Desi Burger

Pairs well with:

White Zinfandel

With strawberry and melon essences, this American original is perfectly at home with however you like to unwind.

My wife is from french India, Pondicherry.I have learned to cook a number of indian dishes. I tweaked this kabob recipe to incorporate ground turkey. I then thought these are so good they should be made into a burger. The Desi Burger was born.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1and 1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion

1 and 1/2 pound ground fresh turkey(white/dark mix)

4 tsp garam masala

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

6 fresh mild green chilies

1 egg

2 slices white bread, crust removed

3 tablespoons milk

6 whole wheat hamburger buns

12 table spoons whole milk full fat plain greek yogurt

1 tsp of ground cumin

48 thin slices of peeled seedless cucumber

12 thin full circle slices of red onion

6 slices of garden fresh big boy tomatoes

3 cups of fresh cilantro(used as lettuce)

Instructions:

In a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil. When hot, add the finely chopped onion, and cook, stirring often, until it is caramel brown. Transfer to a bowl and add the ground turkey, garam masala, salt, cloves, chopped cilantro, chilies, and egg.

In a bowl, crumble the bread in rough chunks, add the milk, mash it together, and add it to the meat mixture. Mix thoroughly with your hands until it is uniformly smooth. Divide into 6 equal portions. Dip your fingers into water to help the meat not stick. Form into burger patties a little more in diameter than the buns.

Grill on high heat at first. About 8 minutes before first turn. Turn 45 degrees. Until nice dark grill marks form. Turn over. Cook until brown grill marks show. Turn 45 degrees. Test internal temp with instant read thermometer. 165 is when it is done. If burger starts to burn,put it on smoke shelf and close grill lid, checking temp every five minutes.

Toast buns. Mix yogurt and cumin. spread 1 tablespoon of yogurt on inside of top and bottom of every bun. Place 4 cucumber slices on yogurt on top and bottom buns. Put 2 slices of red onion, 1 slice of tomato, and 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro on the inside of the top portions of the buns.

Place the burger on the bottom portion of the buns and now put the two together.