Paneer Burgers with Quick Pickle and Cilantro-Mint Mayo. These burgers are basically giant paneer pakoras on a bun ... dressed up and completely hedonistic!
Originally Posted May 9, 2013. Updated 10/23/2022
While that in itself isn't anything special - my FB news feed has been FLOODED with dinner pics, since coming home from this MasterChef adventure - man, that photo was the stuff that dreams are made of.
Well, most of her photos are - they always have everyone drooling - but this really stood out to me.
It was a burger that featured not a meat patty, but a big chunk of paneer that had been breaded with corn flakes!
"Paneer Burger! Fried paneer on a garlic roll with cabbage, carrot, and a sweet and spicy tamarind chutney…accompanied by sweet potato fries and curried ketchup!"
The idea of just frying a big cheese slice as a burger just seemed so hedonistic, it kind of made me giddy to think about it.
While I don't usually get like that over something so vegetarian, I LOVE Indian food in general.
I have some really amazing burger recipes on this site already -
Apple Chicken Burgers with Basil & Gouda
Juicy Goosey Burger
Moroccan Spiced Lamb Burgers with Pea Hummus, Goat Cheese, and Beets
Spinach Feta Salmon Burgers
Tandoori Spiced Chicken Burgers with Mango
Vegetarian Chorizo Burgers with Grilled Poblano & Cilantro Pesto
... and this definitely seemed like a great excuse to add to that list!
The Spicy Paneer Burger
So, I thought about which direction I'd want to go with it.
I decided that, rather than bread crumbs or cornflake breading, my crispy paneer burger would be a giant version of my Paneer Pakora.
So, I’d cut my brick of the Indian cheese into a paneer fillet, coat it with a spiced chickpea and rice batter (inherently gluten-free, mind you!), and fry it up into a crispy paneer patty.
I definitely wanted to lean in on Indian flavors!
.
So, rather than using my Cilantro Mint Chutney with it, I'd make a mayo based on that idea, for a creamier texture.
Because I wasn’t using a spicy mayo, I wanted to bring a punch of flavor to the burger in another way, so I topped it off with a mess of quick pickled veggies.
This brought a splash of color, brightness, and acidity!
My husband claims "I could eat that again and again!", and that it ranks right up there with my Apple Chicken Burgers with Basil and Gouda.
Given how completely nuts he is about THOSE.. that's saying something!
So freaking good. I hope you’ll love these Paneer burgers as much as we do - happy cooking!
About my Inspiration....
Duckie is ALL kinds of awesome, even beyond her cooking. She was one of the first people I met in LA, very friendly, outgoing, hilarious, and .. inclusive.
On a personal note - she even publicly ripped a bully a new one on my behalf!
I mean... in a spectacular fashion. I don't think I've ever had anyone do that for me.
That whole ... adventure... has been filled with unique experiences for me, but I digress - Duckie is awesome. That is all. 🙂
Ingredients
While this paneer burger recipe takes a bit of a laundry list of ingredients to make, most of them are simple ingredients that you should be able to find in any grocery store.
A few notes:
Paneer
Paneer is a fresh variety of cheese from India ... essentially Indian cottage cheese.
Rather than loose curds, it’s in brick form - this makes it easy to cut into strips, cubes, or burger patties for battering and frying!
You can use store bought or homemade paneer, it’s all good.
Can’t find any?
In a pinch, can use halloumi cheese. Much like paneer, it also holds its shape when heated, rather than melting and oozing like most cheese varieties.
The Flours
As with my traditional pakora recipes, these paneer burgers use a mix of Chickpea Flour / Garbanzo Bean Flour, and White Rice Flour, rather than a wheat based all purpose flour.
You can generally find these flours in larger grocery stores, in the gluten free section - also in the Indian section, if there is one.
They’re also common ingredients sold in Indian or South Asian grocery stores.
When shopping in an Indian grocery store, you’re more likely to see the bean flour labelled as besan, besan flour, or gram flour. It’s all the same!
Indian Spices
As a base recipe, you’ll need some hot Curry Powder and Coriander Powder.
That said, there is a LOT of room to customize the spices in the batter!
I’ll usually add 1-2 tablespoon of Ginger Garlic Paste to the batter, for starters.
If you’d like, you can add some Carom Seeds, Cumin Seeds, and/or Fennel Seeds to add a bit of visual interest, texture, AND flavour.
When we’re looking to add some heat, I’ll toss in a bit of Red Chilli Powder, Kashmiri Chili Powder, and/or Cayenne Pepper.
Really, make the batter as-is, or do whatever you want - it’s really adaptable!
Produce
Most of the fresh produce in this recipe is used to make the quick pickled vegetables topping:
Red Bell Pepper
Jalapeno Pepper (or green chillies)
Green Onion
Carrot
But you’ll also need some fresh cilantro and fresh mint. Both get used in the mayo, and there is also some fresh cilantro in the batter.
Oil for Frying
9 times out of 10, I’ll use vegetable oil for deep frying of any kind. It’s cheap, easy to find, neutral flavour, and works well.
That said, any oil with a high smoke point and neutral - or at least acceptable - flavour will work for frying these pakora burger patties.
Canola oil, sunflower oil, and peanut oil are all great options.
Burger Buns
You’re going to need a couple of buns to serve these paneer burgers on.
