Garlic roll hamburgers with matchstick chips

Let me explain what I mean by garlic rolls here: this is not your standard long, narrow garlic loaf, but a hamburger bun that’s been slathered with garlic butter. You should be able to find some at a bakery, otherwise fashion your own by smearing the cut sides of hamburger buns with garlic butter.

The hamburgers contain the traditional sliced tomato, but rather than use raw onion I fried slices of it. I spiced the beef mince with cumin and coriander seeds, as well as cayenne pepper, chutney and Worcestershire sauce.

It’s important to chop the onion as finely as you can so that you don’t have big pieces of onion in the patties.

I love matchstick chips, and these are cooked in an air fryer. The only difference between these and standard chips is how very thinly they are cut.

Tony’s garlic roll hamburgers with matchstick chips

(Makes 4)

Ingredients

4 garlic buns, bought

750g beef mince

1 medium onion, chopped very finely

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp crushed coriander seeds

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 Tbsp Mrs H.S. Ball’s chutney

Salt and pepper to taste

1 slice white bread soaked in a little milk and squeezed out

Flour to coat

1 large egg

Cooking oil for the onions and garlic and for frying the patties 

Plus:

Tomato slices

1 sliced onion, fried

2 Tbsp each mayonnaise and tomato sauce, mixed

For the matchstick chips:

3 Tbsp cooking oil

3 potatoes, peeled and sliced into very thin chips

Salt

Method

Sauté very finely chopped onion with cumin seeds and crushed coriander seeds until softened. All liquid must cook away. Leave to cool.

In a bowl, mix the beef mince, cooked onion-garlic, ½ tsp cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce, chutney, and salt and pepper to taste.

Soak the bread in enough milk to cover, then squeeze out as much of the milk as you can. Work this into the mince with clean hands.

Add some flour to a bowl and flour your hands well. Take big clumps of the minced mixture and pat into rounds, then flatten them out and dip them in flour on all sides. Place them on a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Heat a little oil in a heavy pan. Fry the patties — straight from the fridge — on both sides until well browned and cooked through the way you like them. I prefer them a little “under”.

Fry the sliced onion until golden in a little oil.

To assemble, cut through the buns and toast them lightly in a dry pan, on both sides. Smear the inside halves with butter. Smear half of the tomato-mayo on the lower half of the bun. Place a patty on and smear the remainder of the tomato-mayo on top. Add a slice of tomato and some of the fried onion and top with the other half of the bun.

For the matchstick chips:

Peel the potatoes. 

Hold each one on its side edge, and slice through as neatly as you can at 5mm intervals, all the way through. You now have a whole potato in slices.

Divide it into two, place each pile of slices flat side down, and slice through lengthwise to create matchstick chips.

Place them on kitchen paper and press down more kitchen paper on top, lightly.

Remove the paper. Add a little cooking oil to a bowl and add the chips. Toss to coat.

Preheat an air fryer to 180°C.

Add the chips and cook for 15 minutes at 180°C.

Turn the heat up to 200°C and cook for 10 minutes.

Shake the basket every couple of minutes throughout.

Check that they’re done (eat one) and remove from the machine if so.

Season with salt. DM

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award, in 2021 and 2023.

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.

This dish is photographed on a plate by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.