Recipe from Asha Gomez and Martha Hall Foose
Adapted by Kim Severson
- Total Time
- 1 hour15 minutes
- Rating
- 4(207)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Asha Gomez moved to the American South from Kerala, a region of southern India. This recipe, from her book "My Two Souths: Blending the Flavors of India into a Southern Kitchen," marries Southern-style dumplings made with rice flour and Indian flavors. The dish relies on stewing the chicken, a technique common to both cultures. Although smaller, dense pie pumpkins work here, they can be stringy and have less flavor than other forms of pumpkins and hard squash. Ms. Gomez likes calabaza squash, also known as West Indian pumpkin, which has a mottled skin that can range from dark green to light orange mottled with amber. The dusty blue-gray Jarrahdale pumpkin works well, too. In both cases, you will have a lot of pumpkin meat left over to cook, purée and freeze for baking or soup. The kabocha squash, or Japanese pumpkin, which has a dull, deep-green skin with some celadon or white stripes and averages about two to three pounds, is another option. —Kim Severson
Featured in: America’s Pumpkin Queen Has a Request: Don’t Carve, Cook
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 1small fryer chicken (2½ to 3½ pounds), cut into 8 pieces
- ¼cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- 3shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
- 11-inch piece peeled fresh ginger, thinly sliced
- 2cups of raw pumpkin, such as kabocha, Jarrahdale or red kuri, seeded, peeled and diced
- 2stalks celery, rough cut into large chunks
- 2fresh bay leaves
- 2sprigs fresh thyme
- 1teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1½teaspoons salt
- 4cups chicken stock
- 2cups coconut milk
- 15fresh Thai basil leaves, for garnish
- 2cups rice flour
- 1teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½teaspoon kosher salt
For the Chicken
For the Dumplings
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
832 calories; 47 grams fat; 22 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 15 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 64 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 39 grams protein; 1102 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Cook the chicken: Put the olive oil in a large Dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid and heat on medium until the oil is hot. In a separate bowl, dredge the chicken pieces in flour. Drop the chicken into the hot oil, 2 or 3 pieces at a time. Be careful to avoid crowding. Brown for about 2 minutes on each side.
Step
2
Remove the chicken from the Dutch oven. Add the shallots and ginger and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin, celery, bay leaves, thyme, turmeric and salt. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute; stir in the stock.
Step
3
Return the chicken to the Dutch oven; cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the coconut milk and stir just until combined.
Step
4
Make the dumplings: In a medium bowl, mix the rice flour, cumin seeds and salt. Gradually stir 2 cups warm water into the rice flour mixture to make a soft dough that is not sticky; the dough will have a somewhat fragile, sandy texture.
Step
5
Form 24½-inch small balls of dough with your hands or a melon baller. Make a small divot in each dumpling by pressing down in the center with your thumb (much as you would in making gnocchi or orecchiette pasta) and place on a plate or baking sheet.
Step
6
Set a steamer basket over a medium pan containing 1 quart water. Place the dumplings in the basket, making sure they are not touching, and cover. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Steam the dumplings until they are firm and plump, 8 to 10 minutes.
Step
7
Make the final dish: Drop the dumplings into the chicken mixture, stir ever so gently to coat the dumplings with the sauce, then cover again and simmer for 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Cut the basil into chiffonade, or thin ribbons. Serve in bowls with a scattering of basil.
Ratings
4
out of 5
207
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Cooking Notes
Desmond
Many of you have been unable to get the dumplings to work. The answer is this recipe uses GLUTINOUS rice flour (the same kind in mochi) which will come together into a sticky dumpling.Add the hot water to the glutinous rice flour gradually and knead until it reaches a playdough-like consistency, then drop balls of it into the soup.
Natalie
I made this recipe and it was so good but, as EVERYONE else has mentioned, there is something wrong with the dumpling recipe. I don't know if there was a typo or what, but the 1:1 ration creates pure liquid, and anything more creates dense, inedible dumplings. Something is wrong with the recipe and many other readers have pointed it out. You should either take this recipe down or correct it. What's the deal?
Babs
This makes six servings at a whopping 57 grams of fat and 985 calories in EACH serving. That's almost one-half of an average woman's 2000 calorie daily diet and all of your fat for the day. Sounds and looks yummy but... You could lighten this up and reduce the calories and fat by using only one cup or less of "lite" coconut milk. I think it would still taste great.
Charlie
I made this, very tasty. Used pie pumpkins. But the recipe falters in the ratio for making the dumplings, I had to keep on adding rice flour. Steamed them and they came out like indigestable tough balls that got shoved to the side of the plate. My huge advice is to bail on the dumplings and go with potatoes instead. This would also be really good on rice without dumplings or potatoes.
