Onion Burgers – A delicious recipe for onions.

Onion Burgers are my favorite Indian recipe and we look forward to them when I have a bountiful amount of fresh onions to use. Years ago I was never a big fan of Indian recipes.

Looking back, I guess it was because I didn’t know enough about it.  When I finally found out how healthful the spices are and how simple and good the various dishes can be, my thinking changed.

I found the Onion Burger recipe in a book a friend loaned me. Right away I was drawn to it,  as good onion recipes can be hard to come by.  But two things kept me from fixing the recipe properly.

#1 – As a rule we don’t eat fried foods.  Thus, if I was going to make this recipe I wanted to use as little oil as possible. #2 – I wanted to cut back on the flour.

I experimented with the onion burgers all last year while my onions were plentiful. I got the oil down to the minimum amount possible to still get a great burger, but found out you have to use the amount of flour called for if you want excellent results.

The chilli powder, cumin and turmeric can be adjusted according to individual tastes. I’ve ended up going with what the recipe calls for.

Even an experienced cook might have a little trouble “handling” the onion burgers.  It took me a while to be able to get the mixture formed and into the pan without the onion burger falling apart.  But with a little practice it gets easier each time.

I usually double the recipe so we can have 4 onion burgers rather than just 2. Many times I’ll make up to 4 times the amount the recipe calls for and freeze the extras.  Great during the winter when you want a taste of summer.  Just keep in mind that Onion burgers are even harder to handle when thawed, but I think that problem could be overcome by placing them in the hot oil before they are totally thawed.

Ingredients for 2 burgers:

1 cup of chopped onions (The cup doesn’t have to be packed tight but the “cup” should be generous.)

5 tablespoons of flour (I use organic whole wheat flour.)
1/8 teaspoon of salt (original recipe called for 1/2 tsp of salt, but it’s not needed in my opinion)
1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon of turmeric (powder)
1/4 teaspoon of cumin (powder)
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda

2 tablespoons of water

about 1/3+ cups of oil (I use organic olive oil) The oil should totally coat the pan and be about 1/8 of an inch deep.  (The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of oil. Way too much in my opinion.)

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• Put all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix until blended.
• Sprinkle dry ingredients on the chopped onions and “toss” with utensils until thoroughly mixed.
• Add the water.
• Mix with utensils and then use your hand to mash the mixture together until it’s sort of pasty.

• Heat a stainless steel skillet (frying pan) at med-high heat until a little piece of onion sizzles when added.  (If 10 is high — set the dial at 5)

• Form your burgers and gently (and carefully!) place into the hot oil.

It is very important for the oil to be this hot when you first put the onion burgers in so that they will be crisp and brown on the outside.

• Within 2 minutes of placing the burgers in the pan, turn your burner down to medium low.  (If it was at 5, turn it down to 2) If you keep it on the medium high heat the onion burgers will probably burn rather than just get crisp and brown.

• Cook 10 to 15 minutes on each side. I like them cooked 10 minutes.  Bill likes for me to cook them 15 minutes.  You’ll have your own preference once you try them.

This Indian recipe for Onion Burgers is so simple.  Using your fresh onions from your garden makes it absolutely delicious.

Enjoy!

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