The last few months have flown by, with a  new job (yay!) and with other things going on personally it has been hectic to say the least. And I have missed blogging! Now that I finally feel settled in, hopefully I will be more active in my cooking-journey as well-posting more new recipes in the coming year.

Last weekend, after a few months of hiatus in the kitchen, I decided to make homemade burgers with an Indian twist.  The burgers are fairly easy to make, and the only time consuming part is making the patties.

Prep time: ~15min
Makes 7 burger patties

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs ground beef
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1tsp garam masala
4 slices of dried Bread
1 bunch Cilantro
1/2 tsp Tandoori Masala
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Soak the bread by running it under water, and squeeze the excess water out.  Add the bread to the food processor with some ground beef and mix it together. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl, add rest of the meat, turmeric, ginger-garlic paste, garam masala, tandoori masala, salt, finely chopped cilantro, drizzle olive oil (2 tbsp). Mix all the ingredients together.  Once everything is blended well, section off the meat and start forming patties.

In a nonstick pan add a drizzle of olive oil, and cook patties for about 2-3 minutes on each side. 

That's it!  Now you can assemble the burger with your favorite condiments and fixings.

Beef

8:16:00 PM

On Monday, for dinner I made a South-Indian dish called beef vindaloo. What attracted me to this particular dish was it's name, vindaloo, it's one of the words that just fun to say-it just rolls of your tongue, vin-da-loo!!. 

There are two main components of vindaloo:  chilies and spices.  The more chilies you use, the bigger the punch it will pack. However, not everyone in my house can handle spicy food, so I made a mild vindaloo.  You can adjust the level of chilies according to your taste. 

Spices, on the other hand, make the dish. It is very much spiced based and includes a few more then my previous recipes. 

I was very happy with the way it turned out. However, as I was doing my research on how to make this dish, I came across several different versions.  Hopefully I will get a chance to make the "traditional" vindaloo that is spicy and includes the use of vinegar.

I served this dish with white rice, but I could have added more water to make it saucier.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

*Beef (1 lbs)
1/2 cup diced onion
1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
*1 dry red chili 
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp cloves
3 cardamom
1 1/2 cinnamon stick
1/2 tbsp peppercorn
1 tbsp cumin
3/4 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp olive oil
Salt 
Cilantro 

Method:

In a coffee/spice grinder, add dry red chili, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon sticks, peppercorn, cumin, and grind to a fine masala powder. Transfer the masala mix in a bowl, and combine it with ginger-garlic paste and turmeric. Set it aside.

In a pan, heat olive on medium heat and add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds start to pop add onions. When the onions start to turn light golden brown add the beef and stir for few minutes. 

Then mix in the masala which was set aside, and add salt to taste.  Stir the mixture for few minutes until  it is fragrant. Add approximately 1/2 cup of water and bring it to simmer. 

Lastly, add lemon juice, and on a low heat partially cover the vindaloo until the liquid is half reduced and the meat is cooked thoroughly.  Once done, garnish the dish with chopped cilantro.


*Note: you can adjust the number chilies according to your taste.  For the list of Indian spices revert to previous post.  

Beef

8:01:00 PM