The bunless tandoori turkey burger is a perfect meal to satisfy your cravings but still keeping it healthy. The juicy tandoori flavoured patties are combined with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, pickled onions and some refreshing ginger-coriander sauce.
Since these burgers are served in lettuce instead of a real bun, they make a wonderful paleo recipe. No guilt at all, when eating a large bunless burger. Yes! I love burger patties that differ from classic patties and doesn’t require a bun. I was amazed by these beluga lentil patties or these delicious quinoa-bean patties. A real delight!
This time, I created Indian inspired tandoori turkey patties. I am pretty sure you’ve heard of Tandoori before. Tandoori chicken? Sounds familiar? Wink. Most probably you’ve noticed the bright red colour of the Tandoori chicken. Well, let me tell you, that colour is often achieved through food colouring.
I kept my tandoori turkey patties natural, packed with flavour yet no colour. Also, when I say Tandoori, I am talking about the spice blend rather than the clay oven or the traditional Indian way of preparation. The tandoori spice blend is most commonly used in Indian cooking, grilling, with meat, chicken and fish.
Tandoori flavour
How to describe Tandoori taste? Warm, spicy, fresh, sweet….hmmm. Let me simply tell you what I used to make the Tandoori spice blend. I used the most common Tandoori spice ingredients, such as garlic, ginger, cumin, cayenne pepper, Garam masala (check out this delicious Garam masala lentil soup), sweet paprika and coriander. Oh wow. That makes a rich, aromatic and spicy mix. Simply the best!
To make it even better (yes, that’s possible), I added lime juice and lime zest. That gives some extra fresh notes or a fresh citrussy zing. Wink. Making this seasoning mix is easy. Check your kitchen pantry and you might find all of these amazing ingredients already in your kitchen. Create your own blend.
Also, don’t worry about the turkey patties getting too dry. No no no. Even though turkey is known as one of the leanest and driest meat, these are the juiciest patties ever! The secret is not to overcook them. Making them thicker helps to keep them juicy and delicious.
Ingredients for two bunless tandoori turkey burgers:
- 400 g ground turkey
- 2 garlic cloves (chopped)
- 3 stems of fresh coriander (chopped)
- 1 onion (half chopped, half cut into rings)
- 1 Tbsp of grated fresh ginger
- 2 tsp of coriander powder
- 1 lime (juice and zest)
- half a tsp of cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp of cumin
- 1 tsp of Garam masala
- sea salt
- 1 tsp of sweet paprika
- 1 tsp of turmeric
- half a head of iceberg lettuce
- 1 large tomato (sliced)
- half a cucumber (cut into strips)
Ingredients for the sauce:
- 80 g mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp of chopped fresh coriander
- 1 tsp of grated fresh ginger
- half a tsp of lime juice (or more)
To begin, prepare the sauce. Wash, drain and chop the coriander. Peel and grate the ginger. In a small bowl, combine the mayo, coriander, ginger and lime juice. Stir, season to taste and place in the fridge until ready to use.
Then, peel the onion and garlic. Slice half of the onion into rings and chop the other half. Chop the garlic, too. Wash, drain and chop the coriander. Place the onion rings in a bowl with a flat bottom, cover them with some vinegar, olive oil and a pinch of salt. Let it marinate for at least 15 minutes.
Furthermore, for the patties, combine the ground turkey, chopped onion, garlic, fresh coriander and ginger, coriander powder, cayenne pepper, sweet paprika, cumin, garam masala, turmeric and lime zest. Finish with fresh juice from half a lime and some salt. Mix everything with your hands, by squeezing it between your fingers until combined. Form two patties (they will be quite thick) and place them in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, wash and slice the tomato and the cucumber (either slices or strips). Cut the lettuce half in half (so that you have two-quarters of the whole head). In order to get your lettuce bun, carefully separate each quarter into two halves.
Then, in a non-sticking frying pan, drizzle some olive oil. Once hot, add the patties and fry them for 5 minutes on each side. After flipping them, cover with the lid.
Finally, it is time to build the bunless tandoori turkey burgers. Spread a spoon of the sauce on the inside of the lettuce, add the tomato slices, pickled onion rings and cucumber. Last but not least, add the turkey patty and top with the other half of the lettuce. You may wrap them into some parchment paper to make them handier.
Enjoy.
