Veggie Burger | McAloo Tikki

This recipe started out as a product of leftover aloo tikki I had made (and blogged about) a few months ago. I had some leftover farali patties, and that day I made a couple of burgers out of it, to use it up.  Voila - that was one amazing burger I had, and was all gone before even i had a chance to take a picture.  So this time I set off to make the patties, and thought why not try my hand at burger buns as well.   After all, who doesn't like the smell of freshly baked bread?  

McDonalds has a very popular Indian version of Burger - McAloo Tikki - in India.  And this one is mine, which can be enjoyed sitting here in the US.  

I made a few changes to the patties, as I didn't want it stuffed this time, unlike the farali  patties.  I have posted the recipes for everything below.  To be honest, I enjoyed the process of making this even more than eating the burger :) 

McAloo Tikki aka Veggie Burger Ingredients and Assembly:

Burger buns (recipe given below)

Aloo Tikki (recipe given below)

Lettuce - 1/2 - leaves separated

Tomatoes - 3, sliced, round

Onions  - 1, sliced, round

Slices of cheese - 7-8

Mustard - to taste

Ketchup - to taste

• Cut the burger buns into half, arrange all of the above ingredients on top of the base and finish it with placing the top half of the bun.  Serve it with a smile :) 

Thats McAloo Tikki for you.  Enjoy!!

Hot tip: The burger tastes great with warm/hot patties.  

 Burger buns:

Makes (about 7-8)

All purpose flour - 3 1/4 cup

Yeast - 1 tablespoon

Milk - 1 cup, warm

Sugar - 3 tablespoons

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon or to taste

Butter - 5 tablespoons, cold, cubed

Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon

Poppy seeds - 1 teaspoon

White sesame seeds - 1 teaspoon

Black sesame seeds - 1 teaspoon

(of the above, keep 1 tablespoon each of butter and milk, mixed for brushing)

• Mix milk, sugar, yeast in a container and let it stand for 10 minutes.  Add vanilla extract to it after 10 minutes.
• Take about 2 1/2 cups of flour (keeping the rest aside for later use), add salt, mix well.  
• Pour the yeast mixture in the flour and mix it, forming into a dough.  Then gradually add the butter cubes one by one, along with the remaining flour.  Keep mixing the dough well, while adding the butter and flour.
• Knead the dough really well, about 8-10 minutes from the time when  you started adding the butter.  This will help form the gluten and make the dough elastic.  Oil a vessel and put the dough in it, let it rest in a warm place for a couple of hours or till the time it doubles, whichever happens first.  Though not required, it wouldn't harm if the dough rests more than that.
• When the dough is ready, punch and knead it again.  Form into balls, the size of say 2 golf balls - or say make about 7-8 balls out of the given dough.  Roll it well into balls and and place these a couple of  inches apart on a lightly dusted or greased baking tray.  Let it rest for about 20 minutes.  This is called proofing.   After 20 minutes, the dough would have been almost doubled in size.
• Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. 
• After 20 minutes of resting, sprinkle the burger balls with the toppings of your choice - white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, poppy seeds etc. Brush these with the milk and butter mixture that was kept aside.
• Place the baking tray/dish/pan in the pre-heated oven for about 30-35 minutes.  You can start with placing it on the bottom rack of the oven and then half way, brush it again with the milk and butter mixture and then place it on the top rack of the oven.   The burger buns are considered done when the top is slightly golden brown. Each oven is different, it is suggested to start checking after about 20 minutes from the time when the buns went into the oven.  In the end, if needed, can turn on the broiler for about 2 minutes to make the top more brown.  If you turn on the broiler, do check it every 30 seconds, as the broiler tends to burn the product if left unattended.  
• Once done, remove from the oven and place it on a wire rack.

 

Aloo Tikki aka Potato patties:

(Makes about 8-10)

This is my version of Aloo Tikki, so it has ingredients that I felt comfortable adding.  You can totally add ginger, green chillies if you want. You can also skip the arrowroot flour if you feel like.

Potatoes (medium sized) - 4-5, boiled, mashed well

Arrowroot flour - 1 1/2 tablespoon

Salt - to taste

Aamchur powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Chaat masala - 1/2 teaspoon

Rock salt - 1/4 teaspoon

Bread crumbs (optional) - 2 tablespoons

Oil - 1 tablespoon

I made the healthier version of tikkis, hence just used a griddle. But feel free to deep fry the patties - though it's absolutely not necessary and would taste just the same.  If deep frying, make sure to coat the patties with the flour and/or breadcrumbs.

• Mix all of the above ingredients, except oil.  If the mixture is too soft, feel free to add either more arrowroot flour or any other binding agent.
• Form into patties, the diameter of burger buns.
• Heat a griddle add a couple of drops of oil per patty, put the patties on griddle. Let it cook till light golden brown, put a couple of drops of oil on top and flip it over.  Cook till golden brown on the other side as well.
• Remove from griddle and make burgers right away or enjoy it all by itself!