Sometimes toppings are what make a burger better. Let’s make Labor Day more fun by putting flavor in the meat.

This recipe is from our book “Milk Street Tuesday Nights”, which restricts recipes to 45 minutes or less. It draws inspiration from Goa’s cured pork sausage. This chourico-like spiced porc comes from Portugal’s colonial roots, but the Indian spice blend garam masala gives it a distinct Indian flavor.

First, the garam masala and cumin are combined into a paste of tangy yogurt and egg yolk. This helps to keep the burgers moist. The spiced paste is mixed into the meat to ensure that the flavor is evenly distributed throughout the burgers.

To let the seasonings inside shine through, we keep the toppings simple. However, burgers taste great topped with yogurt, fresh mint leaves and thin slices of tomato or cucumber.