Veggie Dumplings with Wanton Wraps

A couple of weeks ago, Vaandu asked me to pack veggie dumplings with toothpick (???) for his lunch. I don’t remember him trying out veggie dumplings before. Not sure if any of his friends bought it for lunch. Anyways when he asked that for lunch, I told him that I will try it once for dinner before packing it for lunch. With Navratri, I couldn’t try that at all. This weekend he started asking for it again and I realized I cannot postpone anymore. I have postponed already for two weeks. I was very tired this Sunday and I didn’t want to do everything from scratch. So when I browsed for shortcuts, the first recipe that came was Alton Brown’s steamed dumplings. I love semi-homemade recipes. I have already written enough about the puff pastry sheets and how they save a lot of time on weekdays or when you don’t have time to start from scratch, especially for puffs. Wanton wraps fall under the same category. It’s a great ingredient to have in your fridge.

I took a quick glance at that recipe and forgot the fact that the recipe called for tofu and scallions. I forget to buy those and came back only with wanton wraps as I had cabbage and carrots. But then I decided to try with what I have and it turned out pretty good. We paired this up with my BFF N’s Chinese fried rice. Her daughter and Vaandu enjoyed and loved the dumplings. So here is a recipe that was approved by two kids,

Ingredients:

• Store Bought Wanton Wraps – as required (I used 30)
• Shredded cabbage – 1 cup
• Shredded carrots – 1 cup
• Green chili – 1 (Finely chopped)
• Finely chopped onion – 2 tbsps.
• Soy sauce – 2 tsp.
• Rice vinegar – 1 tsp
• Salt – 1 tsp
• Oil – 1 tbsp.
• Ginger – garlic paste – 1 tsp.
• Water for steaming

Steps:

• Heat the pan or wok and add oil.
• Once the oil is hot add the chopped onions, green chillies and ginger garlic paste.

• Cook till the raw smell goes. Now add the shredded cabbage and carrots.
• Add salt and cover and cook for 3-4 minutes.
• Now remove the lid and cook till the water evaporates.
• Once the water evaporates add the soy sauce and vinegar.
• Mix well and turn of the heat.

• Now place about 1 to 1.5 tsps. of this veggie filling in the center of the wanton wrap and form mothak shape by pinching the edges or close the edges to form semi-circle like our regular kozhukattai.

• I used idly plates to steam them. Add required water for the cooker and place these dumplings in the idly trays and steam them for 10 minutes.

• That’s it. Veggie dumplings are ready. I served it with ketchup.

Variations:

• You can also use tofu and make it protein filled.
• Instead of onions, scallions can be used.
• Adjust the veggie quantity and you can also add other veggies according to your taste.