Momos

A Snack for Breakfast or any meal, A delicious snack to munch during the winter days or enjoyed with a cuppa hot beverage watching it shower !

Here it is Momo! Its a simple flour-water dough dumpling either steamed or fried.
It has a filling inside it similar to our Indian Snacks Kachori, Pattice and samosas.
The fillings vary and differ with People, Region, and Taste!
The Vegetable momos common in India and Nepal; Meat filled ones in Ladakh,Assam, Bhutan,Tibet, China etc.

Vegetarian Momo fillings range from potatoes, capsicum , cabbage and are either served with soup or spicy tomato sauce.

Mixed Momos are available too

You also have a chocolate version of these dumplings too!

It has its origin form the North eastern Himalayan regions. Very popular fast food in those regions.
It has various versions such as Momo soup , Fried Momo , Kathei Momo ,and the Steamed Momo.

A chef happen to tell me that at times they add yeast or soda to give volume to the dough.

The Places i know of in Bangalore with tasty momos : InfiTea On Cunningham Road( Absolutely mouthwatering) , Most of the Chungs have this on their menus, There's this small vendor who make only momos on Brigade Road next to Rex Theatre.

These dumplings hold a very special place to my hubby and me , as it was our favorite munchi along with cuppa Tea and never ending talks during our courtship!

Well I made a change in my recipe to have it a little on the healthy side, i replaced Maida with Whole wheat flour. Ive also tried using both in 1:1 ratio, they are equally delicious and good!








Ingredients:

Dough for wrappers:
? 3 cups Whole Wheat Flour or Maida ( Or both in 1:1 ratio)
? Oil : 1tblspn
? Water
? Salt A pinch
? For the Momo Filling:
Carrot: ¼ cup (finely chopped)
Beans : 5-6
Cabbage: ½ cup (finely chopped)
Corn, Potatoes, Capsicum(etc)
Ginger-Garlic paste: 1tspn
Tirphal/Cinnamon/nutmeg : 1tspn
Cumin / Jeera powder : 1tspn
Coriander powder: 1tspn
Black pepper crushed : 1tspn
Red chilies : 2-3 0r Red chili powder
Panneer/Cheese : ¼ cup
Ghee/Butter/Oil : 2-3 tblspn
Salt To taste


Method :

? Preparing the dough wrapper:
In a bowl combine flour, oil, salt and water. Mix well; knead until the dough becomes smooth yet a little stiff. (Took me about 5-7 mins in the processor).
? Cover and let stand for at least an hour.
? Now to prepare the filling:
In another bowl combine all filling ingredients. Adjust for seasoning with salt spice levels.
? Cover and marinate for at least an hour so that all the ingredients give out their unique flavors it also helps the consistency of the filling.
? Now to begin! Give the dough a final knead. Prepare round dough balls. Dust working board with dry flour. On the board gently flatten the ball with the rolling pin to about a 3-inch circle.
? Open secret to share to achieve well cooked Momos, it should be noted that the centre of the dough wrapper has to be slightly thicker than the edges to ensure the structural integrity of dumplings during wrapping and steaming them.
? Cover them to prevent from drying.
? For wrapping; hold wrapper on one palm, put one tablespoon of filling mixture and with the other hand bring all edges together to the center, making the dough frills. Pinch and twist the dough frills, to ensure the absolute closure of the stuffed dumpling. This holds the key to well made and yummy tasting Momos.
? Now comes the cooking part of these filled dumplings;
(a) Either you steam it up for say 5- 7 mins in the Microwave. Or
(b)Cook them in a steamer as they are actually done.
The steamer used is very similar to the idli cooker we use.
So grease it with and arrange the dumplings such that they don?t stick to each other. Close the lid, and steam until the dumplings are cooked for say about 15-20 mins (Depending on how many you have kept.
(c) One can also make use of the idli stand, grease the depressions and place the uncooked momos and steam them in you pressure cookers for 10-15 mins.
(d) Or deep fry the dumplings.
Take the dumplings off the steamer, and immediately serve.
? So coming to the final step take of the dumplings immediately and serve them with sauce or Hot soup.



Easy to make Momo Tomato sauce:

? 5 Tomatoes : 5-6
? Ginger-Garlic Paste : 2tspn
? Tirphal (Szechwan pepper) : 2tspn ( if not available use cinnamon or nutmeg)
? Lime juice/ or vinegar : 2-3 tspns
? Chilli powder : 3-4 tspns
? Salt To taste
? Soya sauce (optional)

Now saute' the tomatoes and churn it with the rest of the ingredients and mix well and it ready!

Variations:

? You can use only Maida ie All purpose flour in making momos.
? The momos can me Pan fried, deep fried as well as steamed.
? Momos are usually served with tomato sauce, Soup, but you can enjoy it with any gravy , dip, chutney or sauce of your choice. There are alot or chinese sauces available in the market, also this goes with pudina chutney or imli chutney!
? Fillings can be modified depending on one's taste.
?Szechwan pepper its a spice known by names Tirphal, Jummane Kai (kannada), Tephal in India. If not available you can replace with cinnamon or nutmeg, jaiphal.