theveganpea

It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I love plantains in any form (fried, steamed, bbq-ed…the list goes on) but they can be super tricky to cook sometimes because they are too hard to feel when they are raw and too soft when they are cooked…But don’t fear, this recipe is super easy and heavenly delicious! It is great for dinner parties and these dumplings are steamed making them super light!

Preparation time (including preparation and cooking time): 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients (Makes approx. 21 dumplings):

Dumplings:

• 5 large Plantains
• 4 Garlic cloves
• 2 inch cube Ginger
• 3 Red Chillies
• 1/3 cup Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp Coriander Cumin Powder (*alternatively 1/4 tsp of each coriander powder and cumin powder)
• 1/3 cup Plain Gluten Free Flour (flour of choice is Dove’s Farm)
• Salt to taste

Curry Sauce:

• 30 Vine Cherry Tomatoes (I find when they are on the vine they are less acidic)
• 3 Shallots (finely diced)
• 1/4 tsp Red Chilli Powder
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder
• 1 tsp Coriander Cumin Powder (see above for alternative *)
• 1/2 cup fresh Coriander
• Salt to taste
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/3 cup water

Method:

1. Slit the skin of the five plantains and place them in a micro-proof dish (this prevents them exploding in the microwave)
2. Set the microwave to 1000W (or similar high setting) and microwave for 8 minutes
3. Meanwhile grind the ginger, garlic and chillies
4. Once the plantains are cooked scoop the flesh out of the skins and place in a large bowl
5. Using a potato masher / ricer mash the plantain until broken down and semi-smooth (you do not want the mixture to be creamy…we need some texture)
6. Add all the other dumpling ingredients into the mash and mix really well by hand until a dough forms (taste the dough raw for salt and add accordingly)
7. Roll the dough into golf ball-sized dumplings (makes around 21 balls)
8. Lets make the sauce…grind all the tomatoes until it forms a smooth puree
9. Heat the olive oil in a flat deep frying pan (with a lid for later, otherwise use foil) and add the shallots with a pinch of salt and cook until the onions are softened and browned
10. Pour in the other curry sauce ingredients and allow to start boiling
11. Once boiling lower the heat to create a slow simmer
12. Add the dumplings into the sauce (preferably don’t let the dumplings touch one another) and cover with the lid and allow the dumplings to steam in the sauce for 12 minutes
13. Garnish with some extra coriander
14. Serve up and enjoy my Little Peas!