Nepalese Vegetable Momos
Cute little parcels of healthy and yummy goodness drenched in tangy potato gravy and topped with hot and spicy chili-sesame oil can disappear in no time!
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My first real taste of what authentic momo is was in this beautiful place, Pulbazar, nestled in a valley of Darjeeling Himalayan hill region. It was my first visit to my sister’s in laws home nestled among the Darjeeling’s well-known lush tea gardens and a flowing river Rangeet.
Sitting on the open terrace kitchen and listening to the gentle sounds of a flowing river, I learnt the art of making momos. While the men were busy entertaining the kids, the ladies huddled together to make more than 200 momos that evening. But who was counting? No fancy equipments, just pure skill of efficiently rolling and folding these little parcels of deliciousness. And it was one of the most soul satisfying meals I had, the memories of which prompts me to write the recipe down.
The recipe is a heavy adaptation of what I learnt that evening but with a twist of my own. Traditionally, the beautifully pleated momos are served with a broth of the leftover vegetable trimmings and a spicy tomato chutney. My version is steamed or pan fried momos drenched in a watery aloo dum (a potato curry), topped with a spicy peanut-tomato chutney, sesame-chili oil and completed with crunchy noodles. Absolute bliss! 
You can use ready dumpling wrappers available at Asian stores or make the wrappers from scratch. It is a time-consuming recipe but worth the effort. So, go ahead, bring the family together and have your kids join you in folding the wrappers, making the process not only fun to eat but fun to make.
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Recipe Card
Nepalese Vegetable Momos
Recipe Rating
AUTHOR
Hema B Kathrani
CUISINE
Asian
PREP TIME
1.45 minutes
COOK TIME
20-25 minutes
SERVINGS
makes 30 momos
Author: Hema B Kathrani | Cuisine: Asian | Category: Mains
Prep Time: 1.45 minutes | Cook Time: 20-25 minutes | Servings: makes 30 momos
Cute little parcels of healthy and yummy goodness drenched in tangy potato gravy and topped with hot and spicy chili-sesame oil can disappear in no time!
Ingredients
- For the dough:
- 1 ¾ cups plain flour
- 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
- 1 tbsp oil
- Salt to taste
- ½ cup warm water or more depending on the flour
- For the filling of momos:
- 3 cups cabbage shredded
- ½ cup green onions/scallions finely chopped
- 1 cup carrot grated
- ½ cup onion finely chopped
- 2 tbsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper
- ¼ cup finely chopped coriander
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- For the aloo dum:
- 3 medium sized boiled potato cut in small cubes
- 1 tomato grated
- 1 tbsp red chilly powder
- 1 tsp tamarind pulp
- 2 tbsp oil, preferably mustard oil
- 3 cups of water
- Salt to taste
- For the tomato chutney
- 2 ripe tomatoes
- 2 fresh red chilies
- 1 clove of garlic
- ¼ cup roasted peanuts
- Salt to taste
- For the chili-sesame oil:
- ¼ cup oil preferably peanut
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp red chilli powder
- Crunchy ready to eat noodles like wai-wai
Method
- Make the dough:
- In a bowl mix both the flours, salt and oil.
- Add water to make a soft, pliable dough and knead for 10 minutes.
- Cover with a wet cloth and keep it aside for at least 30 minutes.
- Make the filling:
- In a bowl, mix finely chopped veggies – cabbage, green onions, onion and carrot – with 2 tbsp of salt and leave it aside for 30 minutes.
- Squeeze out the water from vegetables as much as possible.
- Add pepper, coriander and melted butter.
- Check the seasoning. Add salt only if necessary.
- Make the tomato chutney:
- Make a cross on the top of the tomatoes with a sharp knife and put them in the boiling water for 5 minutes or until the skin starts to peel off.
- Remove from the water and keep it aside to cool.
- Peel of the skin of the tomatoes and put them in a grinder along with red chillies, garlic, salt and peanuts to grind it in a smooth chutney.
- Make aloo dum:
- In a pan, heat mustard oil on a high flame till it starts to smoke.
- Lower the gas and very carefully, add the grated tomato and sauté for 1 minute.
- Add red chilly powder and cubed potato. Sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add the pulp, salt and the water to the potato mix.
- Make chili-sesame oil:
- In a pan, heat oil and add sesame seeds.
- Once it starts to splutter, turn off the flame.
- Add red chili powder, salt and lemon juice once it is slightly warm.
- Fold the momos:
- To make the wrappers, divide the dough in 30 equal portions and roll each portion in a 4-inch circle.
- Keep the remaining dough covered under the wet cloth so that it doesn’t dry out.
- Now to stuff and shape, take one rolled dough in your non dominant hand and with the other hand put 1 tbsp of stuffing in the middle of it.
- To pleat, pinch one end of the momo and fold it back to the edge. Continue stretching and folding till you reach the other end.
- Keep the stuffed momos covered under a clean cloth while you fold the rest.
- To steam, grease the plate of the steamer pan filled with water.
- Place the momos on the plate leaving at least 2-inch space between them.
- Steam the dumplings for 7-8 minutes on a high flame.
- With the help of tongs, remove them and serve them immediately.
- Serve:
- In a bowl, pour a generous ladle full of aloo dum and place 2 momos over it.
- Top it with the chili-sesame oil, tomato chutney, crunchy wai-wai noodles and enjoy.
Notes
- Adding a little whole wheat flour to the momos dough gives it a little ‘stability’ which makes it easier to roll out the dough.
- Do chop the vegetables very fine so that they do not tear the wrapper while you fold it. I suggest using a vegetable chopper to do the job super quickly.
- Instead of fresh red chili, you can use 2 dry red chilies soaked in warm water.
- Use Kashmiri red chili for the bright red colour for the chili sesame oil.
- These momos do not freeze well. They can be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Did you make this recipe? Follow me on Instagram handle @acookwithin or @acookwithin on Facebook.
www.acookwithin.com
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Let me know how this recipe turned out for you by writing to me in the comments below. And if you take a picture, please tag me on my instagram handle @acookwithin 
to share your creation😊 It would make my day!
2 thoughts on “Nepalese Vegetable Momos”
I have never heard of Momo’s with Aloo dum.. am.so tempted to try this now ! Will surely make this. Sounds delish ..
Btw I roll the momo sheets on my pasta maker and then use a round lid to cut them 🙂 lazy Cook’s shortcut.
It is indeed delish. This is the way I ate in a tiny little shop in Darjeeling and fell in love with it. Do try and let me know how it turned out for you. And thank you so much for sharing the trick on momo sheets! I love all ‘shortcuts’ and this is so clever! will try it next time 🙂