Sooo today was supposed to be the last day of lockdown, but in fact it is only the half way mark. We still have another 14 days/2 weeks to go.

How should I be feeling about this… well, I’m not really feeling anything, I love the quiet, no hustle and bustle of people rushing to get from A to B and I do not miss the noise of people. Everyone at the moment seems to be tense, not sure why seeing as I should be the one that is tense.

I placed a food online order at the end of March and because everyone went bananas buying everything I am only going to be getting my food order the first week in May, meaning that I will be eating my lockdown stash after lockdown, how unfair is that? And I can’t cancel because online is so busy they can’t answer the phone or reply to emails so I just have to sit and wait for May.

Maybe lockdown will be cancelled before that and my order can come quicker??? Here is hoping.

I have developed this bad routine all of a sudden, since I have started bringing work home. I take naps, meaning that when bed time does come around, I can’t sleep and I have to lie really really still and be really really quiet because any sound wakes up my father and he wakes up my mother and before you know it the entire house is awake. When I do eventually fall asleep, I get like 3 hours of sleep before my morning routine has to kick in, meaning my body might be awake and functioning but trust me I am on auto pilot, there is absolutely no one at home.

I am trying to perfect the whole sleeping with my eyes open thing, but I am failing miserably…when I do manage to get home, the last thing  I really want to be doing is ensuring that both my eyes are focusing on a recipe, reading it word for word and that my brain is processing it. It is a very tiring thing, this well-oiled machine working as one fully functional unit.

So when I come across recipes that are quick and easy like this one for example, just toss the chicken mince into the bowl, throw in a few other spices, mix mix, shape and fry and supper is on the plate in no time, you can bet I will be making it and the fact that there was frozen store bought hamburger buns in the freezer just taking up space was just another reason to make this recipe.

Verdict, my father was not worried about the burger patty itself, he was more worried about the apparent stale buns that he knew I had in the freezer from who knows when, when in fact he bought them Monday… dramatic much and then the whole huge toothpick keeping the burger upright and together, he did not get that and the more I kept asking him how was the burger, the more he kept asking me where did I get this wooden skewer… seriously as if the skewer was the main component of the dish. Give him some credit though,  he did ask if there was more fried onions and he did scrape off every last drizzle of Vegan Canola Mayo, because the high skewer did not hide that fact that there was the hated mayo on the bun.

I loved it, something different, something juicy and just what the doctor ordered to banish those Burger King Cravings. This recipe has been adapted from the original recipe taken out of Naqiayh’s cookbook… no offence I mean I am no published cookbook author but 2 tablespoons of ground ginger would turn this into a koeksister and not a patty.

Ingredients:

• 500g x chicken mince, rinsed and drained.
• 3 x spring onions, finely chopped.
• ¼ tsp x lemon juice.
• 1 x tsp ginger garlic paste.
• 1 x tbsp. chilli powder.
• 1 x tsp cumin powder.
• 1 x tsp coriander powder.
• ½ x tsp cardamom powder.
• 1 x tsp salt.
• 1 x tsp black pepper.

Method:

• In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients, till well combined.
• Using your hands, shape into patties.
• Place on a greased baking tray and pop into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
• Shallow fry the patties in a little oil, until browned on both sides.
• Serve with fried onions, sliced juicy tomatoes, cucumbers and creamy mayo.