First of all, happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope you’ve had the chance to sit down to enjoy a scrumptious dinner with family and loved ones this weekend and taken the time to consider some things you’re thankful for.  This blog post is probably going to become another something you’re thankful for because MOMOS!

For those of you who have no idea what that word means or who think it’s a winged lemur from Avatar: The Last Airbender… prepare your belly for the most delicious dumplings served every which way you can think of! That’s right, momos are a popular dumpling and an absolute staple of Nepali cuisine. It’s no wonder we decided to launch our food appreciation week with this yummy recipe.

One of the great things about momos is there is pretty much endless possibilities when it comes to variety. We’ll cover the most common Nepali versions (Veg/Meat, Steamed/Fried) here and a special treat that we can’t help but share because it involves warm, gooey, oozing chocolate.

This first thing you need for any type of momo is the dough so let’s start there.

For the Dough

• 4 cups of flour
• 2 cups of water

Knead the dough until it is smooth and everything sticks together. Set aside in a bag to allow dough to soften and rest. While that’s happening, prepare the filling.

Since Thanksgiving is all about that turkey, let’s start with the Veg Recipe as a small shoutout to our vegetarian friends. Also worth noting that with a tiny, tiny substitution, this recipe can be 100% vegan as well! Woot!

Veg Momo

*Serves 4-5 people

*All vegetables should be finely chopped.

*Mix all ingredients together then toss in a wok to cook until veggies are tender.

• 100g carrot
• 500g cabbage
• 100g boiled potato
• 100g green beans
• 100g green bell pepper
• 100g paneer (optional…omit for vegan version)
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp butter (substitute with coconut oil for vegan version)
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp garam masala

Alright, since the process for actually constructing the momos is all the same, here’s the meat version of the above recipe. In Nepal, the two most common forms of meat based momo are chicken and buff (water buffalo). Unless you know a really specialty butcher, you can substitute ground beef for the water buffalo.

Meat Momo

*Serves 4-5 people.

*Mix all ingredients then cook it up until the meat is cooked through.

• 1kg ground chicken or beef
• 500g finely chopped onion
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp chopped ginger
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp butter
  

Once you’ve mixed your ingredients all together, it’s time for the tricky yet strangely really fun part. We’re not going to lie, we haven’t quite mastered how to make the momos look as perfect as any Nepali Didi does but they taste great all the same.

To Construct the Momo

• Cut a chunk off the dough ball and roll it out until you’ve got a tube about 1 inch in diameter. Pinch off sections of the tube so you’ve got a bunch of little dough balls.
• Roll them into spheres and then flatten them with a rolling pin (or if you’re like me, a mostly empty wine bottle…) so they’re kind of a pizza pocket shape.
• Take a spoonful of whatever mixture you want and plunk it right in the middle.
• Now’s the tricky part. Fold the dough around the mixture so that it sticks shut. A momo making master would tell you to pinch the edges back on each other to create a rippled look but I’m going to tell you to fold those suckers shut however you can because even though I’ve made this recipe five times, I still can’t get a decent looking one.
• They taste great though.
  

  

Cooking Methods

• To steam your momos, place in a steamer of some sort and allow them to cook above boiling water for 6-8 minutes.
• To fry your momos, carefully drop them into a deep fryer if you’re fancy or a pot of hot oil if you’re on a budget. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side or until they’re a nice golden brown colour.
• DEVOUR!

And that’s pretty much it. Delicious!

 

 

But hey, didn’t we mention something about oozing chocolate a while ago? Yeah, bet you’re happy you stuck around to the end of the article right?

• Take your favourite chocolate bar (Mars and Snickers work extremely well) and chop it up into a few pieces.
• Take a chunk of chocolate bar and carefully navigate it away from your mouth and into some raw momo dough.
• Fold it up as best as you can.
• Throw these babies into the hot oil or deep fryer and let cook for a few minutes on each side.
• Give them a few minutes to cool (trust me, I learned the hard way) before biting into what has become a doughy, decadent explosion of chocolaty flavour.

Drool… you’re welcome.