Fish burgers belong to my son’s favorite dishes. I like to make them because they are healthy, treat loaded with fibers and minerals and you can prepare them with canned Tuna, hospital which is available all year round. We are living in Goa and during the monsoon time it can be really difficult to find fresh fish. To preserve sea food,cheap fishing is forbidden during the rains for a certain period of time.

Unfortunately the rain brings along long power cuts which can last for several days. These frequent power cuts make it advisable not to purchase any frozen goods, especially sea food, during the monsoon. Although we really like to live in Goa, sometimes I miss European supermarkets with their huge offer of frozen goods which are safe to purchase. Consumer protection still is largely unheard of in India.

According to my experience shop keepers will sell whatever they can and they care little about quality standards. If you buy a spoilt product, it is your responsibility. The only thing you can do is bring back the decayed food to the place where you have purchased it. Mostly shopkeepers will reimburse you. I must admit though, I hate keeping putrid food in my fridge until the next time of shopping. Also I tend to forget taking rotten stuff which is lingering sealed in a corner of my fridge back to the shop.

One time a piece of feta, which had disintegrated into a soft cream, survived for two months in my fridge. I simply kept on overlooking this lump wrapped in several layers of plastic foil. Thus when I discover food is spoilt and should not reach our bellies, mostly I just throw it away and accept the loss – with grinding teeth though, because as a good German I hate to waste money.

Ingredients for 5 tuna burgers:

• 1 can of tuna in oil
• 3 bundles of spring onions
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of oats
• salt
• pepper
• bread crumbs
• 5 tablespoons olive oil

Method:

Open the can of tuna and drain it well. Remove the outer layer of the spring onions and roughly chop them, keeping as much of the green as possible. Process them to a fine paste in a blender. Then add the drained tuna and blend again. Put the tuna and onion paste into a bowl, adjoin the eggs, the oats, 2 table spoons olive oil and salt and pepper according to taste. Mix everything nicely until you have a patty which should not be too soft. If your eggs are small you might need to add one more.

Form burgers from the dough. Put bread crumbs into a plate and roll the burgers in the bread crumbs, so they are nicely coated everywhere. Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan and fry the burgers around 5 minutes on each side on low heat until they are golden brown.

 Tip: My son likes to eat tuna burgers as his lunch in school. For this purpose I half a round piece of bread, toast it and fill it with the burger. You can freeze the burgers easily on a plate, and then put them into an airtight container. Whenever you need a fish burger, just put them directly from the freezer into the frying pan. You can store fish burgers up to 2 months in the freezer.

Kornelia is a German food writer living in Goa, India, with her Italian husband and her son.  She has published two cookbooks, Kornelia’s Kitchen – Mediterranean Cooking for India and Kornelia’s Kitchen 2 – Cooking for Allergies. Both have won the Gourmand World Cookbook Award. All her recipes are easy, fast and delicious – the right kind of food to keep your family healthy and happy without spending too much time in the kitchen.