14.12.16

indian spiced lamb & lentil burgers with easy tomato kasundi

God I am so sick and tired of this year – I have to say if there was an ‘annus horriblis’ this has been it. (No not horrible anus, you know – horrible year…) Being left after 26 years of marriage is a pretty rough gig and my self-esteem has taken a total beating. Thankfully, even though I am having a momentary set-back (long story), after loads of sessions with a lovely psychologist and a ton of yoga, I am feeling so much more like my old self, and with that comes a sense of freedom and happiness, even my beaten up old confidence is starting to slowly recover. All I need now is to kiss 2016 goodbye and get stuck into 2017! Anyhooooo – I have many exciting kick-arse plans for next year which I will share with you before Christmas, but in the meantime this is a great early summer, weekend-gathering kind of recipe – Indian spiced lamb and lentil burgers with rich tomato kasundi (kind of like a relish). The kasundi can be hotter or milder depending on your inclination, and makes a great condiment for barbecue and holiday season – it’s even jolly good on the classic sausage-in-white-bread. Just add a few beersies or a cider or two, and you’re all set. I have a couple more recipes to share before the ‘big day’, so hang in there, don’t let the festive stress get to you, and I’ll see you here in a few days 🙂

Easy tomato kasundi:
1 large thumb ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled
2 red chillis, roughly chopped (seeds removed for less heat if desired)
1 red onion peeled and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup olive oil
1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2x 400g tins diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/3 cup malt vinegar

1/3 cup brown sugar

Put the ginger, garlic, chilli, onion and salt in a food processor and whiz to form a thick paste. Heat the oil in a large heavy based saucepan and add the mustard and cumin seeds. Fry the seeds for 1 minute or until the mustard seeds start to pop. Add the whizzed up paste and cook for 5 minutes, then add the ground spices, tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar and brown sugar and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil then reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour. If you would like an even thicker kasundi, continue to cook a further 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, cool and store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week. Makes: 3 cups

Indian spiced lamb & lentil burgers:
1 x 425g tin of brown lentils, well drained
500g lamb mince
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 egg
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon coconut oil or olive oil
½ cup natural yoghurt
½ cup good quality egg mayonnaise
2 avocaods, sliced
2 baby cos lettuces, outer leaves and cores removed
3 tomatoes, sliced
½ cup fresh coriander
½ telegraph cucumber sliced (optional)
6 burger buns

Put the lentils in a large bowl with the mince, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, ginger, salt, egg and breadcrumbs. Stir well to combine (hands are good for this).  Form the mixture into six even-sized patties and put on a baking-paper lined tray. Use your thumb to make a dent in the middle of each patty to stop it from shrinking during cooking. Cover the patties with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour (and up to over night) before cooking. (This helps to prevent the patties breaking up during cooking). Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the patties for 5 minutes each side until cooked through. While the patties are cooking split and grill the burtger buns and whisk the yoghurt and mayonnaise together. Serve the burgers with kasundi, yoghurt mayo, lettuce, tomatoes and fresh coriander. Serves 6

 

3,404 comments

  1. Thanks fo the recipe! I hope that 2017 will be a better year for you. Warm hugs from Berlin !

    Reply

  2. Hi Sarah, I'm trying out your katsundi recipe (I had a good one but lost it) and note you've forgotten to put the spice paste in the method. I assume it goes in straight after the whole spices have popped. Hope I haven't made your annus even more horrribilis by pointing that out! I'm so sorry you've had a bad year – you're recipes continue to shine – I wish you all the best for 2017. Anna TJ

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  3. So sorry you've had to go through the mill, here's to only fabulousness for 2017. And you know what they say about steel being forged in fire (an appropriately chef-ly analogy I thought!) Happy Christmas, Sarah – love your posts and recipes!

    Reply

    1. Hi Sam, thank you so much for your lovely message! Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and new year too, here's to 2017!!! 🙂

      Reply