For sweet red bean paste: divide the bean paste into 10 portion, about 15 grams each. Oil you palms with a bit of cooking oil and roll the bean paste into balls
Prepare the dough:
Cut the pumpkin into chunks and steam for 10 minutes until fork-tender. Mash while it's still hot. If you are using canned pumpkin puree, heat it up in the microwave on high for a minute or heat it up on the stove or steamer until they are hot. Add sugar and flour and mix while they are still warm with a spoon at first and then knead into a smooth dough. It's important for the pumpkin to be warm so the dough won't break easily
If the dough is too sticky, you can add a bit more glutinous rice flour until you can get non-sticky smooth dough. If the dough feels dry, you can add a bit more of the hot water
Shaping:
Divide the dough into 10 balls, about 30 grams each. Keep them covered and work with one at a time
Take one ball and use your thumb to make a well in the center of the dough and work on widening the well to fit the filling in there. Put 1 red bean paste ball
Gather the edge to enclose. Pinch to seal and then roll the dough ball in between your palms to make it smooth. Make sure the dough ball is smooth with no cracks so the filling won't leak out during filling. If the dough becomes dry when you wrap, dab with a bit of water and you should be able to roll it smooth again. Repeat with the rest
Prepare the flour paste by mixing the flour and water together. Roll one dough into the paste and then roll into the sesame seeds. Repeat with the rest
Deep frying:
Preheat your fryer with about 3-inches of oil over medium heat. If you put a skewer into the oil and there are bubbles around it, the oil is too hot. Lower the heat and wait for 3-5 minutes before frying
Gently place the sesame balls into the oil. You may need to do this in 2-3 batches. The sesame balls will sink to the bottom at first. Use a spoon to keep them moving and turning them around so they fry evenly and don't get burn in certain spots. When you fry them over low-medium heat, the balls have lower chance of exploding and fry evenly
Once they are crispy on the outside and lightly golden brown, remove and place on an absorbent paper towel
If you want them to stay crispy longer, you can fry for second time after resting for at least 10 minutes. The second round of frying happens quickly. The balls will darken much faster, so you want to make sure you only fry for a minute or less over medium heat. Remove from the hot oil and put on absorbent paper towel
Air-frying:
Preheat your air fryer at 320 F (160 C) for 5 minutes. Brush the jian dui with some oil and put in the air fryer basket. Air fry for about 15 minutes. Then increase the temperature to 350 F (180 C) and air fry for another 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. The timing is just for reference. Check on them once or twice in between. They should be crispy on the outside and just lightly golden brown