Kanom Krok

Little thai dumplings that are crisp on the outside and gooey on the inside, with a sweet coconut milk jelly filling. I had these in thailand, stuffed with crisp bacon and scallions. These little dumplings need a special pan, called an appa pan, a flat bottomed pan with small circular indentations for batter (like an aebleskiver pan), and with the amount of coconut milk in, are quite easy free to make as it slips off the pan. It needs around 30 minutes of preparatory time and 4-5 minutes to cook. They're great by themselves, or can be served with a little sweet chili sauce to add some heat.

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp rice flour
• 2 tbsp uncooked rice
• 2 tbsp grated coconut
• 1 tbsp cornflour dissolved in 1/2 cup water
• 5 cups coconut milk
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• chopped cilantro to garnish (or finely chopped scallions, ginger or bacon bits)

Method

1. Heat 1 cup of the coconut milk with the cornflour water mixture and 2 tbsp sugar. Heat on a low flame and cook until it thickens to create a sweet thick coconut jelly. Set aside and let it cool.
2. Grind the grated coconut and uncooked rice together into a fine mixture.
3. Add the remaining coconut milk, sugar, rice flour and salt and blend it with the ground rice mixture to create a thin batter.
4. Heat the appa pan on a low flame and pour spoonfuls of the batter into each indentation, making sure that it remains just below the rim of each indentation. I used a non-stick pan and thus didn't need to add any oil to the pan, but in case your pan isn't non-stick, brush some oil over it prior to pouring the batter. 
5. Add a small spoonful of the jelly to the top of the batter and garnish lightly with the chopped cilantro.
6. Cover and let it cook for around 3-4 minutes on a low flame, until the bottom of each dumpling half is a crisp brown.
7. Take out each dumpling half with a spoon and keep aside.
8. While still hot, place one half over another to create a circular dumpling and leave aside. Do this while hot as the jelly will act as a glue and keep the dumpling halves together.
9. Keep stirring the batter prior to pouring as the ground rice will settle to the bottom.
10. Serve hot, but be aware that the jelly will be piping hot. So avoid gulping down or biting directly into the dumpling. Gin Dee Dee

Soymeal Dumplings

With the Navratri on, the only way I could recreate pork dumplings was with the use of soy meal. Also, I had the steamer that I was dying to use so ended up making soymeal dumplings. It has the same texture as pork dumplings, but without fat and since its soymeal, it should keep the entire khandan happy.

Ingredients

Dumplings

• 2 cups flour (makes around 10)
• 3/4 cup boiled water
• 1 tsp salt

Filling

• 1 1/2 cup soybean meal, soaked for 10 minutes
• 1 tbsp honey soy (or 1 tbsp light soy with a teaspoon of honey)
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 inch ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 cup cold water
• salt to taste
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

Dough

1. Mix the flour, salt and water to create a soft elastic dough and let it rest for 30 minutes to an hour in a cool dry place.
2. Divide the dough into 10 parts and roll out each ball on a lightly floured table into thin roundels.

Filling

1. Heat the oil in a pan and lightly fry the ginger. As it starts to turn colour, add the vinegar and reduce the heat. 
2. Let the liquid in the pan evaporate before adding the soaked soybean and honey soy.
3. Let the mixture cook on a low heat till some of the water evaporates before adding the cornflour water and salt to taste. You can also add some chili powder or paprika for some bite.
4. Stir the filling and cover. Let it simmer for around 10 minutes, until the soymeal is cooked through.
5. Remove the lid and let the liquid evaporate to create a firm mass of filling.

Dumplings

1. Add portions of the filling to the centre of the dumplings and roll to create little parcels. I rolled them into a circular shape, but bringing to sides together to create a half-moon shape, sealing the edges and then then bringing the two edges of the halfmoon together to create a circular dumpling.
2. Make sure to press down on the edges to seal the dumpling.
3. Lightly oil the steamer tray and prepare the steamer.
4. Place in the steamer and let it cook for 6-8 minutes.
5. Hog in with a light soy dressing, made with 4 parts light soy, 1 part sesame oil and chopped red-chilis or topped with some instant noodles.