Momo, the steamed dumplings from Tibet are stuffed with ground meat or vegetables or both. We Indians love it served with hot or sweet chilli sauce.
Prep Time1 hourhr
Cook Time20 minutesmins
Total Time1 hourhr20 minutesmins
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: South Asian
Servings: 25momos
Author: Famidha Ashraf
INGREDIENTS
For the Dough
1garlic clovecrushed and minced
½cupwaterapprox
2cupsall-purpose flourplus more for dusting
For the Filling
1cupground beef or lamb or chicken
1medium oniondiced finely
3garlic chives or scallions, chopped
2 to 3garlic clovesminced finely
Fresh coriander leaves
5teaspoonssoy sauce
½teaspoongaram masala
¼teaspooncumin powder
2teaspoonssunflower oil
Salt and pepper to taste
For the Sweet Chilli Sauce
⅓cupwater
5dried red chillies torn into 2 to 3 pieces
5garlic cloves
¼cupwhite vinegar
3tablespoonssugar
salt to taste
½tablespooncornflour mixed with ½ tablespoon water
Other
Oil to grease the steamer
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare the dough
Add the minced garlic to a small bowl along with water and let it steep for 20 to 30 minutes.
In another bowl, add the flour and make a well in the centre.
Strain the garlic-infused water through a sieve into the well in the flour. Use your fingers and make a circular motion to incorporate the water into the flour.
Start to knead the dough until stiff and smooth, approx 5 to 8 minutes. Cover the dough and let rest for 30 minutes.
Prepare the Sweet Chilli Sauce
Add the dried red chillies to the boiling water. Switch off and cover the pan and let the chillies soak for 10 minutes.
Transfer the soaked chillies along with the water into a blender and add the sugar, garlic, salt, and vinegar and blend.
Pour the sauce back into the pan and bring this to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer.
Meanwhile, mix cornflour with water and stir into the sauce. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens.
Turn off the heat and let it cool down completely. Serve with steamed or fried momos.
Prepare the filling
Add all the filling ingredients into a bowl and give a good mix. Check the taste and adjust the flavours.
Shape the momos
Divide the dough into equal-sized pieces. approx 25.
Take a dough ball and dust it with flour and flatten it slightly. Use a rolling pin (small), and roll the dough balls into 2-inch rounds, making sure not to put pressure in the middle. Ensure to put pressure on the edges as we want the edges to be thinner than the centre. Roll out enough dough balls your steamer can hold and stack them with flour or spread them on a large plate but ensure to keep them covered at all times.
Place a tablespoon of filling in the centre of rolled dough rounds and seal the dumplings with your choice of method.
Pinch to close one end of the momo and start to pleat. You can pleat one side and stick the pleat to the other edge as you go. Or, pleat on both the edges and stick as you go until the end (leaf-like momo)
Steam and serve
Grease the steamer with oil to prevent the momos from sticking. Ensure to add enough water to the steamer and bring it to a full boil before placing the momos.
Place enough momos in the steamer without touching each other and steam for 15-20 minutes.