Introduction to Aloo Tikki Burger:

Who said plant-based burgers have to be boring? I’m pretty anyone who thinks so must not have tried an aloo tikki burger. For those you who are plant-based but hate the taste or idea of faux-meat, you’ll love this potato and paneer-based burger. It’s made entirely from whole veggies and is much cheaper to make than spending $10 bucks on a couple of beyond burgers.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a good faux-meat burger every once in a while. But it’s undeniable that they’re pricey and not something that can be easily created at home. That’s why I love this aloo tikki burger. The ingredients are a bit more accessible and not too expensive. Plus, the potatoes and paneer are carb-heavy so these burgers will keep you nice and full too! We stan carbs on this page.

Breakdown of the Ingredients:

There are five primary components to this dish: (1) the burger, (2) the cilantro chutney, (3) the tamarind chutney, (4) the pickled onions, and (5) green chillies soaked in vinegar. While these toppings are optional, I’d say they’re pretty critical to bringing this whole dish together.

Aloo Tikki Burger

The burger is pretty simple to form. It’s just gold potatoes mixed with loads of spices and a little oil. This tikki is super delicious even on its own for that reason! You can make it plain too, but I like to make it a little fancier by stuffing the center with some paneer and shredded cheese. This not only adds some extra flavor, but some extra protein too. If you’re vegan, feel free to use a plant-based shredded cheese blend only or keep the tikki totally plain.

Gold potatoes
Oil
Salt
Cumin
Coriander powder
Red chili powder
Haldi
Garam masala
Amchur
Chaat masala
Paneer
Cheese blend

Cilantro Chutney

I have a few variations of green chutney that I often make and this is one of my favorites. It’s super simple and is just made with cilantro, mint, yogurt, and some spices. It’s also totally customizable. If you want to add more tanginess you can also add some lemon juice. And, the spices can be adjusted to taste as well.

Yogurt
Cilantro
Mint
Jalapeño
Salt
Cumin powder
Amchur powder
Garlic powder
Ginger powder

Pickled Onions

You can use regular or kashmiri red chili powder for these pickled onions. However, the other ingredients are pretty non-negotiable. Red onions are naturally a bit sweeter than yellow onions so they work best in this dish. And chaat masala is a blend of spices that’s incredibly difficult to re-create from scratch. If you don’t have any, trust me, it’ll be worth the investment. You won’t only be using it for this recipe. You can also sprinkle it over your sandwiches, chips, fruits, and even fries!

Oil
Red onion
Lime
Chaat masala
Red chili powder

Tamarind Chutney

I’ve tried this recipe with both raw turbinado and plain white sugar. Both work incredibly well in this dish. Also, the star of the show here, besides the tamarind of course, are the roasted cumin seeds. This is definitely not a step you should skip because it makes such a noticeable difference in this chutney. I’ve tried it with plain old cumin powder and it’s just not as good in my opinion! Dry roasting the cumin seeds and then freshly grinding them gives such a unique and distinct flavor here.

Raw sugar
Roasted cumin
Salt
Red chili powder
Black pepper
Ginger powder
Garlic powder
Smoked paprika
Tamarind
Hot water

Green Chillies Soaked in Vinegar

Green chillies
White vinegar

Process + Keys to Success:

Aloo Tikki Burger

Boil your potatoes and mash them in a bowl
Mix in your oil and all of your spices until evenly combined
Form two round patties with your hands
Grab your shredded paneer and the cheese blend of your choice (I used pizza cheese blend) in a 1:1 ratio, and form a small patty by pressing everything together firmly with your hands. Make sure that this patty can fit between the two potato patties you just made.
Note: the amount of cheese and paneer you use is totally up to you! I just eyeballed it. Fit in as much or as little as you like.
Place the paneer patty in the middle of the two potato patties you just made, and press everything together to make one large aloo tikki burger!
Pop your burger into an airfryer at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes depending on how crispy you want it. If you’re doing more than one patty at once you can increase the cook time.

Cilantro Chutney

Toss all of your ingredients into a food processor until its smooth to create your chutney!

Pickled Onions

Sauté your onions in oil until they soften and then add in the juice of one lime
You will see the onions turn bright pink. Now you can add in your chaat masala and red chili powder and cook your onions until all of the lime juice has been absorbed.
Note: feel free to mess around with these ratios until you get the taste you like. You can increase or reduce the spice, tanginess, or saltiness by varying the amount of lime, chaat masala, and chili powder you use.

Tamarind Chutney

Break apart your tamarind into small pieces and soak it in boiling hot water for at least 30 minutes. The longer you soak it the better!
Squeeze out all of the pulp using a sieve. This part sometimes takes a lot of elbow grease – I often spend a good 5-10 minutes doing this step to make sure I’ve gotten all of the pulp out.
Note: You may need to soak your tamarind again in a tiny bit more water if you’re not getting out enough pulp.
Once you’ve strained all the pulp, just mix in your spices and sugar. I recommend starting with 2 cups of sugar and working your way up to 2.5 depending on the tartness of the tamarind.
Refrigerate your chutney overnight, and it should thicken up well.

Green Chillies Soaked in Vinegar

Simply chop your green chilies into slices and soak in white vinegar for at least 20 minutes.

More Recipes You’ll Love