Chicken, Squash & Rice Dumpling Soup

This soup is both comforting and exciting to the taste buds. The creamy base of the coconut milk broth provides a nice counter point to the chew of the chicken, squash and soft glutinous dumplings. The broth kind of reminds me of my mom's Chicken Qorma, from the use of the coconut milk and the spices. But know that this soup is a labor of love. You'll want to make it when you have an hour and half of time to prep soup ingredients and take care of the dumpling preparation. But the results are worth it. And since the soup makes an enormous batch, it'll last you for a few days. Perfect for before a weekend when all you wanna do is stay in (and maybe play some Worms Armageddon, ha!)
I was originally planning on sticking very close to Asha's recipe from her cookbook but then when I started researching her recipe online, I realized the dumplings were getting pretty bad reviews on a New York Times article based on this recipe. So I decided to do my own research into finding a traditional South Indian rice dumpling recipe (also known as Pundi Gatti/Kara Kadubu). I was able to find a step by step recipe here that looked reliable so went with it instead.

Soup Recipe adapted from My Two Souths by Asha Gomez & Rice Dumpling from here
Serves 8-10

Rice Dumplings:
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 dried red chiles, broken into pieces
1 sprig curry leaves
4 cups water
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 cups rice flour (both white and brown rice flour work well)

Chicken & Winter Squash Soup:
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp chopped ginger
3 shallots, sliced thinly (or 1 large yellow onion, quartered and sliced thinly)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
2 heaping tsp salt
2.5 lbs chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
2 celery ribs, sliced thinly
1 lb delicata squash, seeds removed and diced (no need to remove skin)
1/2 bunch thyme
2 fresh bay leaves

5 cups water
14 oz can coconut milk

Instructions: 
For the rice dumplings: Heat oil in a 4-5 quart saucepan on medium high heat. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dried chiles, and curry leaves. Cover with a lid until they start popping a little. Uncover and immediately add water and bring to a boil on high. Once boiling, lower the heat to low and add rice flour a little by little whisking it in so no lumps form. Cook the rice flour mixture by stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for 3-4 minutes till it forms a cohesive looking glutinous dough and pulse away from the sides. Let it cool for about 30 minutes. (You can start prepping your soup ingredients till then)
Once the rice dough is cool, form them into small 1.5 inch balls by using wet or oiled hands. I got 40 balls out of my dough. Steam them in a steamer for 10 minutes until plump and cooked through. Let them cool in the steamer basket off of the stove while you make soup.
For the soup:
Heat oil in a 5-6 quart saucepan on medium hight heat. Add ginger and let it sizzle for 30 seconds. Add shallots and sauce them till light brown. Add all the spices, salt and chicken and sauce till the chicken forms an outside cooked layer. Add the celery, squash, thyme sprigs, bay leaves, water. & coconut milk. Bring to a boil on high and cover and cook on low for 30 minutes. Add dumplings and simmer for about 5 more minutes. Serve and enjoy! The soup tastes betters it sits, so it's perfect for leftovers.