Skip to main content

Before there was McDonalds

Bun Tikki by Bombay Foodie

And even before there was any kind of burger shop in Amritsar, there were street carts selling band tikki or aloo tikki in a bun. It's a dinner that brings back memories from decades ago.

For the tikki or the potato croquette, I boiled two medium sized potatoes. Peeled them when they were still warm and mashed them. Next, I cut off the sides of a slide of white bread, soaked the slice in water and squeezed it dry. I added the bread to the mashed potatoes along with salt and black pepper. Go easy on the spices here because we are going to add some zing later.

I divided the potatoes into four parts and shaped each into a round flat-ish tikki. Heated some oil in a non-stick pan and pan fried the tikkis till they were golden brown on both sides.

This takes 4-5 minutes so while the tikkis were cooking, I split two burger buns in half and toasted them. Also thinly sliced a small onion. The recipe assumes that you have tamarind chutney and green (cilantro) chutney tucked away in the fridge already but write in if you would like my recipes.

To assemble, spread tamarind chutney on the bun. Arrange two tikkis on top, add some sliced onions and sprinkle the fiery green chutney. Top with the other half of the bun, squish it closed and time travel to your ten year old self.
Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
I have to agree, the home made Indian ones are the best :)
July 23, 2011 at 2:00 AM
notyet100 said…
This remind me of childhood days :)
July 23, 2011 at 5:32 AM
My Unfinished Life said…
interesting..i had something similar in ahmedabad, called dabeli , its essentially the good old burger made indian style by street side thellas, spicy tangy and totally fun!!
July 23, 2011 at 9:39 PM
PepperGinger said…
Simran,

Can you share the chutney recipes with me?

Thanks,
Smitha
July 26, 2011 at 4:01 PM
Unknown said…
That burger looks pretty delicious. I prefer our homemade burgers to McD and KFC too!
July 26, 2011 at 4:38 PM
Joyti said…
Yum yum! This looks perfect, and MILES better than McDonalds, for sure!
July 27, 2011 at 3:19 PM
Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said…
Hey dear first time here..but I think I know u ...u hv a bful blog with stunning pics..wonder how I missed it...
Anyways would love to hear a word from u too...
this looks totally delicious ..any leftovers pls.?..
Homemade burgers r the best....
Following u..
Sanyukta
http://creativesanyukta.blogspot.com/
July 27, 2011 at 7:31 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Announcing AWED : Britain

Before I ate my first Italian wood fired pizza, before I went to that swanky Japanese sushi bar for the first time, or the neighborhood Chinese joint, the first non-Indian cuisine I encountered was British. Not real food, mind you, but the tempting, oh so delicious descriptions in my favorite novels. From Enid Blyton to Jane Austen to P.G. Wodehouse, every favorite character in every favorite novel seems to have food on their mind. Yes, British food gets ridiculed a lot. But forget their main course dishes for now, and think of the full English breakfast and the elegant afternoon teas. Then try imagining the world without cucumber sandwiches or potato chips and you will realize you can't do without British food. Which is why when I saw that DK was looking for hosts for her monthly event AWED (A Worldly Epicurean's Delight) and there has never been a British AWED, I promptly signed up. The rules are simple really: Make any vegetarian or vegan British dish (eggs are
25 comments
Read more

Mystery Fruit

This only happened a few times every year, just when the rainy season kicked in. A street hawker will come by, straw basket on head. He will yell "kaul chapni" and I will run out to buy a bundle of these. Stuck together like flowers, they looked like a bouquet. Every hole contains a little fruit. You break out the package, peel the tiny fruit that pops out and eat it. Done slowly, it can take you an hour to eat an head. Or did, when I was about 12 years old. That was the last time I saw this fruit. I've never seen it again, didn't even know what it was called or where it came from. Three weeks back, Vikram Doctor wrote about a store in Khar that sells Sindhi foods. He described this fruit and I knew it came from my vivid childhood memories. And finally, I knew we were talking about lotus fruit. Now talk about coincidences. Last weekend, I was passing by a lane in Bandra and for the first time in many, many years I saw the straw basket filled with my mytery fru
14 comments
Read more

Aloo Paranthas

In all these years of blogging, I've somehow never managed to talk about aloo paranthas, the potato stuffed flatbread that's a standard breakfast in North India. Possibly because they are such a staple in our home, I found there wouldn't be enough interest in the recipe. But I've also realised over time that my mom's recipe is unique, using a combination of flavours and spices that make these paranthas delicious. But that's not the only reason for this post. I also wanted to tell you about a super cool party and some ways we found to make aloo paranthas even better and believe it or not, healthier. The party in question was hosted by Rushina at her cooking studio a few months back. For a while now, Rushina has been talking about the merits of cling film, parchment and something called cooking foil made by Asahi Kasei. Because we won't believe that you can really cook without oil but using science, she invited a bunch of us over for a potluck lunch.
1 comment
Read more