RECIPE: Jamie Oliver's brilliant bhaji burger

WITH CORIANDER YOGHURT, MANGO CHUTNEY, AND
CRUNCHY POPPADOM SPRINKLE

Serves 4 | 40 minutes

1 red onion
2 cloves of garlic
2 fresh green chillies
1 big bunch of fresh coriander (60g)
75g paneer cheese
200g butternut squash
4cm piece of ginger
100g plain flour
1 lime
2 teaspoons rogan josh curry paste
Olive oil
75g natural yoghurt
1 baby gem lettuce
4 soft burger buns
2 uncooked poppadoms
Mango chutney

1.  Peel and very finely slice the onion and garlic, deseed and finely slice the chillies, finely chop the coriander stalks, reserving the leaves, then place in a bowl. Coarsely grate in the paneer and butternut squash (deseed if needed), then peel and finely grate in the ginger. Sprinkle in the flour and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper, then squeeze over the lime juice. Add the curry paste and 50ml of water, then mix.

2.  Drizzle two tablespoons of oil into a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat, then roughly divide the mixture into four portions and place in the pan, flattening each out into rough rounds, about the width of the buns (don’t worry about wispy edges, it’ll mean bonus crunch later!). Fry for 16 minutes or until golden and cooked through, turning every few minutes. Meanwhile, pound most of the coriander leaves to a paste in a pestle and mortar, muddle in the yoghurt, then season to taste. Finely shred the lettuce, halve the burger buns (warm first, if you like), and puff up the dry poppadoms in the microwave for 30 seconds each.

3.  Divide the coriander yoghurt between the bases and inside bun-lids, then break up the poppadoms and sprinkle over. Place a crispy bhaji burger on top of each bun-base, add a dollop of mango chutney, a few coriander leaves and the lettuce, then pop the tops on and press down lightly.

4.  Serve with a cold beer and extra fresh chilli if you love a bit of heat (like me!).

You can have a lot of fun with this recipe by mixing up not only the veg you choose, but also the kind of curry paste you use.