Sunday 6 December 2009

Smokey Red Bean Dumpling Stew


 Smokey Red Bean Dumpling Stew - Vegan

So last Sunday was my 3rd year blogaversary! Despite a little break in between my past vegetarian blog and this one that is. Still I was surprised and meant to blog this on the day. It's also on my previous blog and was already vegan. It's been an absolute staple in our house for, well, 3 years now! Especially when the weather turns cold :) Very hearty, full of goodness with lentils, beans and loads of veg and even the boy loves it!

Regular readers will probably have noted that I do have a dumpling addiction, if you do to, here a couple more recipes containing yummy dumplings Newfoundland pea soup with dumplings and Chickpea Noodle soup with herb dumplings . Still, if I fancy some dumplings, this is the recipe I turn to!!

Smokey Red Bean Dumpling Stew - Vegan

Smokey Red Bean Dumpling Stew:

Serves 3:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 450 ml vegetable stock, I made mine with 2 tsp marigold vegan stock granules
• 125 grams carrots, sliced and halved
• 125 grams potatoes, diced largely
• 125 grams zucchini, sliced and quartered
• 2 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped OR 200g chopped tomatoes from a tin
• 60 grams red split lentils
• 213 gram can of red kidney beans (1/2 a standard 400g tin)
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Dumplings:

• 100 grams flour
• 1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp smoked paprika
• 3/4 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 1 ½ Tbsp vegetable suet*
• 5 - 6 Tbsp cold water

*Edit - for a non-suet version of these dumplings simply replace the suet with 1 ½ tablespoons of olive oil and use 1/4 cup or 60ml of cold water. Just mix the olive oil with the water and add to the dry ingredients - they turn out just as good!

First combine the dumpling ingredients (minus the water) in a bowl and set aside. If using fresh tomatoes - cut x's on the bottom of the 2 tomatoes and cover with boiling water, leave for 5 minutes, plunge into cold water then peel skins, roughly chop and set aside.

Place the lentils in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil then fast boil for 10 minutes with the lid off. Drain and rinse and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion with some black pepper for 3 -4 minutes or until just soft. Pour in the stock, carrots and potatoes. Bring to the boil, cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Stir in the lentils, zucchini, tomatoes, kidney beans, and paprika. Bring to the boil, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Meanwhile bind together the dumpling dough with the water to form a soft dough. It should form in to a ball and clean the sides of the bowl. Transfer to a floured surface, knead briefly and cut into 6 equal sections, roll each section into a ball.


Uncover the stew, stir well, then add the dumplings, pushing them slightly into the stew. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 10 - 15 minutes until the dumplings are risen and cooked through. Stir now and again, gently around the dumplings so the stew does not stick underneath the dumplings. 

Serves 3 with 2 dumplings each.


Smokey Red Bean Dumpling Stew - Vegan


Source: 'The Complete Book of Vegetarian Cooking'.

9 comments:

  1. This is so colorful -- makes me want to eat it right now! I'm going to add it the ingredients to my shopping list (and try to translate the grams to cups) to hopefully make this weekend.
    How does this stew (and the dumplings) hold up in the fridge and reheating?

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  2. Hello!! Yeah, sorry about all the grams in this one! Being from North America I usually like to post both versions but this recipe came from a UK cookbook and only offered grams. As for reheating, I've only reheated the stew itself before and it's fine. I've never tried to reheat the dumplings (they never last long in our house!) so can't say....don't imagine it would be a problem though :) Hope it works out for you!!

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  3. it's such a cold wet day here in melbourne (despite being summer) that this looks like the perfect recipe for dinner!

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  4. 3 years!? wow, congrats to you.
    I love the look of this stew. My mum use to make a dumpling bake that was delicious, yours looks equally as good.

    Rose

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  5. Thanks Rose and Philippa :)

    Just a note on this recipe. You'll notice there is no salt added to the stew. This is because the stock powder I use is salty enough. Depending on what brand of stock you use you may have to add some salt. As most of the flavour comes from the stock, do make sure you use one you like the taste of on it's own. I love marigold's vegan stock powder but have also used an oxo veg cube, both nice.

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  6. Looks delicious! Sorry to bump up such an old post but my husband and I are new vegans and we've been browsing blogs like yours looking for new ideas. We don't have vegetable suet in my area so I need a substitute. What is it's function in the dumplings and I'll figure something out. Thanks!

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  7. Hi Elyse! Thanks for the comment :-) Vegetable suet is basically just shredded vegetable fat (white fat) or 'shortening'. The ingredients are vegetable oil, wheat flour and pectin as a stabiliser. I would imagine using the same quantity veg fat would work fine. You could rub it into the flour or cut it in using a pastry cutter. Hope it works out for you!

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  8. Made this today in my slow cooker. It was delicious. I put the dumplings in for the last 30 mins of cooking and they turned out perfect

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    1. That's great, so glad you liked it Deni and that's good to know it'll work in a slow cooker!

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