Up to you.

Step 1: heat a blob of olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat

Step 2: roughly chop onion, garlic, ginger and chillies

Step 3: blend all the roughly chopped stuff to a paste, using some form of blending appliance

Step 4: fry the paste in the oil for a few minutes or until your eyes water profusely.  Turn on extractor fan if you have one.

Step 5: while the paste is frying, put mince in a big bowl (bigger than this one, ideally)

Step 6: suddenly remember you forgot the spices, then into the frying pan add 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp ground cumin and 1 tsp ground coriander.  These are by no means exact measurements, so bung in whatever you like.  I just work on the principle that equal parts of these three ingredients make things taste like curry.  Mix well, and fry for a minute to “release the aroma” (or something).  Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Step 7: into the mince add a big spoon (in this case a wooden spoon) of tomato puree

Step 8: using the same spoon add a slightly larger quantity of tomato ketchup.  The ketchup adds a sweetness to the burgers and helps quell a bit of the heat from the chillies, so feel free to leave out.  N.B. I found that the burgers bound better when I used ketchup.

Step 9: pick off coriander leaves until you get bored.  You want approximately a girl’s handful of leaves.  Chop the leaves until they resemble a fine powder.

Step 10: add the fried paste and coriander to the mince and stir until your forearms are the size of Popeye’s

Step 11: weigh the mixture and work out the weight required for each burger.  Here 1,089g into five burgers is roughly 218g per burger.

Step 12: roll each 218g lump of meat into a ball and flatten out to a burger shape

Step 13: put each burger between sheets of baking paper and refrigerate overnight.

Step 14: as Neil Buchanan from Art Attack would have said,”Try it yourself.”