Dumplings around the world

Dumplings are delightful parcels destined to touch the heart and hence they are called dim sum which means ‘touch the heart‘ in Chinese. The dumplings are said to have originated at China and contribute to a significant portion of the meals in China. They are available in different varieties and avatars all over the world.

Pork siu mai

Pork sui mai

sui mai ,traditionally called shāomài is a flower shaped dumpling with an open top.I had these in Hongkong and the filling consisted of ground pork .The casing is thin and soft like wantons.

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Pork sweet rice flour dumplings

Gluten free food is always the priority while cooking for home and these rice dumplings are the best. They are gluten free, moist and tasted great with minced pork filling. I used a mixture of rice flour and Thai glutinous rice flour, which makes these dumplings soft, chewy and gives a nice glaze after steamed.

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Momo

We have the Tibetan Momo which are the steamed dumplings made of thin wrappers encasing minced meat, traditionally served with a hot meat stock served in the hills. The cold weather of the wills and the steamed hot Momo with spicy hot soup makes it a heavenly combo.

Momo

Momo are the Tibetan dumplings made of wheat flour and stuffed with minced meat.

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Then we have Korean Mandu, the wrapper is made of a wheat flour and water but its a bit thicker than the Momo, one can add small amount of corn starch. The fillings are minced pork with a lot of vegetables and sweet potato noodles.

Korean Mandu

Mandu recipe

Mandu is a Korean wheat flour dumpling filled with minced pork, vegetables and noodles. These dumplings can be steamed or pan fried.

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Then there are dumplings popular in Germany popular in the European Union like maultaschen which are the meat dumplings and potato dumplings called schupfnudeln. They are served during German traditional festivals. The fillings of maultaschen are minced meat which is generally beef and its served with beef broth. I used minced lamb in the recipe , you can substitute it with minced beef or pork.

Maultaschen

Maultaschen recipe

Flour dumpling filled with minced mutton and spinach cooked in mutton broth

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Schupfnudeln

Schupfnudeln

German potato dumpling

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Pierogis

Pierogis are potato and cheese stuffed Polish dumplings which are pan fried. The dumpling dough contains wheat, eggs and butter.

Potato and cheese pierogies for breakfast

These are European dumplings filled with mashed potato and cheese which are boiled and fried in butter

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Empanadas

Empanadas is a stuffed pastry popular in America, Spain, Portugal and parts of South America. The Empanadas are very versatile and can be stuffed with sweet as well as savory fillings.

How to make empanadas

This a baked or fried stuffed pastry popular in America ,Spain,Portugal and parts of South America. They are popular snacks all over the world and filled with a variety of fillings including seafood, beef, pork etc.

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Modak

In India traditionally dumplings are made from rice flour and stuffed with sweet coconut fillings, One of the iconic dumplings are Modak which are prepared during the Ganpati festival in Maharashtra and belong to the traditional Maharashtrian cuisine. Traditionally the modaks are made from rice flour are shaped with hand and consist of either 11 or 21 petals and then these are steamed.

How to prepare Modak

Modak are the rice dumplings stuffed with coconut and jaggery filling are very popular in Maharashtra.

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In the Eastern part of India, the Bengali cuisine also features several types of dumplings. They are called pitha ,made of rice flour filled with sweetened coconut and jaggery and cooked in milk or steamed. Sometimes the dumplings are also made of lentils and fried or steamed.

Moong dal dumplings

Moog Dal er Pitha (Moong Dal dumplings)

The dumpling is made of lentils mixed with rice flour, It can be served hot as a starter after deep frying in mustard oil or dipped in sugar syrup of one string consistency.

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