Tex-Mex Baked Beans And Dumplings

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.

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.