Ingredients

• 500 gm. finely minced lamb of good quality. You can use beef or pork instead, but lamb is best.

• 2 large slices of white bread

• 1 large onion (approximately 200gm.), peeled and finely chopped

• 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated

• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and grated (optional)

• 2 green chillies, finely chopped (omit if you do not like hot food)

• 1 tbsp. green coriander leaves, chopped

• 1 tbsp. fresh mint leaves, chopped

• 1 tsp. Garam Masala

• 2 tsp. coriander powder

• Salt to taste

• 2 eggs, beaten

• For coating:

• 2 bread slices, toasted and crumbed (see notes below)

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• Oil for frying

Instructions

1. Blitz broken up bread slices in a food processor. Keep aside.

2. Place onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli, in a food processor and blitz only until finely chopped/ground. Do not make a paste. You can chop them finely or grate by hand.

3. Place mince in a large bowl and add all above ingredients, leaving the coating ingredients and oil aside. Mix well and keep covered in the fridge for 2-3 hours. This will allow flavours to infuse.

4. Divide the mix into 12 or more portions, roll into balls and then make into shapes of your choice; round like burgers or a cutlet/flat pear shape. Size too is your choice.

5. Beat 1 remaining egg lightly in a small bowl.

6. Dip each cutlet into beaten egg, roll into bread crumbs. You may not need to dip the burgers in egg at this stage. If they are moist enough, bread crumbs will stick to them without the egg coating, thereby making your job much easier.

7. Heat oil to medium heat in a heavy bottomed frying pan.

8. Shallow fry on both sides, until golden colour. Do not have the pan too hot or the meat will not cook on the inside and the outside will burn.

9. Lift out with a slotted spoon, drain on a kitchen paper and serve hot with Green Mango Chutney or Tomato Ketchup or as meat burgers inside a bread roll.

Notes

• You don't have to cover your burgers in bread crumbs. Make them simply like beef burgers.

• *To make bread crumbs, I toast the bread slices first and then leave them on a plate to dry out. Then break into pieces and crumb in a coffee grinder. Food processor does not give fine enough crumbs.

• These can also be deep fried in a karahi/wok. Test fry one first, to make sure that they do not fall apart. If they do, you may need to add a little more egg, or a little besan (gram flour), to improve binding.

• To make in advance and freeze, spread out on a tray in a single layer. Then put the trays in a freezer. When frozen, store in a plastic bag or container. This way, they will not stick together or loose their shape.