Tamales go East

I'd made a batch of tamales a few weeks back, and a friend had commented on how they reminded him of a zongzi, a Chinese steamed rice dumpling.  Since then I'd been mulling over the idea of trying to make Chinese style dumplings but using the tamale method, and wondered if it was doable.  A weekend of snow, post holiday blues and an early case of spring cleaning gave me the opportunity. Lurking at the back of my kitchen cupboards was half a bag of ground rice, that, along with leftover corn husks, cashew nuts, dessicated coconut and some baby corn located in the fridge gave me an idea... 

I wasn't sure whether the method would work, but it was worth a try, and the end result would be edible if nothing else.  As it turned out, making the rice dumplings tamale style worked very well, and the filling, while not in anyway resembling what you would usually find in Chinese steamed dumplings (more often than not something piggy) was very tasty. 
So here follows the recipe for rice dumplings tamale style, with a vaguely Malaysian-y filling...

For the dough:
250g ground rice
1 tsp baking powder
400ml vegetable stock
100g margarine

For the filling:
2 tablespoons of smooth peanut butter
4 baby corn chopped (water chestnuts would probably work really nicely as well)
1 medium sized red chilli (finely chopped)
100g cashew nuts (crushed)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 heaped tablespoon of dessicated coconut
1 handful of fresh coriander (finely chopped) 
Soy sauce to taste

20 corn husks  

Directions
1. Soak the corn husks in hot water for 1-2 hours before you start to soften
2. Mix all the ingredients for the filling together and put it to one side
3. Put the ground rice and baking powder in a large bowl
4. Melt the margarine and pour it into the rice, mixing well until all the fat is absorbed
5. Slowly add the vegetable stock, you want a fairly loose dough, if you've made tamales before then that's what you're aiming for.  If not, then you're looking for a spreadable consistency (almost peanut butter-ish)
6. Take the corn husks out of the water and pat dry
7. Add a spoonful of the dough mix to the centre of the corn husk and spread out

8. Then add a spoonful of the filling onto the dough and fold, the aim is to make a nice neat little package
9. Repeat the process until you've either a) run out of dough, b) corn husks, or c) patience

10. Place the dumplings in a steamer, and steam for around 1 hour/ hour and a half
11. Then eat! They taste extra nice with a dipping sauce, something like sweet chilli would do.  I made a quick sauce from some ghost chilli relish, sesame oil and soy sauce