I first prepared this Tex-Mex cuisine inspired dish from Nita Mehta’s ‘Mexican Vegetarian’ cookbook, a few weeks ago along side a meal consisting of home made corn chips with mango salsa, mexican rice and watermelon agua fresca. I made it again last week on a special request from my blog visitors.
The soft swollen dumplings form a top layer by slowly simmering in a sort of rustic thick stew and made for a delectable bite. The creamy sauce has a strong garlic flavor with both savory and sweet notes. Best served piping hot, though tastes equally good at room temperature and makes a delicious side dish along with Mexican rice. A dependable and comforting recipe.
Dumplings in Baked Beans Sauce Recipe
Recipe Source: adapted from Nita Mehta’s Mexican Vegetarian Cookbook
Prep & Cooking time: 40 mts
Serves 4-5 persons
.
1 tin baked beans (450 gms)
1 1/2 tbsps olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2-3 green chillis, finely chopped
8-10 garlic flakes, finely chopped
1/2 red chilli pwd
1 large tomato, blanched, skinned and pureed smooth
2-3tbsps tomato sauce
1 tsp jaggery (optional)
For dumplings:
3 tbsps makki ka atta (cornmeal)
4 tbsps maida (all purpose flour)
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 tsps baking pwd
2 egg whites
3-4 tbsps milk
1 Combine all the ingredients under ‘dumplings’ in a bowl, adding enough milk to form a dropping consistency and keep aside.
2 Heat olive oil in a wide vessel, add the onions, green chillis and crushed garlic and saute till the onions turn transparent. Add chilli pwd and combine.
3 Add tomato puree, salt and cook for 5-6 mts. Add the baked beans and tomato sauce and cook further for another 4-5 mts on medium heat.
4 Add 2 1/4 cups of water and jaggery and bring to a boil. When the sauce is boiling, drop a tbsp of the dumpling batter over the sauce. Repeat with the rest of the batter such that you drop 10-12 dumplings. Reduce flame and place lid.
5 Let it cook on medium heat for 10-12 mts or till the dumplings cook. You will find that the dumplings will harden and remain on top. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Note:
Use a wide dish to cook this sauce as the dumplings should have enough room to cook. The original recipe calls for bell pepper which I didn’t use since I didn’t have them on hand while preparing this dish. If using bell peppers, chop them fine and add them once the onions have turned soft and saute the bell pepper for 2 mts and follow the rest of the procedure as mentioned above.
