Arabian Pita Burger

Make the Pita dough first, if you are making it homemade:

1. Method below. You can use store-bought OR Regular burger buns, if you prefer.

Make the Chicken Patties and allow them to chill before grilling:  

1. Add the minced chicken to a bowl large enough to mix all the ingredients.
2. Soak the bread in milk. Squeeze out the milk well and then crumble the moist bread into the chicken.
3. Add all the other ingredients listed for the 'Burger Patties'. Mix this well using your hands, making sure that all the ingredients are incorporated evenly into the minced chicken.
4. Divide the mixture into 8 rough portions. Then press each ball directly onto a tray lined with parchment paper to shape into patties. Here, make sure the centre of the patty is slightly more pressed than the edges. This is so they don't shrink while grilling them.
5. Place the tray in the freezer, for a while till the patties are just till the patties have stiffened a bit, not totally frozen.

Make the Black Pepper Mayonnaise: (here I am using the Immersion Blender to make the sauce - for other methods, see Notes.) 

1. Add egg to the dry container, along with vinegar, salt, pepper, and1/4 cup of the pre-measured oil, just to help it get mixed initially.
2. Use the Immersion stick blender on high till everything is mixed, the mixture thickens and becomes lighter (milky white) in colour.
3. At this stage, add the garlic paste and cumin powder
4. Continue, slowly pouring the oil (a very thin stream), as you continue blending on high speed. Keep lifting and lowering your blender stick as you do so. This helps to make the sauce nice and thick.
5. Add 1 Tbsp cold water; this removes any oily finish. Blend just briefly once again.
6. Lastly, stir in the sugar and lemon juice to balance the flavours. Chill in the fridge. The mayo thickens further upon chilling.

Grill / Pan-fry the burger patties:

1. Using a grill pan, lightly oiled, grill the burger patties on both sides till cooked through, around 2 minutes per side. You should get nice grill marks on the first side. The second side is required to be pressed down a bit towards the end of cooking ( Refer video).

Assemble the Burger / Arabian Pita Burger:

1.  Have all the sliced onion, tomato and shredded lettuce ready. Warm up your Pita bread or toast your sliced buns, if you prefer.
2. Cut the Pita in half if thick enough to stuff the inside, or just fold and wrap.
3. Apply a good amount of Spiced Mayo and stuff with the tomato, onion and lettuce. Add the hot patties and serve with chips, salad and a cold drink!

Method: for Pita Bread:

1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water, and let sit for 10 minutes
2. Mix the flour mixture with salt, nigella seeds, Olive oil and add the yeast mixture.
3. Add just enough water, stirring with a wooden spoon till the dough holds together.
4. Knead into a smooth elastic dough and form into a ball.
5. Brush olive oil over the ball of dough to lightly grease it all over.
6. Place in a deep bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth.
7. Allow rising for 2 hours.
8. Punch down the dough lightly (gently deflate) and divide into 8 smooth balls.
9. Flour the work surface and roll out into thin rounds as large as possible.
10. Stretch a little with your hands. There should be no holes.
11. Heat a griddle pan/non-stick pan on low till 'quite hot'. Place one Pita at a time. Cover with a lid. Leave for about 2 minutes, until it puffs up.
12. Turn over and wait till bubbles are formed on this side too.
13. Press gently, if needed, with a spatula to help puff up the Pita. Flip over one more time if needed and press gently till puffed up nicely.
14. The Pita should be white with golden patches and soft, and should fold easily.
15. Stack the cooked Pita over each other as they are made in a casserole dish and keep covered.
16. You can store cooled Pita in a tight zipper bag in the fridge and reheat it in the Microwave.
17. (Sprinkle a few drops of water on the bread before doing so, and microwave for 10 seconds or so only).