Dumplings- A Perfect Canvas for Different Ingredients (Jake White)

Dumplings are the bite-sized dough balls cooked by either steaming or boiling. The origin of dumplings is still a mystery as these entirely moreish morsels have been a tradition in many regions in the world- from China to Africa, Britain, Ireland, Central and eastern Europe, Egypt, Turkey, Caribbean and Latin America, Japan, Mongolia, India to name a few! Talk about Chinese fried Dumplings or Georgian Khinkali, Asian Chicken Dumplings or Jewish Kubbeh- Dumpling has a bible of its own. Italian Gnocchi is one fine example of dumpling.

The trend of dumplings is ever increasing, and they are relished as street food, popular food vans, fine dining restaurants and made at homes of millions of people from different origins. Fill them up with potato, cheese, cabbage, or hard boiled eggs, pork, meat, beef or lamb; there can be no dearth to the variations you can add to these small little bite-sized dumplings everyone loves.

The love for dumplings has escalated much after the introduction of frozen dumplings with various fillings. It has now become much easier to prepare dumplings at home just as it demands a few minutes of thawing and cooking. You can cook them by boiling in hot water or give them steam for a few minutes. Fried dumplings too are the favorites of many owing to their crisp wrap and mushy stuffing that makes it a sought after combination.

Dumplings are also used in soups and stews. Kreplach stuffed with meat in a clear soup is a perfect example of dumpling soup. In Chinese cuisine too, you would find various Asian chicken soups with stuffed dumplings swimming in the soup pot.

Meat dumpling recipes are growing more and more popular with time as everyone wants to try making these meaty dumplings at home. You can also opt for buying frozen chicken dumplings and prepare the sauces at home. These frozen dumplings are ready to cook and ask for some melted butter to be drooled over. You can serve anything from chili-garlic sauce to sour cream with your dumplings, depending on the origin and the filling of the dumplings.

For the dumpling wrap too, there are several options and people in different regions use different wraps for them. From refined flour, to semolina, and powdered rice to semi-prepared wonton wrappers- choose your dough or wrap and delve into this amazing cuisine and the hardest part of all would be to know when to stop!

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