Ingredients
Scale
For the Beef Patties:
- 1 pound good quality ground beef (85/15 blend)
- 3 shallots finely chopped (about ½ cup)
- 1 teaspoon peeled and minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup plain greek yogurt (either reduced fat or full fat is fine)
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup chopped mint
- 1 Tablespoon neutral oil (for cooking patties)
For The Tomato Sauce:
- 1 pound of ripe plum tomatoes (but any kind will work)
- 2 fresh green chiles, like serrano or jalapeno
- 2 pieces anchovy (optional but amazing)
- 1 Tablespoon peeled and minced ginger
- 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 Tablespoon neutral oil
- ½ cup chopped cilantro, mint, or combination
Instructions
Make The Tomato Sauce:
- Turn your broiler to high and move your oven rack as close to the heating element as possible. Broil the tomatoes and chiles on a tray, turning them every 2-3 mins to get a charred, scorched crust. It will take about 10-12 minutes in total. Set them aside to cool.
- Peel off some of the really blackened skin from the tomato and chiles.
- Place the veggies in a food processor with the anchovies, ginger, garlic, salt, turmeric, oil, mint, and cilantro. Pulse a couple of times for a chunky salsa.
- Adjust seasoning and serve with the patties.
Make the Beef Patties:
- Place the beef in a bowl and add shallot, ginger, ground cumin, ground coriander, cayenne, salt, yogurt, and rice vinegar. Mix the meat well with clean hands, kneading it for a minute or two which will allow it to hold, since there is no binder in this recipe.
- Add the cilantro and the mint and mix to combine.
- Scoop the meat into 2 Tablespoon portions onto a tray or plate. You should have about 12 portions. Wet your hands with water and shape the meat into oval patties, about ¾ thick.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add the oil and put the patties into the pan making sure that they have enough room to brown and the pan is not overcrowded. (You can also cook them in batches if your pan is smaller).
- Pan fry the patties for about 3 minutes. Flip them over and cook for another 3 minutes, covering the pan. Serve hot with the tomato sauce.
Notes
* If you don’t want to open a full tin of anchovies for this recipes, you can substitute fish sauce instead for similar results. Use 1 teaspoon of fish sauce but do not add any salt yet. Pulse the sauce and then taste it first, before adding any salt.
