From my brother's kitchen : How to make Chicken Burger at home

This post is from my brother - Shailendra who's based in Bangalore, India. He loves eating fish and meat and he has agreed to share one of his favourite recipes on this blog.

Hello subscribers to Anita’s food blog. Here is one of my favorite comfort foods / Sunday lunch. I don’t like the burger served at fast food restaurants. So here is a burger recipe for my sis’s blog for all those who love chicken.

This is a lean recipe so you can enjoy it without much fuss about putting on weight.The buns and mayonnaise can be prepared in advance. I made all of it on Sunday, as I like my bread fresh; however, it is hard work :-)and my wife chipped in with frying the patties and the salad.

Chicken Patty

(Time: Preparation: 15 min., Marinating: 45 min., Frying: 12 min. Total: 1 hour 15 min)


Ingredients

Chicken Mince – 600 Gms. (I make my own mince at home using two chicken breasts)
Garlic – 4 cloves finely chopped or mince with the chicken
Chilies – 2 Nos. finely chopped or mince with the chicken
Lime Juice – 1 tps. (Tea spoon)
Onion – 1 No. (Medium) finely chopped or mince with the chicken

Method

• Mix all ingredients in a bowl and then cover it with a cling wrap and leave it in refrigerator for 30 to 45 min to marinate.
• After 45 min. Make 6 patties (1/4th inch thick). The patties puff up therefore it is good to make thinner patties and they need to cook through.
• Shallow fry the patties. Ensure that you fry the patties for at least 6 min. on each side. Turn the patty once the meat is set.

Burger Bun (you can buy them ready made; however, I like mine homemade)

(Time: Proofing: 15 min., 1st Rising: 45 min., 2nd Rising: 45 min., Baking: 45 min. Total: 2 hours 30 min.)


Ingredients:

400 Gms. Of all purpose flour (Maida)
240 ml of water at room temperature
10 Gms Fresh Yeast or 1 packet of instant yeast (7 gms.) or 1 packet of fast rising yeast.
50 gms of melted unsalted butter

Method

Proving Yeast (method for fresh is given below)
Add half quantity of water mentioned above (140 ml.) to the yeast.
Add two Tbs. of flour and make a paste.

The mixture will be frothy in 15 min. this shows that the yeast is active and you can proceed to make the dough (my kitchen is usually at 24C).

Mix all the ingredients in a stand mixer or knead using your hands for 2 min.

Note: Salt is added while making the final dough and not during proofing the yeast.

Take it out from your kneader/stand mixer and knead for 8 to min. on your work surface. (I use our kitchen counter)

The dough should be tacky and not sticky. It will have sheen and be elastic.

Prepare a bowl or a tall container and grease it with oil or butter. Transfer the dough to this container and cover it with a cling wrap and let it rest in a warm spot in your kitchen until it doubles. I use out microwave oven for this purpose and it takes approximately 45 min. to an hour.

After the dough is doubled, remove it and punch it down to disperse the carbon dioxide.

Let the dough rest for 15 min. divide it into 6 and shape the dough into small balls or spheres (resting of dough helps in shaping process).

While the dough is resting, prepare a baking tray by greasing it with oil and dusting it finely with flour to receive the shaped burger buns.

Cover shaped dough with a wet kitchen towel or cling wrap and allow the buns to rise in a warm place until they are double (approximately 1 hour in my kitchen). This is the second rising.

Pre heat the oven to 230C during the last 15 min. of the second rising.

Bake the buns for 45 to 50 min.

Take them out of the oven and allow them to cool on a wire rack. I apply a bit of butter as soon as the buns are out of the oven as; this helps keep the buns soft.

Note: For folks interested in baking soft bread, based on my experiments over the last year or so I usually use 70% liquid (water and fat). I get an open crumb (big holes) and soft bread.



Mayonnaise (again can be purchased from a store)
(Time: 15 min.)

Ingredients

Egg – 1 No. Medium (I use a whole egg as I like my mayo to be a bit runny, you can use just the yolk and the mayo will be thick, further you will require ~20ml less oil)
Lime Juice – ½ tps.
Olive Oil – approximately 80 ml or until the emulsion thickens
Mustard – Ground 1 tps. Or to taste
Salt – to taste

Method

• Whisk the egg in a mixer for about 30 sec.
• Add the lime juice and mustard
• Set the mixer at a low (1 or 2) and slowly drizzle the oil until the emulsion thickens (you can add one tablespoon at a time and continue to whisk, ensure that the oil is completely emulsified before adding the next tablespoon).
• When the Mayo thickens, add a pinch of salt and mix using a spoon.

Salad

Tomato thinly sliced– 1 No.
Cucumber thinly sliced– 1 No.
Lettuce – Leaves as required.

Assemble the burger and enjoy it, fries/chips are optional. If you like you patties less spicy; eliminate the chilies.

Brown Chana Aloo Chaat

I am back on the blogging scene after a break - I lost my blogging momentum after a holiday to Italy last month. It's taken longer than expected for me to recover - I would like to blame the miserable cold weather we are having here in England :-)


After a long time I've prepared something nice that I thought of sharing with you all. As my back is hurting today, I did not want to spend long time in the kitchen. So I prepared chaat-style salad using Brown Chana (a type of chick pea). My DH is fan of whole beans and lentils, so I have a variety of them in my store-cupboard. I used a can of boiled Brown Chana for this salad. Here's a picture of brown Chana for your reference.

This salad is very easy to make, protien-packed and very tasty as well. You can eat it on its own or serve it as a side-dish.

Brown Chana Chaat

Ingredients

1 can of Brown Chana or 1/2 cup of dry brown chana soaked overnight and boiled
1 medium Potato - boiled and cubed
1 small onion chopped
1 tomato - chopped
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
1/2 tsp Amchur Powder / Chaat Masala
Salt to taste
Fine Sev for crunch (optional)
Juice of Half Green Lime
1 tsp oil

Method

• If you are using canned Chana, then drain the water and wash the chana to remove excess salt.
• In a pan, take about 1 tsp oil and toast the boiled chana. Add the chilli powder, salt and cumin powder. Roast it for couple of minutes. This step is optional, but I prefer lightly toasted Chana.
• Take the chana in a large bowl. Add rest of the ingredients and mix well. Adjust salt and chilli-powder as per your liking.
• Finally, squeeze juice of half lime. Mix again and serve.