Salmon Quinoa Burgers | Salmon Quinoa Patties Recipe
Quinoa (pronounced as keen-wah) was the first grain I laid my hands on and it is believed to be a holy grain. It looks like minute grains, smaller than rice and it has a hard exterior which is coated with saponins. They are bitter when cooked and needs to be removed before you cook. It is good to wash them thoroughly in running water. Once cooked, the seeds become soft, chewy and a cute spiral tail pops out. Quinoa is low in cholesterol and sodium and is also a good source of magnesium, phosphorous and manganese.
It has good carbs too, since it’s a whole grain, they will break down into sugar much slower in your body and that way your blood sugar will not spike drastically. That’s the kind of foods one must be eating during gestational diabetes. “You need carbohydrates for your baby. Carbs help in their brain development” my dietician would keep insisting to me on every meeting. So please don’t skip your car b and remember to eat the right carb.
Salmon Quinoa Patties Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup olive oil for shallow frying
- 1-5 oz salmon tin
- 1 cup raw organic quinoa
- 1 medium size onions – chopped
- 1 inch ginger – minced
- 3 large garlic cloves – minced
- 1/4 cup cilantro – chopped
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 tsp red chili powder (use more or less as per your spice level)
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- Salt to taste
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 large egg – beaten
Instructions
- Dry roast the quinoa in a clean pan. Saute for 3-5minutes until they get roasty. Remove, cool and grind to a coarse powder. Set aside.
- Open the tin and transfer the salmon to a strainer and wash in running water to get rid of excess salt and squeeze the excess water and crumble them into smaller bits and add them to the fresh bowl.
- Then mix in the onions, ginger, garlic, cilantro, chili flakes, chili and coriander powder and garam masala. Mix well to combine with hand. Then add the salt and lemon juice. Stir.
- Add the egg and stir. Finally add the quinoa, starting with 2 tablespoon at a time. Keeping mixing it until you feel that the mixture rolls into a neat ball. I used about 8 tablespoon to get that consistency.
- Divide the mixture to 10 balls and let it chill for 30minutes.
- Heat a saucepan on medium flame for 5 minutes. Once they are hot, drizzle few drops of olive oil and spread them on the surface with a kitchen tissue.
- In the meanwhile, remove the balls from the fridge. With wet hands flatten them into a small patty and slide them into your saucepan. Spoon out a tablespoon of oil along its edges and let it cook for 6-7 minutes on each side. Add oil if you feel its drying out. I tried to use minimum amount of oil.
- Serve hot with Virginia mango chutney by its side.
My tips:
- Salmon quinoa patties can be served to kids too. My son loves it with mango chutney/mint chutney. You can also replace quinoa with meat or shrimp or even with mashed sweet potato or potatoes or any veggies.
- If you are a vegetarian, omit the eggs and instead add little (about 1 tablespoon) all purpose flour and this would help to hold the mixture together and you can easily work with them.
- Ideal for dieters as per serving (2 small patties) will have less than 300 calories and even if you had deep fried them, don’t worry extra few minutes in the gym will sort the problem.
