Earlier this summer I had the pleasure of spending time with Chef Jehangir Mehta to talk about one of my favorite ingredients: mushrooms. I enjoyed watching him on The Next Iron Chef—his bold flavor pairings and grounded personality made me eager to taste his food and pick his brain.
Chef Mehta has been refining a “blendability” technique, where finely chopped mushrooms are mixed into meat-forward dishes. In a hamburger, replacing a portion of the beef with mushrooms both intensifies the beefy flavor and stretches the yield from a single pound of meat.
The Graffiti Burger we tasted was fantastic—juicy and layered with exotic spices. If someone hadn’t told me mushrooms had been added, I wouldn’t have guessed. The garlic fries that accompanied it were seriously addictive.
We were also served Mushroom Vegetable Dumplings that were insanely good. The topping looked like shredded cheese, but Chef Mehta explained it was fried chickpea flour. My friend Jenn and I nearly licked the plate clean.
We had a great time chatting with Chef Mehta—food talk mixed with entertaining stories made for a fun conversation.
Chef Mehta shared his burger recipe, which I was excited to try at home. I wanted to make the enoki fries he serves at the restaurant, but I could only find a handful of enoki that day, so I saved that for another time.
The burger recipe calls for several mushrooms and spices that can seem exotic, but I managed to source everything. I couldn’t find Thai bird chiles, so I substituted cayenne. I also didn’t pulse the mushrooms quite fine enough, so my patties were a little fragile on the grill—but the result was still flavorful and very juicy.
My husband and I loved the bold spice profile of these burgers. They were aromatic and satisfying. I topped them with ripe garden tomatoes and served them with grilled corn and Brussels sprouts.
Next time I’d like to try Chef Mehta’s pickled mushroom topping and serve the patties as sliders on brioche buns—I may even bake the brioche from scratch. I’m also still hoping to get the dumpling recipe someday.
📖 Recipe
Chef Jehangir Mehta’s Mushroom Blended “Graffiti” Burger
Chef Jehangir Mehta
Pin Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb Angus ground beef
- 5 tablespoon Portobello mushrooms 2.5 oz
- 5 tablespoon King Trumpet mushrooms 2.5 oz
- 2 tablespoon Button mushrooms 1 oz
- 2 tablespoon Onion diced (1 oz)
- 1 tablespoon Tomato diced (.5 oz)
- 2 teaspoon Cilantro chopped (15 leaves)
- ½ teaspoon Ginger chopped
- ½ teaspoon Garlic minced
- ½ of one Thai bird chile chopped (about 1 ½ tsp)
- Turmeric (dry ground)
- Onion powder
- Tomato powder*
- Coriander (ground)
- Chile powder
- Lemongrass powder*
Instructions
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Finely chop the mushrooms or pulse them in a food processor until they roughly match the texture of the ground beef.
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Mix all ingredients by hand, shape into patties of your chosen size, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before cooking.
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Lightly salt both sides and grill to your preferred doneness.
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Serve on a brioche bun or enjoy without bread.
Notes
Reprinted with permission from Jehangir Mehta of The Mushroom Council.
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