Indian-Inspired Chicken Burgers

Warning - all of the photos in this post are really bad. I'm talking blurry, off-centered, haphazard shots. No, I was not drinking while taking the photos, and no, I wasn't even really distracted by other things. I'm just really bad at taking photos, apparently. Don't let that stop you from making these awesome burgs!

Photography at it's finest

I was inspired to make these by a few turkey-burger posts I saw floating about on the internet. I did a quick mix of classic good stuff (onion, garlic, ginger, jalapeno) and threw in an Indian spice (garam masala) and determined that was enough to call this Indian-inspired. After a quick cook on the stove top, I served these in a pita (that wishes it was naan) with an herby citrusy yogurt sauce (that wishes it was raita). I chopped up some red onion and cucumber to throw in there as well, and had some spring mix in the fridge that also was allowed to participate. I then made my friends eat it and tell me it was good. Works like a charm!

If you don't want to go through with the whole recipe, I'd say the 3 ingredients you can't leave out are ginger, garam masala, and the yogurt sauce (counting that as 1 ingredient, muaha). If you aren't feeling the burger-in-a-pita approach you can totally eat these with normal buns, or sandwich bread, or over some veggies, or plain. Do what you want what you want with your burger! Let's move on!

You'll need:
For the burgs 
1 lb ground chicken (or turkey, whateva)
1 jalapeno, minced, with 1/2 of the seeds removed
1/4 cup (or a small handful) of fresh cilantro, chopped
1 inch knob fresh ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 of a large yellow onion, chopped
3 tsp garam masala (also used here)
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
Toasted pita (cut it half), cucumber slices, red onion, lettuce for topping


For the sauce 
1/2 c Greek yogurt
Juice from 1/2 lime
5-10 minced mint leaves
1 T minced parsley
Salt

Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat (7 out of 10) on the stove top. Combine all of the burger ingredients (except the pita and toppings...) in a bowl and mix to combine. You should probably just use your hands for this! Form into 4 large or 6 small burgers - I do six, and I make them super flat so they cook quicker. Slap some oil in the pan (I used coconut), let it heat up, and cook the burgers until cooked through-about 4 minutes a side. Allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.

While your burgers are a-sizzlin, combine the sauce ingredients and season with salt to taste. Feel free to mix up the herbs here - basil and cilantro would both be excellent substitutions for the parsley.

When it's time to mangia, cut open a toasted pita and fill with a burger, sliced cucumber/red onion/spring mix, and drizzle a lot of the sauce in there. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lime and enjoy! If you make these and take a better photo, please text it to me so I can replace these awful ones! :)

I wish I was pretty