The Momo Way ...

A recipe straight from the Mountains with love.

I can almost visualize a cozy Hotel area in the lap of the Himalayas when anyone talks about  Momos (Dumplings). It is to be enjoyed with spicy Sambal (Sauce) made of fiery dry red chilles and a generous amount of garlic and steaming clear soup. It is incomplete without these two condiments. I will get to the clear soup & the Sauce in another post. For now, take a look at these dumplings, made them for the first time. An old friend had come over for dinner and I decided to make these starters. However, was disheartened hearing she was not fond of them as by then I had all the ingredients ready. Nevertheless, I made them & served. The best moment of that rendezvous after 1.5 years was, she exclaimed ‘I love Momos from now’ .. YAY! That definitely was one of the best compliments I got for my Culinary trials.

This experiment will remain incomplete without the mention of a friend, Ms R, who sitting in Taipei (now under red alert due to natural disaster, Typhoon and earthquake, her only way of connecting to the rest of the World is the Internet as even phone lines have been suspended and flights have been cancelled) gave me instructions over Facebook chat, thanks a million Ms R :) who blogs here. Let's pray she gets back home safe.

Here is what we will need to make Chicken Momos : (The following proportions will make 22 decent sized Momos with good amount of filling in each one of the dumplings)

1. Minced Chicken – 500 gms
2. All Purpose Flour (Maida) – 3.5 cups
3. Salt to taste
4. Pepper to taste
5. Onions – 2 medium – finely chopped
6. Chillies – I used medium ones, 4 red & 4 green. We like them HOT! Increase or decrease the heat as per taste.
7. Garlic – about 10 medium cloves
8. Ginger – As shown in the picture.

1. Steaming hot water.
2. Cooking Spray / Oil

To make the dough I kneaded 3.5 cups of all purpose flour with salt & pepper with steaming hot water.  Be careful and do not burn your fingers. (Hot water makes the dough very soft). Once done, I drizzled a few drops of cooking Oil and coated it, covered and let it rest for about 30 minutes.

For the filling: Make a smooth paste of the ginger, garlic and the chillies with little water & keep (Entirely up-to taste, you can chop them fine & mix to the minced Chicken as well).

The next step here is entirely upto the cook to judge. I am finicky about my filling remaining underdone at the end hence I sautéed the filling in 2 tsps of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (any other unflavored cooking oil can be used too). This step can be omitted and the filling can go inside the dough raw and still should be cooked at the end of the process if steamed properly. I will try the latter next time.

I dropped the chopped Onions first into the hot Oil, then the Ginger-Garlic-Chilli paste, then added required quantities of Salt and Pepper. Added the minced Chicken at the end and mixed thoroughly. Emptied into a plate and set aside.

Now let’s get back to the dough & give it one final knead. Make equal sized small balls from it (refer to the picture)

Once done, roll out the small balls, one at a time, to small roundish flat breads.

Put some filling in between & with your fingers bring the edges together (like that of the pleats of a Saree) & give it one final pinch to seal. (Every time I added the filling, I had to take the filling mix in my palm & squeeze it to get rid of any moisture, if this process is not done the moisture might puncture your dumplings). 

Place them on an oiled surface while you roll out some more. Other shapes of dumplings are found in the restaurants too, but I did not try any other shape as I was too skeptical to experiment when my guest was already in the drawing room chatting up with the Hubby.

The tricky part is what to steam your dumplings in. I was not confident about making them in the Microwave Oven with the Vegetable Steamer that I have (do let me know if any of you have tried that). What I did was, I used my Rice Cooker. I had put water where we normally put Rice, topped it with a steel Colander oiled with cooking spray (otherwise the base of the dumplings will stick to the surface of the Colander), placed the dumplings on the Oiled surface. Cover with a glass lid and let it steam.

NOTE : If you can make sure, the water inside the Rice Cooker has come to a boil (like I did) starting to steam the first batch, then the dumplings will take 5-6 minutes on one side, turn with a tong (don’t use your hands, they are very hot at this time) & steam for 3-4 minutes on the other side. 

Once done, remove and serve with the condiments mentioned earlier. If you want to eat them later, you can use an insulated box and Microwave them for 30-45 seconds before eating. Do not chill them in the refrigerator, as once all purpose flour hardens up, it is very difficult to get the softness back. Enjoy your Chicken Steamed Momos on a cold evening and dream of the Himalayas as I did.