This recipe is inspired by an Omani & Bahraini dish known as Qashod. Qashod is basically a recipe usually made with tuna or king fish. Oman has GREAT tuna so the majority of our fish dishes use it. Unfortunately if you are sat indoors reading this and looking out to a very cold British view then the likelihood is the tuna you’ll find is blander than boiled veg…..Anyway back to Qashod! The dish is usually made by boiling the fish with whole spices and then being fried off with tomato & herbs till it’s very dry and thick. We would usually eat it with bread or rice - nothing new here, those are the holy grail to all our meals. With this dish not being the prettiest thing on the eyes, it has a gorgeous taste that I realised would wrap up perfectly in a dumpling (I really hope my Auntie Munira approves of my changes)!

So here we are, Oman wrapped up in a little Asian dumpling drizzled with some fiery chilli & garlic oil. Can I get a “YUM”?!

Cooking Notes:

• The filling should give you enough for about 15 dumplings.

• The dumpling wrappers will make about 30. I know my maths is off but fill the wrappers with something else, or save them in the freezer!

• Disclaimer: I am NO dumpling expert, by all means if you have a great method and technique, use it and tell me please. This recipe works for me and well when it came to the wrapping part I totally winged it. Just have fun, but don’t forget to add the turmeric!

• Bibi is allergic to prawns so I made some for her and switched in halibut. This would also work well with a veg like heart of palm or artichoke.

• If you can make the chilli oil in advance that would be amazing, just so it can steep longer and intensify.

INGREDIENTS

Filling:

• 400g Frozen or Fresh Prawns (Small, little ones)

• 4 TBSP Tomato Puree

• 2 TBSP Dried Lime Powder (1 TBSP extra if you like things super tangy!)

• 1 Small White Onion (Chopped into small cubes)

• 1TSP Garlic Puree

• 1 TSP Ginger Puree

• 1 TBSP Baharat

• 1 TSP Turmeric

• 1 TBSP Chilli Flakes (Base this on how much chilli you like)

• 3-4 Curry Leaves

• 1/4 Bunch of Coriander (Chopped super fine)

• 1/4 Bunch of Dill (Chopped super fine)

• Salt (I will never tell you salt measurements because I am addict….you do you on that one!)

• Neutral Oil for Frying

Dumpling Wrappers:

• 200g All Purpose Flour (+ Extra for Dusting)

• 110ml - 130ml Very Warm Water

• 5g-7g Turmeric Powder

• Pinch of Salt

Chilli Oil:

• 3 Garlic Cloves (Smashed)

• 1 Heaped TBSP of Chilli Flakes

• 1/2 TBSP Chilli Powder

• 2 Fresh Red Chillies (Chopped roughly)

• 160ml Neutral Oil

Method

Chilli Oil:

1. Heat your oil over a low - medium heat. Till you see one bubble start to appear. We don’t want it piping.

2. Leave it cool down for about 2mins. While you place all the other ingredients in a heat proof bowl.

3. Pour over the oil, give it a good stir and leave it to sit as long as possible.

Filling:

1. In a pan add the onions, garlic, ginger along with all the spices and a enough oil to coat the base of the pan.

2. Fry the above off till they are well incorporated - roughly 5 mins on a high a heat.

3. Then add in your prawns and tomato puree.

4. You’ll need to fry on a medium - high heat making sure to keep stirring so nothing burns or sticks. Mine took about 10 minutes to show no signs of liquid.

5. Lastly add in your coriander & dill and briefly mix them in for no more than a minute. We want them to stay fresh and not lose that gorgeous aroma.

6. Set this aside and leave it to cool.

Dumpling Wrappers:

1. For your water you want to boil 3/4 and then 1/4 of cold water too. So ideally you have 130ml of not so piping hot water.

2. In a mixing bowl add flour, turmeric, salt and mix it well to distribute.

3. Then add in your water slowly using a fork to cut it through and mix.

4. 110ml will for sure be needed but depending on your flour you may not need the extra 20ml, only add if you feel your dough is not coming together.

5. Start to bring the mixture together with your hands and then place on a surface and get kneading till your dough is super soft. I gave the dough to my mum and had her knead it for 10 minutes…

6. Once it’s smooth and soft, place it back in a lightly floured bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Then leave it to rest for a minimum of 30minutes but remember the longer rest the better.

7. After resting knead the dough briefly, then make a hole in the middle and start to create a big ring, till the thickness of the dough is about 1 inch.

8. Cut up the ring making roughly 14g pieces.

9. Take your pieces and make them into round balls, then roll them all on a floured surface to coat.

10. Taking one ball at a time, flatten it with the palm of your hand and then start rolling it out, turning each time you roll so that it thins out evenly.

11. Once you have gone all the way round, start rolling the edges only, leaving the middle to be slightly thicker.

12. Set each wrapper on a floured surface and continue with the rest.

Filling & Cooking:

1. Take a heaped TSP of filling and place in the middle of wrapper.

2. Bring one edge of the wrapper across and seal, by pinching together.

3. To seal the sides, either pinch all around or pleat like a fan. Very hard to explain without showing a video so here is one I found that was the easiest way for beginners.

4. Wrap them all and cover till you are ready to cook.

5. In a non-stick frying pan, heat 1 TBSP of oil on a medium-high heat.

6. Then add in your dumplings (flat side down) and leave to fry, brown and crisp up on the bottom for 2 minutes.

7. Then add 50ml of water to the pan, place a lid of top and leave to steam for exactly 6 minutes.

8. Serve up, drizzle the oil and enjoy!