Indian Eggplant Turkey Burger

       Indian is by far my favorite cuisine. I get so excited when I meet indian people and ask them for their secret family recipes. The ones I’ve met lately are a bit americanized, so unfortunately they don’t have all of maa-ta-jee’s recipes memorized. I honestly think I scared my new buddy that I made last week at 711 around the corner. When I found out he was indian I had 20 questions for him before I realized that I was holding up the line. That’s when he suggested I come back on saturday when his mom was working, which was two days ago, oops. As I explained before, I wasn’t in the best condition to leave the house this weekend. But there is always next!  

I was in the mood for Indian food and figured tonight was just as good as any to attempt my first indian dish. I’ve always hesitated because I know that to make an authentic Indian meal, it would take all day (and more) and a lot more spices then I own... Baby steps. The burger turned out great, the eggplant could have been sliced thiner and  feta would have been a better choice for cheese. I made curry cauliflower on the side but didn't love it enough to post the recipe, I’ll have to work on that one. My little $35 food processor came in handy tonight. First, I used it for mincing the onion, then I threw the mint, cilantro and garlic in and cut the prep time by about 5 mins. I topped the burger with the left-over Yogurt Avocado dip I made last night for the sweet potato fries.  Oh, and this was all done in my toaster oven on “Grill”. I found out the hard way that the propane tank under the BBQ was out. It turned out fine but I do love those grill marks you get from the real deal.  

1 lb. Ground Turkey

1 Onion, minced

1/4 c. Mint, finely chopped

1/4 c. Cilantro, finely chopped

2 Garlic Cloves, minced
1/2 tea. Sea Salt
1/2 tea. Pepper

1/2 tea. Ground Ginger

1/2 tea. Turmeric

1/2 tea. Paprika

1/2 tea. Cumin

1/4 tea. Cinnamon 

1 Eggplant, cut into 8 slices 

4 Slices Provolone Cheese or Feta 

1/4 Onion, thinly sliced

• In large bowl add Turkey, Onion, Mint, Cilantro, Garlic and Spices and mix well with (clean) hands. 
• Even out mixture in bowl and separate into fours by drawing a X with your finger (just an idea) 
• Shape into 4 patties
• Place patties and Eggplant onto grill and cook for 10 mins on each side
• Top patties with Cheese and Onions. 

Serves 4

Gluten Free, No Refined Sugar, No Butter