Middle Eastern Lamb Burgers

Well these just take the trusty ole hamburger to another level.  Middle eastern spiced lamb patties, mint yoghurt and hommus are a match made in Jannah! Also lets not forget the baked eggplant, fresh crunchy salad and toasted turkish rolls.  These are really fab for a lot of people and make for very impressive party food.......

Serves 6-8

For the patties:

Olive oil

500gm lamb mince
1 red onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup of chopped peanuts
2 tsp of ground cumin
2 tsp of ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp of garam masala
1 tsp of chilli flakes (optional)
2 tbs of sweet fruit chutney
1 egg
1/2 a cup of breadcrumbs
1/2 a cup of chopped coriander (stalks included)
Sea salt and pepper
6 turkish rolls, cut in half

250gm of Hommus (Homemade recipe to follow but store bought is fine)
1 eggplant, sliced 1cm thick

Salad:

2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 red onion thinly sliced
100gm bag of mixed salad leaves
1 bunch of coriander, washed well and roots and stalks removed (you can use the stalks for the patties)

Yoghurt:

1 cup of good greek yoghurt
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 a cup of mint leaves, finely chopped
Sea Salt and Pepper

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees.  Brush both sides of the eggplant with a little olive oil and place on a lined baking tray.  Pop in the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until golden.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

In a large bowl combine the mince, garlic, onion, nuts, spices, chutney, coriander, egg and breadcrumbs.  Remove any wedding rings and get your paws in there.  Mix and squish really well until everything is really well combined.  If the mixture is quite sticky add some more bread crumbs, if too dry, chuck another egg in.  You should be able to mould nice palm sized patties without half the mixture sticking to your hands!  Place the patties on a tray and refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Combine the yoghurt, garlic, mint, lemon juice and salt and pepper in a bowl and set aside.

To cook the patties, pre heat a BBQ or griddle pan to a nice medium heat and cook the patties for approximately 5 minutes on each side.  If you like them cooked right through pop them in a a 180 degree oven for 5-10 minutes to be sure.

Toast the turkish rolls either on the BBQ or in the oven.  To assemble your burger spread a generous amount of Hommus on the bottom of the turkish roll.  Top with a burger pattie, a slice of eggplant, grated carrot, tomato, lettuce leaves, coriander and onion.  Spread the top of the roll with a generous amount of the yoghurt mixture and place it on the burger.  Open your mouth really wide and Saha wa hana!!