Ingredients:
Dough for wrappers:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon oil
water
pinch salt
Filling:
2 pounds lean ground meat (50% lamb or chicken, 50% pork works best)
1 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/2 green onion, finely chopped
1 cup ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon curry powder, or momo masala if available
3 fresh red chilies, minced (or fewer, to taste)
3 tablespoons cooking oil
salt and pepper
Instructions:
Prepare the dough:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, oil, salt, and water. Mix well, and knead until dough becomes homogenous in texture, about 8-10 minutes. Cover and let rest for at least 30 minutes.
When ready to prepare filling, knead again briefly.
Prepare the filling:
In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients. Mix well, and add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to allow all ingredients to impart their unique flavors. This also improves the consistency of the filling.
Assembly:
Give the dough a final knead. Prepare 1-inch balls of dough.
Take a ball and roll between your palms to make a sphere. Dust workspace with flour, and gently flatten the ball into a circle with your palm (about 2 inches in diameter). Once you’ve made a few semi-flattened circles, cover them with a bowl to rest for a few minutes.
Use a rolling pin to flatten each circle out into a wrapper. TIP: It’s important that the center of each wrapper be a little bit thicker than the edges to ensure the structural integrity of the dumpling when it’s being packed and cooked.
Hold the edges of the semi-flattened dough with one hand, and with the other begin rolling the edges of the dough out. Continue until the wrapper reached 3 inches in diameter.
Repeat with the remaining dough circles. Keep dough covered with a bowl or towel to prevent from drying.
For packing, hold wrapper on one palm, put one tablespoon of filling mixture in the middle, and with the other hand bring all edges together to the center, making the pleats. Pinch and twist the pleats to ensure the absolute closure of the stuffed dumpling. This is the key to good tasting, juicy dumplings.
Heat up a steamer and oil the rack well to prevent the dumplings from sticking. Close the lid and let the dumplings steam until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Take dumplings off the steamer and serve immediately.
Alternatively, you can place uncooked dumplings directly in lightly salted boiling water and cook until done, about 10 minutes. Be careful not to overcook. You can also saute cooked dumplings in butter right before serving.
To serve, arrange dumplings on a serving platter with hot tomato achar or any other chutneys as a condiment.