Smash Burger (Crispy-Edged Beef Burger)
اسمیش برگر (کرکرے کناروں والا بیف برگر)
Smash burgers are the burger trend that took over food streets from Lahore to Karachi, and they're perfect for home cooks because they need nothing but a heavy pan. A ball of fatty beef mince is pressed flat onto a smoking-hot , so the edges brown into a lacy, crunchy crust while the middle stays juicy. Two thin patties with cheese melted between them make a better burger than one thick one, and they cook in about 3 minutes.
- ⏱ Total: 30 min
- Prep: 15 min
- Cook: 15 min
- Easy
- Serves 4
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Divide the cold mince into 8 loose balls of about 75 g. Don't knead or season them yet; handle as little as possible so the burgers stay tender. Keep them in the fridge until the pan is hot.
Mix the mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard and chopped pickle for the burger sauce. Butter the cut sides of the buns and toast them on the over medium heat until golden. Set aside.
Turn the heat to high and let the dry tawa or cast-iron pan get smoking hot, about 3 minutes. Put 2–3 balls on, top each with a few onion slices and a square of baking paper, and smash down hard with a flat spatula or heavy pan to about 5 mm thick. Season the tops generously with salt and pepper.
Cook without moving for 2 minutes, until the edges are dark brown and crisp. Scrape under each patty with the spatula, keeping the crust attached, and flip. Lay a cheese slice on each and cook 1 minute more.
Stack two cheesy patties on each bun base spread with sauce, add lettuce, tomato and pickle slices, more sauce on the top bun, and serve immediately.
Kitchen notes
Fat is essential: lean mince smashed thin turns dry. Ask the butcher to mince beef with some fat, or mix 500 g lean mince with 100 g beef fat (charbi).
Smash only once, in the first 30 seconds. Pressing again later squeezes out the juices.
Open a window or turn on the extractor: a smoking-hot pan is what creates the crust, but it does smoke.
Why smash?
A thick burger patty on a home stove usually ends up grey and overcooked outside before the middle is done. Smashing solves this. Pressing a ball of mince thin onto a very hot pan gives the maximum contact with the metal, so a large area browns fast. That browning, the same reaction that gives its flavour, is where the deep, savoury taste comes from. Thin patties also cook in about 3 minutes, so the inside stays juicy.
The right mince and the right pan
Use mince with about one fifth fat. Lean mince will taste dry. Keep it cold and handle it as little as possible. A heavy iron or cast-iron pan is ideal because it holds heat when the cold meat lands on it. Non-stick pans shouldn’t be heated empty to smoking point, so use iron or steel.
Building the burger
Two thin patties with cheese melted on each are better than one thick one. Toasted buttered buns stay crisp under the sauce. Thin onion slices pressed into the patty as it smashes caramelise into the crust, a trick from American diners.
Serving
Serve with masala fries or loaded fries, coleslaw and a cold drink. For a chicken burger, see the zinger or the lighter grilled chicken burger. More sauces are in our garlic mayo recipe.
Questions people ask
Can I use chicken or mutton mince?
Mutton mince with some fat works well. Chicken mince is too lean and sticky for smashing; make chicken patties instead, as in our grilled chicken burger.
Why season after smashing?
Salt mixed into mince early draws out protein and makes the patty dense and sausage-like. Seasoning the surface keeps it loose and juicy.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 720
- Protein
- 40 g
- Fat
- 46 g
- Carbs
- 34 g
