Mushroom-Farro Burgers with Tomato-Onion-Peanut Chutney

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Mushrooms are easily one of my favorite ingredients. They appear here frequently in dishes of Italian, Chinese, Thai, Spanish, Mexican, or American origin, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten something. When I was offered a shipment of a variety of fresh mushrooms from Kitchen Pride Mushroom Farms, I was quick to say yes. Their mushrooms are cultivated nearby in Gonzalez, Texas, and they’re what I always buy at the grocery store and at the farmers’ markets. It didn’t take long for me to locate a recipe with mushrooms that was on my to-try list. These burgers are from Masala Farm by Suvir Saran, and I’d marked the page when I first read the book. They take some time to make if you don’t happen to have any leftover, cooked farro or potatoes, but you could always space out the steps by prepping some things a day ahead. I also made the Tomato-Onion-Peanut Chutney from the book, and that could definitely be made in advance and refrigerated for a few days. The burgers get a crispy outside surface from the panko coating and being browned in olive oil, and the mushrooms and farro give them a nice, chewy texture inside. The chutney cooks down to a jam-like consistency, and it’s sweet, spicy, savory, and more complex and interesting than ketchup could ever hope to be. I only made half the chutney recipe to go with the burgers, but in the future, I’ll make the full quantity and store any extra in the freezer.

Speaking of storing things in the freezer, I should learn to cook extra farro and store it there too. For the burgers, you need to cook farro and peeled red potatoes separately, and then let them cool before adding the other ingredients. The mushrooms were finely chopped and cooked in butter with rosemary and thyme before being transferred to a large mixing bowl with the farro and potatoes. Then, finely chopped shallots were sauteed, and the pan was deglazed with white wine. The shallots were added to the mushroom mixture with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. The mixture was mashed together with a potato masher, and burgers were formed. Each burger was pressed into a plate of panko breadcrumbs on both sides and set aside. While these steps were happening, I was also simmering the chutney. The chutney was started by cooking curry leaves, dried chiles, mustard seeds, and cumin seeds in canola oil. Turmeric was added followed by onion and then peanuts. After a few minutes, chopped, fresh tomatoes, and I used cherry tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, curry powder, cayenne, and salt were added. The chutney simmered for about 40 minutes until thick. The burgers were browned in olive oil over medium heat until golden and warmed through.

These aren’t the kind of burgers you can throw on the grill, but they’re fantastic burgers just the same. They’re not sturdy enough to sit on or be flipped on the grill grate, and grilling wouldn’t result in the same crispy, browned surface you can only get from cooking in oil. They had great, savory flavor from the mushrooms, shallots, parmesan, and herbs. You could serve them on buns, but I chose to pair them with salad for a delightfully different take on burgers and ketchup.

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