Meghan
This was a delicious, hearty, comforting feed on a cold winter’s night - loved the unique fusion of flavors. Living in Italy, rice flour is hard to come by (and I’m always looking for time-saving cheats), so I used store-bought gnocchi in place of the dumplings and added some cumin seeds along with the rest of the spices when cooking. There was plenty of liquid, so I opted to cook the gnocchi directly in the pot with the chicken and it turned out great!
Marcia H.
Part 2: The recipe turned out well. We made the dumplings using the notes about preparing and cooking them with the rice flour with gluten. We made the balls and cooked them as directed. Yes, they were a bit dense but not impossible to eat, plus I loved the cumin in them. If I make this recipe again I will try the other recipe link, using white flour, for the dumplingwhich someone else provided, but using cumin instead of the spices in the recipe. I added extra salt to my bowl and it was great!
Marcia H.
I could not find the glutenous rice flour (other than from Amazon) for the dumplings, and I asked my friend Kam, if he had any. He said arborio rice will work and grind it in a spice blender/coffee bean grinder. It grinded it into a powder! Yeah! Now I will use it in the recipe tomorrow night! I will post it if this works or not!
Meghan
This was a delicious, hearty, comforting feed on a cold winter’s night - loved the unique fusion of flavors. Living in Italy, rice flour is hard to come by (and I’m always looking for time-saving cheats), so I used store-bought gnocchi in place of the dumplings and added some cumin seeds along with the rest of the spices when cooking. There was plenty of liquid, so I opted to cook the gnocchi directly in the pot with the chicken and it turned out great!
AR
This turned out fantastic for me: I heeded others' warnings regarding the rice dumplings. Instead, I adapted alison roman's buttermilk dumplings (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019108-chicken-and-dumplings), adding cumin rather than other seasonings, and it was truly delicious.
Stef
This is an excellent recipe. The first time I made it I forgot to put the coconut milk in and it was really good. I will try today with coconut milk. As other have said, the dumplings were not great in the soup. Too tough. I ended up frying them up as a snack instead.
Kiersten
When I buy a pumpkin it keeps for ages so I grate it into salads, smoothies or just saute as a side veggie. What to blow your own mind? Make a traditional beef stew then add pumpkin.....no one will complain. Smash a cardamom seed for a real win too
Ashley
I love this recipe! I used about 1.5lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs for sake of ease, and a kabocha squash. I'll probably try it with a calabaza next, but I really loved the kabocha. When reheating it, I ended up adding white pepper and some cinnamon - highly recommend.
karen g
Very nice; made with faux chicken (which in retrospect I should have just left out because it clashed), kabocha pumpkin, plus had some carrots and Green beans to use up. Fried in coconut oil and added an allspice leaf and makrut lime leaf plus half a serrano. Shelf stable gnocchi instead if making dumplings. Popular in the household.
Emily
I made a version of this the other day that turned out fabulous! I used leftover shredded chicken that I had made in the Instant Pot...fresh bone broth from that same chicken, south american pumpkin (calabaza), and subbed basmati rice (adding a bit of cumin to the soup since it didn't show up in the dumplings) for the dumplings. I only added 1 can of coconut milk. It turned out so good and took 20 minutes.
allegrak
Tastes good, but took too long and directions aren’t great. Recipe is way off for dumplings. I only used 1c of water to get the right consistency & had enough batter for 75 dumplings. Also the temperature directions are off. Burner should be at med high, instead of med to bring to a boil or even a simmer. For next time, I’d use canned pumpkin (carving a pumpkin took FOREVER); I’d take the chicken off the bone and slice it up into smaller pieces; I added fresh lime juice which helped a lot
motoarod
Delicious recipe. Simmered total time 1hr 15 minutes. Agree can use less coconut milk: 1 cup. Comments regarding dumplings are correct. 1:1 ratio rice flour to water looked off so after 1 cup, added water little at a time. Measured 1 1/4 cup water to get to consistency described in recipe. The dumplings appeared to be a failure until added them to the soup and then they made sense. The dumplings go great with this soup. Will season dumplings more like a matzah ball next time.
Becs
Great flavor but I’d change a few things:• Make the dumplings 1/4”• Add more thyme
Michael
Added sweet potato and carrot with the pumpkin. Added silverbeet at the end. Didn’t do dumplings. Went with stew option. Tasty. Kids ate and enjoyed it.
Desmond
Many of you have been unable to get the dumplings to work. The answer is this recipe uses GLUTINOUS rice flour (the same kind in mochi) which will come together into a sticky dumpling.Add the hot water to the glutinous rice flour gradually and knead until it reaches a playdough-like consistency, then drop balls of it into the soup.
Lauren
Started looking at the notes as I started pouring 2nd cup of water so STOPPED and added a bit more flour, then tried casting little spoonfuls in some boiling water spaetzle style which kind of worked. But not enough patience to continue. I think more flour and letting the mix stand awhile might have made this possible. The cumin is a nice touch. Opted to add, after fishing out chicken and pumpkin and de-fatting broth, 1 can coconut milk and frozen Korean rice cakes next best thing! Then add all
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