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spinach and chickpea dumplings

The untraditional dumplings were fun to create and will leave you wanting more. Since they're freezer friendly they are also great for when you are prepping food for the week. Enjoy them by yourself, with friends or with family.
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 45 mins
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Asian

Ingredients
  

Dumpling wrapper

  • 1 cups water warm
  • 3 cups flour

Filling

  • 1 can chickpeas drained, washed and chopped
  • 3.5 oz shitake (aproximately 100 grams) chopped
  • 1 1/2 cup spinach tightly packed
  • 1 medium/large onion chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 spring onion
  • 1 tbsp cilantro tightly packed
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • salt + pepper to taste
  • 1/4 cup peanuts* (optional)*
  • 1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil* (optional*

Instructions
 

wrappers

  • For wrapper: slowly add water to the dough while stirring until you need to get in with your hands. kneed dough until very soft this can take some time about 15 min*.
  • After letting the dough rest for 20 minutes you can roll it out and with a cookie cutter or wide mouthed glass cut out circles (you can also make squares). Put cornstarch on the wrappers so they wont stuck together.

Filling

  • Chop the onion, spring onion and mince the garlic. Now to a food processor add the chickpeas, cilantro and peanuts, process these for a few seconds until minced.
  • In a non stick pan add a bit of oil (i used coconut oil) and sauté the onions and garlic with some salt and pepper until soft and translucent. Now add the mushrooms, chickpea mixture and cumin cook this on low/medium for about 5 min. Add spinach, spring onions and sesame oil to a bowl and add the cooked mixture on top. Now cover the bowl with a plate or lid and let the spinach wilt with the steam and heat from the chickpea mixture.
  • Now its time to fill the dumplings! First add a bit of the filling to the middle of the wrapper and pinch it closed (if you used a lot of cornstarch to protect from sticking to each other u might want to spread a thin later of water on the edged so they stick together)
  • You can let them sit a bit and throw them in the freezer for up to 2 months, or you can cook them immediately.

Steaming

  • lay some parchment paper in the bottom of a steamer (or put spinach like i did*) and steam the dumplings over a pot of water for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Frying

  • add some oil to a pan and fry the dumplings on each side until every side is golden brown and crisp. When the dumplings are frozen just let them thaw a bit.

Boiling

  • Bring a pot of water or soup to a boil and throw in the dumplings, stir ofter to prevent the dumplings from sticking to the bottom. The dumplings are done when they are a bit translucent and start floating to the top

Notes

* if you are allergic to, or just don't eat peanuts you can leave them out (it will make a difference in flavour and texture but it will still be ok).
* You can also leave out the toasted sesame oil (this too will slightly effect the flavour).
* the time you need to kneed the dough really depends on how you're feeling. I mean i don't always feel like kneading for 15 minutes and do it quickly in 5 minutes, the end result is still good.
* Using spinach instead of parchment paper to line the steamer takes these dumplings to the next level. The spinach will wilt and stick to the bottom of the dumpling, making them extra special.