You didn’t think I’d stop at just making a naanwich did you? Nope, the same day I made that chicken tikka masala inspired sandwich, I also knew I wanted to make an Indian inspired burger, which of course, would have to be called a naanburger, haha. It’s funny how I’m sometimes inspired by my own recipes! Actually, the best part about having a blog is being able to browse through my favorite recipes. There are so many now (over 160!) and it’s nice to have them all in one place. Plus, I feel very productive looking back over them all.
I packed the burgers with garlic, ginger, cumin, ground fennel seeds, and cayenne pepper. I’ve made them with ground turkey and lamb and both versions are quite tasty. The spinach topping was inspired by my favorite Indian dish, saag paneer. I whipped up some spiced spinach to top my burgers, but kept things on the lighter side by leaving out the heavy cream. I really like to pile the toppings high on my burgers, so if you’re not a huge fan of burgers that you can’t put down in fear of losing toppings everywhere, then you may want to half the spinach recipe. Of course, I sandwiched the burger and spinach between pieces of warm naan. These are pretty healthy considering the burgers are well over a third of a pound each!
Oh, and check out the new featured recipe section on my sidebar – yay! There are some keepers that I wanted to share with my new readers and I’m so glad my better half figured out how to set that up for me!
Indian Saag Naanburgers
Printable Recipe
Spiced Spinach:
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
20 ounces fresh spinach
1/2 teaspoon salt
Patties:
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground fennel seeds
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
Assembly:
8 burger-sized pieces of naan, cut from larger pieces to fit the size of the patties, toasted
2 large tomatoes, sliced
Directions:
To make the spiced spinach, heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add red onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until tender; add ginger and garlic and sauté 1 additional minute. Remove pan from heat and add coriander, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, and cardamom and stir until spices are fragrant. Place mixture in a food processor along with tomato paste and chicken broth and pulse until well blended. Meanwhile, place remaining 1 tablespoon canola oil and half the spinach in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 5 minutes or until spinach is wilted. Add remaining spinach to the pan, stir well, cover the pan with a lid, and cook for 5 minutes or until all spinach is wilted. Add pulsed onion mixture from the food processor to the pan and cook uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes or until all the liquid has evaporated, stirring frequently. Stir in salt and remove from heat.
Meanwhile, make the patties, place the garlic, ginger, cumin, ground fennel seeds, cayenne pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Gently but thoroughly mix in the ground turkey and shape the mixture into 4 patties. Place patties on a greased grill pan over medium high heat and cook 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until cooked through and no longer pink in the center.
To assemble the burgers, place a patty on top of one piece of naan and evenly spread the spinach on top. Add a few tomato slices and top with another piece of naan. Makes 4 burgers.
Nutrition: 624 calories, 29.9g fat, 6.2g fiber, 45.7g protein per burger
Cost: $3.68 per burger