Moroccan Chicken Burger with Tahini-Mint-Yoghurt Sauce

I can just drool by reading the title of this recipe!...sorry! As much as I love pasta, a great steak, french fries, or a great club sandwich, there's also something about eastern food; the spices, the flavors, the depth. This recipe, via aapplemint.com, makes for a delicious combination of a 'juicy-fun-to-hold-and-can't-wait-to-bite-into burger & eastern flavors that just dance in your mouth and make you feel good!

If you live in the east, you might already have so many of these ingredients at home, if not, they're super easy to get. If you live elsewhere I'm sure these ingredients are easily available at your local eastern/arab/indian grocer. The other option is to always just google a substitute for '____'. There's always inevitably a decent substitute available!

Here's the Moroccan Inspired Chicken Burger - which by the way, would be great to try out this long weekend! I know I will be trying it out later this week. However I'm already recommending it to you, because I know these flavors are just going to work and make for a great burger! Enjoy:

Ingredients (for 4 Burgers):

• 500g mince chicken
• 2tsp Moroccan All Spice
• 2tsp roasted cumin seed ground to powder (adds extra fragrance)
• 2tsp paprika
• 1tbsp garlic
• 1tsp sumac
• 1tsp white pepper
• handful of chopped mint leaves
• salt to taste (a pinch..)
• 4 burger buns
• sliced tomatoes
• lettuce leaves

For the sauce!

• 2tbsp Tahini/Tahina (sesame paste) - sometimes called white sauce in the US...depends though
• 1tbsp Mayonaise (try using going for the lite (healthier) option!)
• 5tbsp thick yogurt
• 2tbsp chopped mint
• salt to taste (a pinch..)

Method:

For the burger patties:

Mix all burger ingredients (minus the bread, tomatoes & lettuce!) Leave to marinate at room temperature for 2 hours. In a non stick pan, pour some olive oil and let it heat well. Divide the mince into 4 portions and make/shape the burger patties with your hand (leaving the edges a little thicker than the middle, to ensure even cooking). Lay on heated, oiled, pan. 

For the sauce

In the mean time, mix all the sauce ingredients and chill.

Flip the burgers when well/medium-well done on one side. Meanwhile take another frying pan to quickly toast the burger buns - after cutting them in half and adding a slight drizzle of olive oil to the inner sides. The burger patties should be done by now *remember you don't want to over cook them, otherwise the juicy moistness may cook away*

Assemble your burger my placing your lettuce, tomatoes and burger patties, and then finally layering on that refreshing delicious yogurt sauce. Adding onions to your burger is a great option too if you like. Serve immediately, and savor the warn juicy, full of flavor burger. Yummm!

Photos and Recipe (text adapted) from aapplemint.com