If we talk about the history and the
origin of this dish, then it can be said that this is the dish of Tibetan
origin and with the influx of Tibetan diaspora it has been spread to others
neighbouring countries. It is the popular fast food in Nepal.
Momo is a type of steamed bun with
some form of filling. With the passage of time it has been a traditional
delicacy in Nepal, Tibet and among both communities in Bhutan along with the
Sikkim and Darjeeling district of Indian territory. Momos have also widely
spread to other part of the world i.e. United States, United Kingdom and India.
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image:betterbutter.in/recipe/6928/steamed-veg-and-paneer-momos
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Ingredients
required for preparing momos:
Vegetarian
momo:
▪ 2-3 cup of flour
▪ ¾ cup of water
▪ 2 thumb size fresh ginger
▪ 2 onions
▪ 2-3 cloves of garlic
▪ 1 pound of tofu
▪ 1 pound of cabbage
▪ 2 table spoon of soya sauce
▪ 1 quarter pound of dried brown
mushrooms
▪ 1 tea spoon of bouillon (vegetable)
Meat
momo:
▪ 1 tea spoon of bouillon (chicken or
beef)
Preparation:
Outer covering of the momo is made
with a simple white-flour-and-water dough. To make outer covering of momo
doughier, a little yeast and baking soda is added to the
finished product. Many a times to enhance the taste of momo monosodium
glutamate is used.
Traditionally
to prepare a momo ground/minced meat filling is used but with the passage of
time this tradition has now changed and the fillings have become more
elaborate. Now a days momos are being prepared with virtually any combination
of vegetable, ground meat, paneer cheese, tofu, soft chhurpi and various other
meat combinations.
● Paneer:It is one of the popular filing
which is used in India.
● Khoa:
In the Kathmandu
valley momo are popularly momo are popularly served as a dessert by making the
filling of momo with milk solid mixed with sugar.
● Vegetables:
Many fined chopped
vegetables are being used as the fillings of the momo in Nepal and India. Such
as chopped potatoes, cabbage and many others.
● Mashed
potato: It is one
of the another popular filling used in the Kathmandu valley.
● Cheese:
Traditionally
chopped chhurpi or fresh cheese is commonly used in India and eastern Nepal.
● Meat:
In different region
different meat fillings are popular. Pork, chicken, goat and buffalo meat is
commonly used in Darjeeling district, Assam, Sikkim, Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan.
Lamb
and yak meat is commonly used in the Himalayan region of Nepal and Ladakh.
The dough is rolled into small
circular flat pieces. The filling is then enclosed in a half round or round or
crescent shape. As the meat is more preferred by people as it has lot of fat
and it is intensively flavoured juice momos. A little amount of oil is added
many a times to lean ground meat which helps to keep the filling juicy and
moist. Then the dumplings are being cooked by steaming over a soup. This soup
is generally a stock based of bones or vegetables put in a utensil named
mucktoo, which is used for making momos. The dumplings after being
steamed can be deep fried or can be pan fried if required.
Typically, there are mainly two
varieties of momos- steamed and fried. Usually the momos are served with the
dipping sauce. This dipping sauce is normally made taking tomato as the base
ingredient. When the steamed momo is
immersed in a meat broth then it can be termed as a soup momo. Kothey momo is
an another name of pan fried momo. C-momo is a name given to the momo when it
is served in a hot sauce. Tingmo and thaipo is also a variety of Tibetan momo.
