Spiced Middle Eastern Lamb Burger with homemade raw tahini

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Meatball mix

1. 1
   Mix the ground meat with the onion, garlic, parsley, cumin, paprika, turmeric, salt and black pepper until evenly combined.
2. 2
   Knead the mixture 5 minutes, until smooth and sticky.
3. 3
   Divide the mixture into 4 flat round patties.

For the Tahini sauce

1. 4
   Grind the sesame seeds in a powerful blender about 3 minutes, until smooth paste forms.

   Blender

   💡At first the sesame looks like dry crumbs: keep grinding, scraping down the sides, and after a few minutes it releases its oil and turns liquid.

   💡In a food processor, grind in short pulses and check between pulses: it's easy to go from coarse to paste. (Sesame for tahini, on the other hand, is ground continuously.)
2. 5
   Taste and adjust the seasoning.
3. 6
   Mix the tahini and lemon juice and season with salt.
4. 7
   Gradually add cold water while stirring, until the sauce is smooth, pale and pourable.

   💡When you add the first water, the tahini thickens and looks like dough: that's fine. Keep adding water and stirring, and it loosens into a smooth sauce.
5. 8
   Heat a grill pan to medium-high heat and grease lightly.

   StoveGrill pan

   💡A very thin layer of fat, with the excess wiped off with paper towel: too much fat gives spots and fried edges.
6. 9
   Grill the meatballs 4–5 minutes per side, until they are browned outside and done to your liking.

   Stove

   💡Don't press the patties with a spatula or flip them more than once: the juices run out and the patty dries out or falls apart. It releases from the pan once the underside is browned.
7. 10
   Serve hot with the tahini sauce.