Chana Masala Burgers

I left work a little bit early yesterday to get some work done on my car.  My dad owns an automotive repair business and totally spoils me with car maintenance and repair.  If it’s an reconciliation, my car is 10 years old.  It has way over 200,000 miles on it and still runs like a dream.  I do have my eye on a certain wagon that would be perfect for me in a couple of years. 😉

As soon as I got home, I grabbed some veggie-flavored crackers left over from a little party we had a couple of weeks ago.  I also had some TJ’s white bean hummus.

I still had a craving for something sweet so I grabbed this two sweet lil’ clementines.

Brad and I set out to do a five mile run and I mapped out a route.  Unfortunately, I forked right when I should have forked left and chopped off part of our route.  I am not having good luck with running routes lately.  I almost got Brittney and I lost on our run last Monday night.  I’m going to blame on Charlotte’s confusing runs, Googlemaps, and the fact that my Garmin is broken.  The good part about this part of town is I could find my way home blind-folded so getting lost was not an option.

In an attempt to make sure we got in five miles, I added on a bit to our run.  When we got home, I mapped our run on Googlemaps and found that we ran 6.1 miles!  I was so proud of Brad.  He is about to start half marathon training (for the Disney half) and was planning to run six miles next week.

I had been mulling dinner options over in my head.  Who else thinks about food while they run? And finally decided on Chana Masala burgers.

I based this recipe off my Chana Masala from several months ago.  I had no fresh cilantro on hand, but luckily had stocked up on some Dorot herbs which are stored in the freezer.  Dorot packages a puree of each herb in a tiny ice cube tray.  You just pop out the herb cube and use it as needed.  I popped two cilantro cubes out and nuked them for a minute in a ramekin so I could mix them with the burger mixture.

I added the cilantro to: chickpeas, garam masala, cumin, coriander seed, Garlic Gold, powdered ginger, and onion powder.  I mashed all with a pastry cutter.

I made patties with my hands and cooked in in a cast iron pan sprayed lightly with olive oil from the Misto.

Next, I got to work on my sweet and spicy brussel sprouts.

Key ingredient: Sriracha sauce!  We’re getting a little low.  We’re a Sriracha loving family.  🙂

I chopped brussels into half or thirds.  Since the pan was already very hot from the burgers, I knew I couldn’t add olive oil; it would burn instantly.  I used grape seed oil because it can cook at a higher temperature without burning.  This worked perfectly!  I added the brussels, and when they started to brown, I added the Sriracha.  The amount used depends on how hot you like it.  Sriracha is spicey!  A drizzle over the whole pan makes this dish pretty hot.  Then use a spatula to stir and mix the Sriracha.  Then, I added a pinch of brown sugar (~1/2 tsp.).  A little goes a long way.  Last, I added some Kosher salt (~1 tsp.), stirred, and allowed the brussels to brown well, flipping them over every few minutes.  I have posted this recipe before here but it’s just so good, it deserves a second posting.

Next I made a tomato sauce to top my burger.  I mixed three heaping Tbsp. of diced tomatoes with one heaping tsp. of tomato paste, plus a generous sprinkle of garam masala, mix and nuked for 20 seconds to warm it up.

Don’t you hate how you only ever need a Tbsp. or so of tomato paste?  To save the rest I scrape the remainder out of the can with a spatula, put it into a snack-size plastic bag, and freeze it.  I spread the mixture out so it’s not all clumped together and will break off easily if I need just a bit.

I always put it in the tiniest little shelf on my freezer door.  I have no idea what else you could put on this shelf, so it’s perfect.

Now for the final burger topping: curried yogurt.  I took a heaping Tbsp. of Greek Yogurt, sprinkled some red curry on it, and mixed.

Next I assembled my plate.  First came the Chana Masala burger, which I topped with the  tomato mixture, then the curried yogurt; sweet and spicy brussels sprouts on the side.

I’ve made a similar combination before with TJ’s masala burger.  However, I really like the protein of the chickpeas to the potato base of the masala burger.  This was super yummy and filling.  I really love the combination of flavors and textures.  Who would have thought tomatoes and yogurt would go so well together?

What interesting flavor combinations have you found are delicious together?