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Chapli Burgers
Updated May 17, 2024
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- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1tablespoon coriander seeds
- Sea salt
- 2tablespoons fresh or dried pomegranate seeds
- 1pound ground beef
- ½small yellow onion, minced
- ½medium tomato, finely chopped and drained of juice
- 1clove garlic, finely grated or pounded
- 1tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
- ½jalapeño, seeded and minced
- ½teaspoon red-pepper flakes
- 1teaspoon garam masala
- 1teaspoon cumin powder
- ¼cup finely chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
- 1egg
- Neutral oil for cooking
- Burger buns
- Iceberg lettuce
- Tamarind ketchup (see recipe)
- Herbed yogurt (see recipe)
- Sliced Persian cucumbers, red onions and tomatoes
For Burgers
To Serve
Preparation
- Step 1
Place coriander seeds in a small saucepan, and set over medium heat. Swirling pan, lightly toast seeds for 2 minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat, and finely pound in a mortar and pestle with a pinch of salt (alternatively, use a spice grinder or small food processor). Add pomegranate seeds, and coarsely pound (it’s fine if the inner seed does not break down). Scrape paste into a large mixing bowl.
- Step 2
Add beef, onion, tomato, garlic, ginger, ½ jalapeño, pepper flakes, garam masala, cumin, ¼ cup cilantro, egg and 2 teaspoons salt. Use hands to knead mixture until combined.
- Step 3
Fry a quarter-size piece of the mixture, and taste. Adjust seasoning with salt and spices.
- Step 4
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide meat mixture onto parchment into 6 balls, and flatten into thin, 4-inch-round patties.
- Step 5
Set a large cast-iron pan over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil. When it shimmers, lay three patties into the pan, and cook for 2 minutes on each side until browned, then set aside on a plate. Drain grease from pan, and wipe with a paper towel, then cook remaining patties. (Alternatively, grill burgers over high heat for 2 minutes per side until browned.)
- Step 6
Serve immediately on toasted buns with tamarind ketchup, herbed yogurt and other garnishes.
- Patties can be formed, covered and refrigerated up to one day in advance. Bring to room temperature before cooking. The burgers won’t be complete without the tamarind ketchup and herbed yogurt, which take only a few minutes to make and add welcome creaminess, sweetness and tang.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Herbed Yogurt ½ cup Greek yogurt 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro 1 teaspoon finely chopped mint 1 teaspoon minced jalapeño Sea salt Step 1 In a small bowl, stir together yogurt, cilantro, mint, jalapeño and a pinch of salt. Taste, and adjust seasoning as needed. Tamarind Ketchup ⅓ cup ketchup 4 teaspoons tamarind paste In a small bowl, stir together ketchup and tamarind paste
Agreed, no point in following a recipe on a Recipe page. Follow your mood. instead of meat use tofu. Instead of salt, try sugar. Instead of oil, use tomatoes. Instead of pomegranate seed, use chia. In the mood for ice cream? Toss some in. Is it raining out? Throw in some cocoa powder!
The recipe is delicious, but I want to point out that fresh pomegranate seeds and the dried stuff are completely different. The latter, available packaged in Indian stores as Anar Dana, is a popular souring agent - much like pomegranate syrup/molasses in Middle Eastern cooking - and the dried seeds are often powdered in a dry grinder before using. Fresh pomegranate is delicious plain, but I'd hesitate to use it as a souring agent - the water content is a little high.
I too was transformed by Chapli Kabob – at a now defunct Afghan restaurant here in Denver. Their version involved whole coriander seeds, lots of cilantro, tomatoes, sweet peppers, onions, and spices. DO NOT FOLLOW A RECIPE. Follow your mood – and whats in the fridge. Smoked paprika. Some kind of hot sauce (right now it is Trader Joe's Green Dragon sauce). Cumin. Also, grate a small to medium onion into a pound of meat and even well done burgers/kabobs remain moist.
This thread is a great example of why I usually read the article, skim the recipe and immediately dig into the comments. Almost always a great mix of insights, suggestions, and hilarity. And I agree with SLB: Dan FTW!
@Dan, I'll never be able to thank you enough for "It's a recipe, not an edict". A kitchen mantra and comeback for the rest of my days.
Thanks. I started making "spiced hamburgers" as my US born friends called them.when I arrived i the US in the mid-70s. I could never find a naan so I used a thick pita (but now we can get naan). A friend taught me also to incorporate some left over chana dal, mashed up, it acts as a binder. And a wee bit of turmeric.. One does not need to do it o an iron pan, it remains juicy if done on a grrill.
In our hands, this recipe was quite liquid, probably due to the fresh pomegranate seeds. The burgers fell apart on the grill. I scooped up what I could, put them in a frying pan, and called them sloppy chaplis.
The meat itself was insanely delicious, though I resented the crunch of the (dried) pomegranate seeds, which I couldn’t manage to pulverize, either by mortar and pestle or by food processor. Next time, I’ll add pomegranate molasses instead, as another commenter suggested. We also found the tamarind ketchup unnecessary—it went unused on our second burgers. Herbed yogurt, however, is a must.
