Smoky and Spicy Lamb Burgers

Come Summer and I am one happy bunny,more so because I really miss the omnipresent sunshine from back home in Mumbai city! But the one thing I love the most about the British Summer is the amazing BBQ’s we have ! Last years most fun barbie was at our friends place , we OD’ed  on grilled seafood and Pimms – hoping to have a repeat of that this year !

Some friends have a BBQ planned for later this month but I couldn’t wait so got myself some lamb mince and decided to use some fresh mushrooms and add my own twist to the burgers with a bright red smoked sweet red pepper! My trusty old griddle pan at hand , I turned my tiny urban open plan kitchen into a tiny BBQ party venue!

Perfect time to use up some of the wonderful La Chinata smoked paprika powder.

Ingredients:

• 500 gm Lamb Mince
• 1 bunch of spring onion
• 1 big sweet red pepper
• 250 gm button mushrooms
• 150 gm cherry tomatoes
• 3  tsp sweet paprika powder La Chinata
• 1 tsp red chilli flakes
• 2 tsp garlic paste
•  4 tsp coriander powder
• a large sprig of fresh rosemary
• 1 1/2 tbsp chilli oil
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Flame roast the sweet red pepper on a gas flame, if you’re doing a BBQ ,first rub some oil and garlic paste onto it.
• After it has been roasted and cooled down a bit,peel off the skin and chop fine
• Chop the mushrooms to tiny bite sized pieces
• Finely chop the spring onions and cherry tomatoes
• Wash the lamb mince under a running tap by placing it inside a sieve.
•  Mix the chopped smoked sweet red pepper, mushrooms,spring onions ,cherry tomatoes,rosemary,chilli flakes,sweet smoked paprika powder from La Chinata and coriander powder,paprika and salt.

• Knead all the ingredients into the mixture.
• Make mini burger patties by taking palm sized portions of this mixture and ty and pat them into roughly round shape.
• On a griddle pan add some chilli oil and place a few burgers on it. Cook them for a few minutes on one side and them flip and repeat.
• Serve the cooked lamb burgers inside wholegrain soft burger buns generously lined with butter , a thick slice of cheese, pickles,crunchy salad leaves and doused with ketchup. Or if you’d rather not then eat them plain – I did , served with some grilled button mushrooms and tender shoots of asparagus on which I slathered generous amounts of smoked paprika sweet chilli powder mixed with some oil and garlic paste – pure heaven!

The sweet smoked paprika powder gives the lamb burgers a definite sweet hot flavour and the others spices combine well with the vegetables.Its also a great way to get fussy eaters to eat veggies hidden in layers of delicious meat and spices. I would have loved to add some boiled green peas too, they would add more bulk and taste too.

*With thanks to La Chinata for sending samples  for review.No monetary compensation was provided for this post.All views expressed are my own.