Admittedly, even looking at this photo makes me ill.
Not in a nauseous, per se, just in a if-I-never-see-another-momo-again way.
Nepal is many things.
Culinary Capital it is not.
But that doesn’t take away from a fun-to-say and great-to-eat snack.
See, I’m obsessed with anything Silk Road.
Probably one of the reasons I love Istanbul more than any other.
How it came from alllllll the way over there.
Who did what to make it their own.
To what it is now.
And nowhere is that journey on display more than the humble dumpling.
Starting in China and now…
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Well, lemme see if I can just steal a map, as I’m about to board my flight for Delhi.
(That was easy, thanks!)
And is there ever a better family activity than making dumplings?
Do it for those of us who don’t have one, would ya?
Now — while the most traditional Nepali momo are “buff” (buffalo), you can easily substitute that with pork or chicken if you don't have a spare buffalo.
(We’ll do chicken to make it easy for everyone.)
You can also cook them to liking — steamed, tandoori or, my personal favorite, fried.
The real magic, what sets momo apart from every other dumpling variation is the chutney dipping sauce — so take note.
Note: While I prefer the more round Tibetan variety (recipe from TheCuriousChickpea), the aforementioned important chutney recipe will follow below, as it’s the closest I could find to what we’ve been eating here.
Nepali Chicken Momo
Ingredients
Dough
2 cups all purpose flour, more as needed
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp oil
3/4 cup water
⠀Filling
2 cups (180g) shredded green cabbage
3/4 cup (70g) shredded carrot
1/2 cup (45g) thinly sliced scallions, white and green parts
2 tsp salt, more to taste
1 tbsp minced ginger
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup minced cilantro
4 oz extra firm tofu, crumbled
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp oil
Make the dumpling dough: In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour and salt. Add the water and oil and mix the dough until it comes together. Turn out onto a floured counter and knead the dough, adding more flour as necessary, until you have a smooth and barely tacky dough. Put the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes while you prepare the filling.
Add the shredded cabbage, shredded carrot, and sliced scallions in a large mixing bowl. Add the salt and toss to combine. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes, then squeeze out extra water from the cabbage. You can do it easily in a thin tea towel, nut milk bag, muslin or layered cheese cloth.
Dump out the water and add the vegetables back into the mixing bowl. Toss with the ginger, garlic, cilantro tofu, black pepper, and oil. Taste and add salt if needed.
When the dough has rested for a half an hour, divide it in half. Leave one half under the damp towel, and roll the second half out on a lightly floured counter until it is very thin, basically as thin as you can roll it. Lift the dough and rotate, flip and dust with more flour as you roll to keep it from sticking.
Cut the dough into 3 1/2 - 4 inch circles. Remove the scraps of dough and place it back under the damp towel.
Taking one piece of dough at a time, place it in the palm of your non-dominant hand. Put about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of the dough, then fold and pinch the dough together to form a round momo. If you would like you can pinch the dough together at the end to seal the center, or leave it open as pictured. Watch the video for more details on how to shape the momos.
Place finished momos on a lightly oiled plate and repeat with the remaining dough, rolling out the other half when needed, and re-rolling the scraps until all dough and/or filling is used up.
Prepare a steamer pot, filling it with water and bringing it to a boil over medium-high heat. Place momos on a lightly greased steamer basket, leaving space between each dumpling. Steam for 5 minutes, or until the dough is not sticky to the touch and remove using tongs. Repeat with remaining dumplings.
Serve the dumplings warm with chutney. Leftover dumplings can be reheated by steaming them again.
Momo Chutney Recipe
INGREDIENTS
¾ cup crushed tomatoes (canned) 2 medium tomatoes (fresh)
1 tsp oil
4-5 dried red chillies Use sichuan if available, that is traditional. Remove seeds if want less spicy.
1 tsp garlic crushed
1 tsp ginger finely shredded
2 tsp spring onion greens, chopped (about 1.5 stalks)
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
⠀INSTRUCTIONS
Heat pan on stove on medium- high. Add oil to pan, once heated add garlic and ginger. Cook and mix 1 minute. Add onions cook another minute.
Add dried red chilies and mix to coat.
Add crushed tomatoes, salt, sugar and soy sauce. Mix and let cook 3-4 minutes until it thickens. Turn off gas, add lemon juice and mix.
Let cool and blend into a smooth chutney.
... and there you go!
Make some.
Eat some.
Tag me in the photo.