This burger so reminds me of an astonishing burger I once had in Sierra Vista, SE Arizona: A gorgeous hamburger patty on an oversized bun topped with crumbled blue cheese and a jalapeno/raspberry jam - plus red onion, tomato, lettuce. I dream about it!
This is a Pakistani inspired reciped based on Chapli kabobs which are traditionally made with beef. Pakistan is in south asia not the middle east.
This is a perfect recipe for taking an ordinary dish in an unexpected direction. I mostly followed the recipe but, lacking pomegranate seeds, subbed in lemon zest with a squirt of honey. DEFINITELY use a hot cast iron and definitely do not crowd the patties: quick cook at high heat needed to make them nice and crispy. Yogurt sauce is a winner; ketchup/tamarind is tasty but may be out of place in this recipe. We used it to dip sweet potato fries! Chop leftovers, mix w/yogurt and wrap in naan.
I am afraid that I read this as Kafka-esque. My mind was reeling for a moment.
Juicy, delicious burgers! I used Kashmiri Chili/Pepper in place of regular red pepper flakes. As well, I used Pomegranate Powder (dried pomegranate seeds in powder form), available as "Anardana Powder" in Indo/Asian grocery stores. The tamarind ketchup and herbed yogurt are a definite must. Thanks!
While they didn't taste like "burgers," they were one of the tastiest things I've made in quite a while. I didn't make the condiments. I had fresh tzatziki from last night, which I used. And skipped the tamarind, as there were already enough flavors going on. But I loved this.
Delicious! I didn't have pomegranate seeds, so I used about a tablespoon of pomegranate molasses to make the paste with the coriander seeds. It worked out fine! This recipe is a keeper.
So flavorful, so easy. I stumbled across this recipe in an search to use up tamarind paste that was aging in the fridge. We loved it. Per the comments I used about a tbsp of pomegranate molasses in place of the seeds, and added about 1/2 tsp of sumac. Delicious, heady, a keeper!
We made this with chicken and it was flavorful but needed more spice. And in what universe of people with speedy sous chefs does this take 30 minutes? All that chopping finely takes time. In the end I think I’d make again but just use ground coriander and skip some of the fussier steps. It was good but did not reflect the amount of time it took.
Agree with too much salt comments. Add salt to taste after cooking. Cumin was overpowering; cut in 1/2. Coriander, garam not noticeable.Needed more heat; peppers were overpowered by the other spices. Used the gas BBQ ring with a large skillet. Cooked patties high heat for 1 minute/side, then moved them to the BBQ grill top @ med-hi heat. That took care of excess liquid and produced a nice char. Overall a lot of work to make 6 sliders. 6 out of 10 as presented. Not sure I'll ever repeat.
Operator error likely a factor--not sure I ground coriander sufficiently--but these were an inedible disappointment. Recipe calls for far, far too much salt.
This strikes me as a good topping for pizza, crumbled up with peppers onions and cheese
I doubled up on the ingredients and cooked on a grill. Delicious! To keep the mixture from getting too watery, I crushed the fresh pomegranate seeds over paper towels, and scooped out the insides of the tomatoes before chopping them (after blanching and peeling them, because I hate cooked tomato skins). I also used red onions because they add less moisture. Served on toasted buns with the tamarind ketchup, cilantro-mint chutney, raw onion slices, and arugula.
If you crush the pomegranate seeds on paper towels, wouldn’t you be removing a great deal of the flavor? Better to use pomegranate molasses as suggested by someone else here
A very successful adaptation turning the burgers into meatloaf. Full spicing for 2/3 lb meat, 1/3 cup breadcrumbs, 1 egg. Formed into 2 small loaves; baked at 400. Tamarind ketchup to glaze.
We’ve made these twice now and followed the recipe exactly. Turned out amazing. The second time we opted to smash these down a bit similar to a smash burger. The crispiness really is wonderful, recommended! Agree with the comments that fresh Pom seeds and dried are not interchangeable. Worth seeking out or just skip that ingredient.
ohmygod, amazing. i now make a double batch and freeze most of them, so i have a stash for the craving (divine made with lamb, btw). i haven't gotten the pomegranate seeds yet, but used a tbsp of pomegranate molasses and some sumac for similar sour effect (otherwise, as written), thumbs up. the yogurt sauce on these is what converted me to yogurt sauces. cucumber raita is great here too. looking forward to trying some of the other recommendations here, but: Make These.
One of the best burgers we’ve ever had. We subbed dried currants for the pomegranate seeds. Yum!
Squeeze out the liquid from grated onion, tomatoes, and ginger. Ignore this recipe's cooking instructions and just cook like you would a hamburger.
Less salt.
Meat mix: Added 1 whole jalapeño
I grilled it without any issues. I strained the chopped tomatoes through a strainer before adding it to the beef to ensure there was no excess moisture. I also made sure my cilantro was totally dry. Result: A juicy flavorful burger!
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