Peacocks screech in the bushes, the sun is hiding and an unpleasant cold is creeping in every corner. India can be a cold place, not as cold as Germany but the lack of heating and insulation makes our house an unpleasant place in winter. Warm clothes are helping, but to make me feel happier I need dumplings. I absolutely love them in any form and my favorite restaurant would be one where they only serve dumplings.
One of my favorite dumplings is the tyrolean spinach dumpling. They are choke full with vegetables and are a complete meal in itself, just add a bit of parmesan and brown butter on top and all is well. Apart from being super tasty they also offer the possibility to integrate a good amount of greens into your menu. Their simple base is the perfect canvas for all kind of greens and you can use whatever you have on hand – carrot tops, reddish tops, beetroot tops, purslane, dandelion, rocket, etc. Celebrate diversity and experiment with something different than good old spinach. As long as you steam them beforehand and press out excess moisture, not much can go wrong.
Green dumplings
Enough for 4 persons as a main dish. Serve with some salad on the side.
Ingredients
- 300 g stale breadrolls (ca. 3 pieces, I used whole wheat)
- 200 ml milk
- 500 gramm fresh spinach or other leavy greens
- 1 onion
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 2 cloves garlic, mashed
- 50 gramm parmesan, grated
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon marjoram (optional)
For serving:
- Butter
- Grated parmesan
- Black pepper
Instructions
Cut the breadrolls in fine slices. Warm the milk slightly and pour it evenly over the bread pieces. The mixture should rest around 10 minutes till the bread pieces have softened.
Clean the spinach/greens and blanch it in a pot with boiling water. Let the leaves cool, press out the water and cut them finely.
Chop the onion in small cubes and fry them slightly in a pan with some oil. Add the spinach/greens. Also add the mashed garlic. Fry for a few minutes and then let it cool down a bit.
Add the spinach mixture to the bread mixture, also add the eggs, cheese, flour, salt and pepper. Now mix everything gently with your hands. The bread pieces shouldn't loose their form completely.
Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil and then bring the temperature down to a simmer.
With slightly wet hands form a test dumpling the size of a golf ball and add it gently to the water. The water should simmer gently. When the dumpling comes up to the surface of the water let it boil for another 3 minutes, then it's ready. If the test dumpling is fine you can continue with forming the rest of the dough into dumplings and cooking them in the water. Don't overcrowd the pot.
If the dumpling falls apart add some more flour to the dough, if the dumpling is to hard add some breadcrumbs.
When all dumplings are cooked you can heat some butter in a pan and fry them a bit all around. It's not necessary, but I like it that way better.
Serve with more browned butter and grated parmesan cheese.
Trixie: This is incredible. Very creative. I feel hungry browsing through your blog, I think it requires me a visit to your kitchen to explore more. What about posting Alu Posto, Mutton Jhol and Triangle Paratha with Aloo Curry. There are at least a dozen of (I salivate literally while I write) sweet items too like Payes, Varieties of Pithe and all. Keep it up. Have a wonderful trip to US. Tirtha Da
Thank you Thirta Da! more recipes will come with time. I will show the world how fantastic Bengali cooking is 🙂