Indian spice blend makes a better burger

THE quest for a better burger often focuses — wrongly — on the toppings. For Labor Day, let’s instead pack flavor into the meat itself.

In this recipe from our book “Milk Street Tuesday Nights,” which limits recipes to 45 minutes or less, we take inspiration from a cured pork sausage from Goa, in southern India. The chouriço-like spiced pork springs from the Portuguese roots of this former colonial outpost, but it comes suffused with a distinctively Indian flavor thanks to the spice blend garam masala.

The garam masala, cayenne and cumin first are mixed into a paste made from tangy yogurt, egg yolk and breadcrumbs, which helps the burgers stay moist. Mixing the spiced paste into the meat ensures the flavor is distributed evenly throughout each burger.

We keep the toppings simple to let the seasoning inside shine through, but the burgers are especially delicious topped with yogurt, torn