Chicken Momos
Taking us on a culinary journey to Nepal, Dev of Hungry Buddha shares his top comfort food recipe - chicken momos.
Momos are a type of steamed dumpling popular in Nepal and they are my comfort food. They remind me of my early days, when different households would get together. I always looked forward to the day when we’d make these and I was good at making the different designs.
Food is a great leveller and we’ve been told by customers that our food reminds them of good experiences, whether it’s how their mum used to cook or food they’ve had in the past. If you can manage to transport a customer back to their past with your food - bingo!
If you have any questions about cooking Nepalese food, please come along to our stall at the Moor Market and ask me. I’ll be more than happy to help out.
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To make the dough, use refined whole grain flour, often called ‘aata’, which is readily available in Asian supermarkets. Add water to the flour and bring your dough together. Transfer to a work surface and knead well for five minutes until it forms a smooth and stiff dough. Cover this with a tea towel or wrap in cling film and let it rest for 30 minutes. (You can skip this step and simply buy any dumpling pastry or sheet from your nearest Asian supermarket.)
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For the meat filling, mix finely chopped coriander and spring onions with the minced meat. Heat a pan and add oil. Add fenugreek to the pan and wait until its colour changes to brown. At this stage, add the onion and cabbage. Cook it until these appear transparent, then add the contents of the pan to the meat. For seasoning, add salt, cumin, coriander powder, garam masala and chilli powder. Mix well with the meat and set your filling aside.
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You should be able to make about 18 momos pieces, each weighing between 14-16g, so divide your dough into 18. Roll each piece into a circular shape, around 7cm each, then add 20g of filling in the centre. It can be difficult to explain in words how to wrap a momo - the above video shows you how. Once, you’ve made all your momos, use either a bamboo steamer or a sieve over a pan of boiling water to steam them for 10-15 minutes. Serve with your favourite choice of dipping sauce.
