Dumplings made from scratch

Following are dead giveaways during Quarantine cooking. Dumplings, pizzas from scratch, chole bhature and pav bhaji, just to name a few. Having successfully tried the latter 3, it was a dumpling kinda Sunday for me! I tried a bunch of dumplings, different kinds of pleating, sauces, steamed and pan-fried. And here are stepwise instructions to make dumplings at home. Feel free to customize them as per your taste!

• 

• 

• 

Dough for the Dumplings

INGREDIENTS (For about 50-60 dumplings)

• All-purpose flour – 3 cups + more for dusting
• Salt – 1 tsp
• Hot water – 1 cup

METHOD

• Combine the flour and salt in a food processor (or in a bowl if kneading by hand), slowly add the water and mix until it starts to come together.
• Knead the dough into a smooth ball by hand. Let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

For the filling

INGREDIENTS

• Mushrooms, finely chopped – 1 cup
• Cottage cheese, crumbled – 1/2 cup
• Onion, finely chopped – 1, medium sized
• Carrots, finely chopped – 2, medium sized
• Capsicum, finely chopped – 1, medium
• Cabbage, finely chopped – 1 cup
• Ginger – 2 inch piece
• Garlic – 7 to 8 medium cloves
• Salt – to taste
• Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
• Oil – 2tbsp

METHOD

• Make sure all your vegetables are nicely washed. Chop them all finely.
• Peel and finely chop the ginger and garlic.
• Microwave the carrot with a splash of water for 2 minutes to ensure uniform cooking of all the veggies.
• In a pan, heat the oil. Add the ginger, garlic and onions, cook till transparent.
• Add the mushrooms, cabbage and carrot and capsicum. Season with salt and chilli powder. Cook for another 7-10 minutes.
• Add the crumbled cottage cheese at the end, cook for another 2 minutes and set aside for the mixture to cool down.

Pleating the dumplings

• Dust your pastry board with a lot of dry flour. And keep flour handy for more dusting so the dough doesn’t stick.
• You can roll each dumpling individually, or take the pasta route. To roll individually, divide your dough into 1 inch balls and roll one at a time. Else, take a handful of dough, and roll into a thin sheet. Use a bowl with a sharp rim to cut perfect round wrappers for your dumplings (roughly 3 inches in diameter)

• Take one rolled out dough, place a spoonful of the filling and place in the centre. Lightly apply water to the edges, to ensure proper sealing. Much like making a Gujiya.

• 

• 

• Some of the simplest pleating – bring the two sides together and shape like below. Or, bring them together like a triangle, press down to seal properly.

• 

• 

• 

• The more traditional way is to pinch and seal across the semicircle. See more pleating techniques here.

• 

• 

• 

Cooking the dumplings

• The best way to steam the dumplings is in an idli steamer. Fill the bottom with water, apply some oil on each depression. Place the dumplings and cook for about five minutes, check for the skin to become soft.
• To pan-fry, brush oil on a non-stick pan. Place the dumplings and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, the bottoms will become crispy. Add half a cup of water and cover and cook for 5 minutes on low heat. Garnish with some white sesame seeds.

Chomped on steamed dumplings with chilly oil and pan fried dumplings with some soy.