Fish burgers with pickled daikon and tomato kasundi

Name: Fish burgers with pickled daikon and tomato kasundi
Ingredients: 1 cup Water; 80 g Caster sugar; ½ cup Rice wine vinegar, or cider vinegar; ½ Daikon, or 5 radishes, thinly sliced; ½ Red onions, thinly sliced; 300 g John dory fillets, or other white fish, filleted and deboned (Main); 100 g Plain flour; 2 Eggs; 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs; 1 dash Oil, for frying; 4 Brioche buns, store bought; 4 tsp Japanese mayonnaise; 1 bowl Tomato kasundi, store bought or home made (see recipe below); 1 tsp Mustard seeds; 1 tsp Cumin seeds; 2 Tbsp Canola oil; 2 cloves Garlic, minced; 1 knob Ginger, minced; 2 Chillies, use up to 3, chopped; 1 tsp Ground turmeric; 1 tsp Cayenne pepper; 1 tsp Salt; ½ cup White vinegar; 2 Tbsp Brown sugar; 10 Tomatoes, skinned and chopped (Main)

Tam West

Sid Sahrawat

Chef and restauranteur

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One of Hospobaby’s regular haunts is Burger Burger, where she always orders the kids’ fish burger. This week she recreated her favourite at home with Dad Sid Sahrawat. Zoya loved crumbing the fillets and learnt about pickling and preserving. Summer’s well-priced tomatoes also made it the perfect time to make tomato kasundi and they made enough to last us a few months. The pickled vegetables keep well in the fridge for a week: you can add them to salads and sandwiches.

For the fish burgers

1 cup	Water
80 g	Caster sugar
½ cup	Rice wine vinegar, or cider vinegar
½	Daikon, or 5 radishes, thinly sliced
½	Red onions, thinly sliced
300 g	John dory fillets, or other white fish, filleted and deboned (Main)
100 g	Plain flour
2	Eggs
1 cup	Panko breadcrumbs
1 dash	Oil, for frying
4	Brioche buns, store bought
4 tsp	Japanese mayonnaise
1 bowl	Tomato kasundi, store bought or home made (see recipe below)

Ingredients

1 tsp	Mustard seeds
1 tsp	Cumin seeds
2 Tbsp	Canola oil
2 cloves	Garlic, minced
1 knob	Ginger, minced
2	Chillies, use up to 3, chopped
1 tsp	Ground turmeric
1 tsp	Cayenne pepper
1 tsp	Salt
½ cup	White vinegar
2 Tbsp	Brown sugar
10	Tomatoes, skinned and chopped (Main)

Directions

To make the fish burgers

In a saucepan over medium heat combine water, caster sugar and vinegar. Mix and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for 20 minutes then leave to cool. Once cooled add the sliced daikon and onion. You can pickle the vegetables the night before to save time.
Cut the fish into four equal fillets. Get the little ones to help you create a crumbing station. Place the flour in a plate, whisk the eggs and put them in a wide bowl and put the panko crumbs in another wide bowl. First, dip each fish fillet in flour, dust off excess, then dip into the egg and the panko crumb to coat all sides. Repeat with all the fish.
Heat 1 cm of oil in a frying pan and fry the fish until golden and crispy on all sides. Warm the brioche buns in the oven at 180C for 5 minutes or toast them on the grill if you prefer.
Spread mayonnaise on the inside of the burger tops and tomato kasundi on the bases. Assemble burgers with the crumbed fish and pickled daikon and onions. Enjoy immediately.

To make the tomato kasundi

Roast mustard seeds and cumin seeds, then grind in a spice grinder.
In a big saucepan, heat the oil, add seeds, garlic, ginger, chillies, turmeric, cayenne and salt. Fry for 1 minute, add the vinegar, sugar and tomatoes and fry a further couple of minutes. Turn heat to very low and simmer for 1-1½ hours. Once chilled, store in sterilised jars for up to 2 months.

*“Hospo”, short for hospitality, is a term used regularly in the hospitality industry. Chand and Sid Sahrawat own the restaurants, Sidart and Cassia, so their daughter Zoya has been part of the hospitality industry from day one, hence the term “hospobaby”.