Gluten Free Spicy Lamb Burgers

It's BBQ time again, well it is if you can find a long enough sunny spell amongst our crappy rainy weather to get your bbq lit. We have given up for now, and are doing our burgers under the grill. Home made burgers are yummy, you know whats in them, and they are easy peasy. Here is my recipe for some spicy Moroccan style lamb burgers. This makes 4 burgers, two of which make a main meal for one person.

organic lamb mince 400gms
red onion 1, chopped finely
red chili 1/2, chopped finely
fresh coriander a handful, chopped
fresh mint 2tsp, chopped
cumin seeds 2tsps
fenugreek seeds 1/4 tsp
fennel seeds 1/4 tsp
coriander seeds 1/2 tsp
free range egg 1/2 beaten
garlic 1 clove, grated
lemon 1/2 zested
salt and pepper

Grind up your whole seeds in a pestle and mortar or in a spice grinder. I got this one by Oliver Hemming in red for xmas which is lovely. Then put your mince and everything else in a big bowl, add a good pinch of salt and pepper and squish it up with your hands till its all mixed up and sticking together.

If you are worried about the seasoning, make a little mini ball of the mix and fry in a pan to taste it. I would just go for it, you cant really go wrong, and people can always add more salt if they want it. So, divide the mix into 4 even balls and squish with your hands into patties, don't make too thick or you wont cook them through.

Preheat your grill really nice and hot and cook quickly for about 4 minutes on each side, they will be nice and brown and crispy on the outside and squishy in the middle. Don't be tempted to cook slowly on a low heat or they will just dry out, fast and hot will give you a juicy burger. As my husband said, don't be scared of a little pink in the middle, as long as its hot in the middle its good to go. Rest for a few mins while you prep your gluten free buns and things, and then enjoy!

I serve this with a salsa made from tomatoes, coriander, mint, chili, olive oil, wine vinegar and a bit of garlic. Tatziki is nice with them too, but if I don't have any yogurt I just bung some chopped cucumber in the salsa and serve with some mayo instead.

I personally don't eat these in buns anyway, I just have the burgers, some salad, salsa and home made chips on the side. Nom nom nom nom.

While eating your burgers and thinking of me, why not join my new google groups thingy? It's a discussion forum, and I'm hoping people can post food ideas and reviews and things on it. Its over here and there is a link to it over there in the right hand column of this site. I'm wondering if I could run some sort of request thing on it, where you ask me to make something you miss, like apple crumble, and I see what I can bash up in the kitchen!