These deliciously spiced patties, loosely based on the turkey burgers from Ottolenghi’s wonderful Jerusalem cookbook, are light, bright and tasty. They’re wonderful both warm or at room temperature; perfect picnic food or for school lunchboxes.
The minted sumac yoghurt sauce is also gorgeous with grilled vegetables or fish.
Chicken and Zucchini Patties with Minted Sumac Yoghurt
Ingredients
- 500 grams organic chicken mince
- 2 cups (200 grams) zucchini , coarsely grated
- 3 green onions , finely sliced
- 1 large organic egg
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp chilli flakes or cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp mint leaves , finely chopped
- 3 tbsp coriander leaves , finely chopped
- 3 tbsp olive oil
Minted Sumac Yoghurt Sauce
- 200 grams (3/4 cup) thick natural yoghurt
- 2 tbsp mint leaves , finely chopped
- 1 tsp sumac
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Squeeze some of the liquid out of the grated zucchini.
- Combine all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl, except for the olive oil or butter. Mix together very well and form into 12 patties.
- Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large frypan over a low heat and gently fry the burgers in batches for about 10 minutes on each side, until cooked through and lightly browned. Add more olive oil as needed.
- Meanwhile, make the sauce by stirring all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.
- Serve the patties warm or at room temperature with a salad and the sauce on the side.
Optional Ideas:
- Roll the patties in sesame seeds before cooking them.
- Make burgers by wrapping a patty in a large lettuce leaf with sliced avocado, sauerkraut and the yoghurt sumac sauce.
- Serve the patties with tatziki instead of minted sumac yoghurt.
- You can leave out the chilli flakes or cayenne pepper if cooking for kids of those who don't like spicy food.
- Make a double batch of patties and freeze some. They defrost very well.
I used boneless chicken thighs cause we like dark meat. So smaller portions but most definitely a keeper.
This is gonna be perfect for holiday dinners with the family. Thanks for this!
This might sound silly but what could I replace the mint with? Extra coriander? Or another herb? (I absolutely hate mint but the recipe looks so good I thought I might be able to tweak it)
I would try coriander or just leave the mont out. I hope that works.
Delicious!! Definitely a keeper. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
Thank you so much for letting us know Vicky!