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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.
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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
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