These air-fried, salmon balls contain spinach and a variety of spices. They are nutritious as well as gluten and grain-free, and can be had as an entrée or as a healthy snack.
Omega-3 fatty acids
Let me start by talking about Omega-3 fatty acids. These fatty acids are essential, meaning our body cannot create them. We can only provide them through the food and beverages we consume.
The three main omega-3 fatty acids are alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). ALA is found mainly in plant oils like flaxseed and EPA and DHA can be found mainly in fatty fish and other seafood. Our body can convert some ALA into EPA and then to DHA, but only in very small amounts. Read everything you want to know about omega-3 fatty acids here.
Why pick Salmon?
There are many reasons that I choose salmon as the fish of choice for many of my seafood dishes, including these air-fried balls. These include:
- Salmon of the best sources of the afore-mentioned EPA and DHA.
- It is a brain food, about 60% of your brain is fat and half of that fat is of the Omega-3 kind.
- This high quality protein can help fight inflammation, which is a root cause of many chronic diseases like diabetes, cancer and heart diseases.
- The red pigment of salmon is due to the antioxidant Astaxanthin, which reduces the risk of heart disease and contribute to better skin quality.
Read more about the health benefits of Salmon here.
Wild-caught Vs Farm-raised?
Even though it is a bit more expensive, consuming wild caught salmon has added benefits over consuming farm caught salmon
- Wild caught Salmon has a better ratio of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids as compared to omega-6 fatty acids.
- As expected, when you consume fish, you are exposing yourself to all sort of contaminants the fish itself is exposed to, wild caught fish has fewer contaminants as opposed to farm-raised fish.
Consuming at least two servings per week of salmon is ideal. You can get frozen wild caught salmon delivered to your home through Wild Alaskan Company. They offer a monthly seafood membership.
Step by step method to make air-fried, salmon balls
Thaw and clean up the salmon, debone and chop into cube-shaped pieces.
Marinate the salmon with chili, cumin, turmeric, coriander, garam masala, asafoetida powder, salt and 1 tbsp. of desired oil for 15 minutes.
Heat 1 tbsp. of oil in a pan and add the minced ginger, garlic, green chilies and minced curry leaves. Fry for a minute.
Add in the chopped onions and salt. Once the onions sweat out, add in the marinated salmon.
Cook on medium heat for about 8-9 minutes. Finely mince the salmon as it is cooking.
Add chopped spinach and stir fry for a minute. Add in the potato flakes, mix well and add the boiled water. Mix everything well and cook until the mixture is thick enough to be rolled between your hands.
Add in coriander leaves and mix everything well. Make small balls from the mixture.
Preheat air fryer to 375 degrees. Spray the air fryer tray/pan with oil and fry the salmon balls for 18-20 minutes.
Let the salmon balls cool before taking out of the fryer. Enjoy with as an entrée, side or as a snack.
Air-fried spicy salmon balls
These nutritious spicy salmon balls are air fried and can be paired with a main dish or can be had as a healthy snack
Ingredients
- 0.5 pound salmon
- 1 tsp chili powder (reduce to 1/2 tsp if you do not prefer it spicy)
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- Dash of asafoetida
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp. of desired oil
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 3/4 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp garlic
- 8-10 curry leaves, finely minced
- 2 green chilies finely chopped (remove the seeds if don't prefer it spicy)
- 1 handful of spinach (about 1/2 cup of chopped spinach)
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 cup potato flakes
- 1 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro
- 3/4 cup boiled water
Instructions
Thaw and clean up the salmon, debone and chop into cube sized pieces.
Marinate the salmon with chili, cumin, turmeric, coriander , garam masala asafoetida powder, salt and 1 tbsp. of desired oil for 15 minutes.
Heat 1 tbsp. of oil in a pan and add the minced ginger, garlic, green chilies and minced curry leaves. Fry for a minute.
Add in the chopped onions and salt.
Once the onions sweat out, add the marinated salmon.
Cook on medium heat for about 8-9 minutes. Finely mince the salmon as it is cooking.
Add chopped spinach and a stir fry for a minute.
Add in the potato flakes, mix well and add the boiled water.
Mix everything well and cook until the mixture is thick and can be rolled between your hands.
Add in coriander leaves and mix everything well.
Make small balls from the mixture.
Preheat air fryer to 375 degrees for 2 minutes. Spray the air fryer with oil and fry the salmon balls for 18-20 minutes.
Let the salmon balls cool before taking out of the fryer, else the they will will crumble.
Enjoy as an entrée, side or as a snack.
Notes
I used Bob's Red Mill pure potato flakes.
This recipe is more towards the spicy side, you can reduce the amount of chili powder or take the seeds out of the green chilies if you want to make it less spicy.
I used the air fryer for this recipe, this recipe hasn't been tested using traditional frying methods.
And once you are done with this, here’s a recipe for delicious pan-fried, salmon with Indian spices to try out next!
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