Momo's

Last Friday, I was at Mohit's place for a typical workplace guys nightout ( Shefali joined us too, taking the guy's part out ). Cynthia, Mohit's wife, treated us to some amazing momo's followed by more amazing snacks and food. Being the Foodie that I am, nosing around for great stuff, getting my hand on the momo recipe that too from someone from Nagaland was too good an opportunity to miss. Armed with a camera phone and a helpful Cynthia I learned the art of making the momo's.

Momo's are kind of Tibetan Dumplings, that has found its way to all neighbouring countries of Bhutan, Nepal and India through Sikkim, West Bengal, Meghalaya and other North-Eastern States. Infact, I think we have more momo joints in the Delhi region than in the whole of Tibet.

The best place in Delhi I still believe is to go to Sikkim House. The other option is to go to Chanakya Cinema and have it at the stalls outside Yashwant Place shopping mall, or make a trip to Momo point at Kamla Nagar.

Dumplings can be made out flour doughs, leave casings etc. and they can either be steamed,poached or deep fried. Every region in the world has it's own version, Indians have the Modak ( a sweet version, loved by the Elephant God Ganesha), Mongolians have their buuz, Chinese have Jiaozi,Shaomai, the Japanese have the Gyoza, Korean Mandu ( you can see the version of these types here on wikipedia ...makes good reading). Europe hasn't been far behind either. Greeks have the Koulakli Manti (Minced meat dumplings), Loukoumades (deep-fried Honey Dumplings) and Dolmas ( or Dolmathes ...made out of cabbage or vine leaves as casings), other regions have their own, I could go on, but you see ...the list is endless.

So sticking around with the one recipe for Momo that I have at hand, here it goes...

Ingredients: For the Casing:
Refined Flour - 3 Cups
Water - 1 Cup
For the Filling:
Minced Meat - 400 gms
Onions, minced - 200 gms
Corriander or Cilantro, chopped very fine - 110 gm
Ajinomoto ( MSG ) - 1 tsp.
Salt - To Taste
For the Sauce:
Red Chillies - 20 no.
Tomatoes - 100 gm
Method:1. Make dough out of
Flour and water ( It should be flexible). Keep aside.
2. Mix minced meat, minced onions and corriander alongwith salt as per taste and keep aside.
3. Take a small marble size ball of dough and roll it into a thin small round circles.
4. Fill a little of the filling in each of these & fold over by binding the edges with little water. To see how to give shape see the attached video.
5. Place the momo's in the steamer and steam for 10 minutes.
6. Take the momo's of the steamer and serve with the chutney.
To Make Chutney:
1. Boil red chillies with the tomatoes.
2. Drain.
3. Grind coarsely and mix salt per taste.
4. Chutney is ready to be served with the momo's.

Note:
1. To make your own minced meat, boil chicken and then shred it into little pieces. Put in grinder and make a coarse paste.
2. Typically authentic momo's are steamed, not with plain water, but a stock which also flavors the dumplings. This stock is later also served as a soup, called Thukpa.
3. To prevent the momo's from sticking, place cabbage leaves on the steamer and place the dumplings on top of the leaves.
4. Addition of Ajinomoto is optional. Incase you are not adding in the ajinomoto, add in some chopped green chillies, a teaspoon minced garlic, 1 tsp. minced ginger, and around 100 gm chopped spring onion (green onion).
5. Vegans Rejoice. Replace the minced meat with cabbage and mushrooms, both nicely shredded and chopped respectively. Also add in the ingredients, I mentioned in the point above.
6. Some people would also add vinegar to the chillies and tomatoes while grinding to bring about a sourness to the chutney. I have only remained true to the way I had them at Mohit's place.

Posted in: Appetizer,Momo's,North-Eastern Cuisine,Tibetan Cuisine