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What inspires you to create new recipes? For me, it is usually one of two things. First, I think of who is coming over for dinner and what would they like and how adventuresome are they. Second, I think of how I can repurpose ingredients I have or leftovers I have in the fridge. This Indian Turkey Burger picks up on both these ideas.

Indian Turkey Burger
I was having an out of town colleague over for dinner. She is Indian by birth. So initially, I was going to make one of my recipes using my yellow curry sauce and my masala lentils recipe. Then, I thought better about it. There is no way I could create a dish that would be better than she remembers her mother making for her. Plan B – what could I the yellow curry sauce with that was Indian in design but created in a way that she had never seen before.
Voila! Create a fusion dish that plays on the all American burger with an Indian twist. A true mix of cultures. The turkey burger was flavored with a plethora of Indian spices. I mixed my ground turkey with coriander, cumin, turmeric, madras curry, cilantro, lemongrass, garlic and ginger. The burger by itself was super flavorful and very Indian. I added mayonnaise and a little bit of coconut milk to the yellow curry sauce and we had a really rich sauce/aioli to serve with the burger. Reality is, the aioli was so good that we kept adding more to the burgers and dipping our Indian spiced fries (recipe coming in another post) in the aioli.


- 1 1/4 pound ground turkey
- 1 tablespoon madras curry
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 1 tablespoon ginger stir-in-paste
- 1 tablespoon garlic stir-in-paste
- 1 tablespoon lemongrass stir-in-paste
- 1 cup Mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup yellow curry paste
- 3 tablespoons coconut milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 5 brioche buns
- 16 ounces of red and green shredded cabbage
- 1 small red bell pepper, sliced into long pieces
- 1 bunch of fresh basil, shredded
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- Mix together the curry, turmeric, cumin, coriander, cilantro and ground turkey.
- Form into 5 patties.
- Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Combine the mayo, curry paste, coconut milk and lemon juice. Mix well.
- Combine the dressing and toss into the slaw ingredients. Set aside.
- Heat your outdoor grill on medium high heat.
- Add the burgers and cook approximately 6 minutes per side.
- Let rest for a couple of minutes.
- Take the bun and top with a generous helping of the yellow curry aioli
- Add the burger.
- Top with a generous amount of slaw.
- Serve and enjoy!

Ingredients
The spice mixture, the meat added and the burgers formed.

Spice Mixture

Meat Added to Spice Mixture

Burgers Formed
The yellow curry aioli ingredients and in the bowl before mixing.

Yellow Curry Aioli

Yellow Curry Pre-Mix
The Indian Turkey Burger plated.

Indian Turkey Burger Plated
What a great idea!
Thx Patty. It was really tasty too.
I absolutely love the idea of incorporating Indian flavors into a burger! This sounds absolutely delicious. Loving those spices 🙂
Thx Nic.
This is different, something I’ve never seen before. Brilliant!
I love the use of the word brilliant!
Outstanding flavor profile!
Perfectly stated. Thx.
Looks great, perfect with all the different spices!
Thx Florian.