Momo – A Nepalese Delicacy
You hardly meet someone who doesn’t know what Momos are. They originated in Nepal – a small country in the Himalayas but are adored around the world for their simplicity and deliciousness. They are a version of steamed dumplings packed with flavor from meat, veggies or cheese.
Growing up in Delhi, Momos were a staple street food for Bhanu and after moving out of India we were always on the lookout for a perfect Nepali momo. Then in 2018 we took a family trip with both of our parents to the land of momos and learned how to make perfect momos from the masters themselves. It was an amazing learning experience because not only did we learn how to make our favorite dish but also got to do it with our family! Can’t ask for more!!
This is a very simple recipe and you can have authentic but home-made momos in minutes, so give it a try!!
Equipment
- Steamer or colander
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cups All purpose flour
- 1 cup Water
Fillings
- 200 g Cabbage
- 3 Onions
- 3 Carrots
- 5 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Inch Ginger
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1 tbsp Momo masala Optional
- 1/2 cup Ghee
- Salt
Instructions
- Mix flour, some salt and water and knead to form smooth but hard dough. If the dough is still sticky, add more flour and knead thoroughly. Set it aside to rest for 15-20 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, finely chop onions, cabbage and carrots. The finer you can chop the better as this will form a homogeneous filling mixture.
- Add all the dry spices except salt to the chopped veggies.
- Add melted ghee to this mixture and mix thoroughly to so that ghee covers all the veggies.
- Now add salt as per taste. We add salt after ghee to prevent the veggies from releasing any water.
- Now gently knead the dough again for a minute and start rolling to form small circular wrappers (3-4cm).
Folding Momos
- To properly fold the momos, hold wrapper in one palm and put filling in the center.
- Apply some water on half of the circumference of the wrapper. Start by folding and pinching together on the other half to form pleats and stick it to the watered side.
- Make sure that the pleats stick properly to the watered edge otherwise momos will open up during steaming or collapse.
Steaming
- Boil water in a pot and cover it with lightly oiled colander. Put momos in the colander and make sure they don't stick to each other.
- Cover it and steam for 8-10 minutes.
- It may be tempting to open the lid and keep checking but avoid doing that as it may release the steam and momos will take longer to cook.
- Once the wrapper is whitish in color, momos are ready! Serve it with your favorite tomato or peanute chutney!
Notes
- Make sure the dough is hard. Loose dough will be difficult to shape and may not hold shape after wrapping.
- Don’t add salt to chopped veggies before ghee otherwise a lot of water will be released and the filling will be difficult to work with.
- In case you accidentally add salt before, just squeeze out excess water from the veggies using a muslin cloth or sieve.
- Lightly oiling the colander prevents momos from sticking and breaking during steaming.
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