I like to go with a relatively neutral bun - plain, garlic, maybe sesame seeds - to really let the flavours of the burger ingredients shine.
Because the rest of the recipe is inherently gluten free, you can make gluten free paneer burgers by simply using a gluten free bun!
Everything Else
Rounding out this recipe, you will need:
Mayonnaise
Apple Cider Vinegar
Baking Powder
Granulated Sugar
Salt
... I just don’t really have any commentary on these few ingredients!
More Indian Recipes....
Love Indian cuisine? Be sure to check out these other fabulous Indian - and Indian inspired - easy recipes!
Aloo Pakora
Butter Chicken Recipe
Chicken Pakora
Chicken Shahi Korma Recipe
Cilantro Chicken Recipe
Corn Pakora
Cucumber Raita
Gobi Pakora
Mango Lassi Popsicles Recipe
Mixed Vegetable Pakoras
Mushroom Pakora
Onion Pakora
Palak Pakoda
Paneer Burgers Recipe
Paneer Pakora
Samosa Recipe
Tandoori Spiced Chicken Burger with Mango Recipe
Specialty Diet Versions
Looking for gluten-free and/or low carb Indian recipes*? Here are a few from my other blogs:
Gluten-Free Samosas
Keto Chicken Biryani
Low Carb Butter Chicken
Keto Chicken Korma
Low Carb Shrimp Curry
* Note: Most of my Indian recipes are inherently gluten free - so not included in the “specialty diet” section.
Share the Love!
Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you post it to Bluesky, be sure to tag us - @CelebrationGen. We're also on Pinterest, so you can save all your favourite recipes to a board!
Also, be sure to subscribe to my free monthly email newsletter, so you never miss out on any of my nonsense. Well, the published nonsense, anyway!
Finally, if you love this recipe, please consider leaving a star rating and/or a comment below, and maybe even sharing this post on social media!
Paneer Burger with Quick Pickle and Cilantro-Mint Mayo
Ingredients
Cilantro Mint Mayo
- ⅓ Cup Mayonnaise
- ¼ Cup Fresh Cilantro finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon Fresh Mint finely chopped
Quick Pickled Veggies
- ½ Red Bell Pepper Seeded and thinly sliced
- ½-1 Jalapeno Pepper Seeded and thinly sliced
- 1 Green Onion Thinly sliced on a long diagonal
- 1 Small carrot Peeled
- ¼ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Granulated Sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
Paneer Burgers
- Oil For deep frying
- ½ Cup Garbanzo / Chickpea Flour
- 2 tablespoon White Rice Flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon Hot Curry Powder
- ½ teaspoon Coriander Powder
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- pinch Baking Powder
- 1 tablespoon Finely Chopped Cilantro
- ½ Cup Water
- 12 oz Brick of Paneer Room temperature
- ¼ cup Additional garbanzo flour
Assembly
- 2 Burger buns of choice Gluten free if needed
Instructions
Cilantro Mint Mayo
- Mix together mayo, cilantro, and mint. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
Quick Pickled Veggies
- Place sliced peppers and green onions into a bowl.
- Using a vegetable peeler, peel long strips of carrot into the same bowl, until you have as much carrot as you would like (I used about as much carrot as I did red pepper).
- In a separate bowl, whisk together vinegar, sugar, and salt. Pour over the vegetables, tossing to coat well.
- Cover and set aside.
Paneer Burgers
- Start heating your oil to 375F – you’ll want at least 2-3″ of oil in your pot or deep fryer. (Due to the weight / thicknss of the paneer, I prefer to deep fry -rather than shallow fry - the patties)
- In a large bowl, combine flours, spices, salt, baking powder, and cilantro. Add the ½ cup of water, stir well to form a thick batter. All batter to sit for 5 minutes or so, to soften the bean flour.
- Slice your paneer into two “patties”. Sizing will depend on what shape your paneer loaf is in – we got two square patties, and a couple of extra sticks as a “side”.
- Toss patties with additional garbanzo flour, then dredge in the batter.
- Carefully transfer paneer patties to the preheated oil. Fry for a few minutes on each side, until golden brown.
- Use a slotted metal spoon to transfer fried paneer to paper towels, to absorb excess oil.
Assembly
- Split the buns, toasting if desired.
- Spread cilantro-mint mayo on bottom half of each bun.
- Top with burger, and a generous helping of quick pickled veggies.
- Crown with top bun, enjoy!
Nutrition
More Sandwich Recipes
Love sandwiches, or just want some new ideas for your lunches? We've got you covered!
Apple Chicken Burgers with Basil & Gouda
Buffalo Chicken Buns
Convention Sloppy Joes
Copycat White Castle Burgers
Fancy Tea Sandwiches
Juicy Goosey Burger
Moroccan Spiced Lamb Burgers with Pea Hummus, Goat Cheese, and Beets
Muffaletta Sandwich Recipe
Pesto Chicken Panini
Reuben Buns
Spinach Feta Salmon Burgers
Spinach Hand Pies
Tandoori Spiced Chicken Burgers with Mango
Ultimate Lobster Rolls
Vegetarian Chorizo Burgers with Grilled Poblano & Cilantro Pesto
Vegetarian Donairs (and Vegan Donair Meat)
Wild Rice & Mushroom Polenta Sandwich
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