Pao bhaji burger

If you like your dishes to have a bit of kick, this burger is for you. Being a burger, it’s not a "traditional" Indian snack, but it has been adapted for international tastes. "Pao Bhaji" literally means bread roll and vegetables. In its original form, it is a very popular snack created in Mumbai that consists of a very lightly toasted buttered bread roll eaten with a spicy vegetable sauce.

file:5178_pao-bahji-burger.jpg

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Chutney

• 1 bunch coriander
• ½ bunch mint
• 1 green chilli
• ½ inch ginger
• 2 gloves garlic
• ½ lemon, juiced
• salt, to taste

Patties

• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 inch ginger, crushed
• 3–4 green chillies
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 250 g tomatoes, finely diced
• 100 g green peas
• ½ green capsicum, finely diced
• 2 tbsp Pao Bhaji masala (powdered spice)
• 1 kg potatoes, peeled, diced and boiled
• 50 g plain flour
• 4 burger buns
• 50 g butter

Instructions

To make the chutney, add the chutney ingredients to a blender with a dash of water. Blend to form a sauce.

To make the patties, heat oil, onion, ginger, chilli and garlic in a pan. Then add in the tomatoes, peas and capsicum. Cook for 10 minutes. Then add the Pao Bhaji masala.

Combine the mixture with the boiled potatoes and mash together. Form patties 3 cm thick. To prevent sticking, dust hands with flour.

Fry the patties in oil until golden on both sides.

Toast the burger buns and butter each side. Add the chutney sauce and place a patty in each bun to serve.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.