Momo (food)

Momos are a type of steamed filled dumpling in Tibet,^[1] Nepal,^[2] Bhutan and India.^[3] Momos are usually served with a sauce known as achar with spices and herbs. It can also be cooked as soup versions known as jhol momo. The broth is made from achar using a mixture of tomatoes, sesame seeds, chillies, cumin and coriander or mokthuk from boiling pork or buffalo bones mixed with various herbs and vegetables.^[4]

Momo

A typical serving of a plate of momos with sesame yellow sauce and red ginger chilli pickle
Alternative names	མོག་མོག, मःमः
Main ingredients	White-flour-and-water dough; meat, vegetable
Variations	Steam-momo, Kothey momo, Jhol momo, C-momo, Fry-momo, Open-momo, fried momo, chicken-momo, veg-momo, buff-momo, cheese-momo, khuwa-momo, chocolate-momo
Food energy (per serving)	350 to 1000 (35 to 100 per piece) kcal
Similar dishes	jiaozi, guotie, xiaolongbao, baozi, mantou, buuz, gyoza, mandu, manti
Cookbook: Momo   Media: Momo

Momos are common in Gilgit region in Ladakh.

Production

A plate of momos from Nepal

A Tibetan woman making momo in Washington, D.C., United States

A simple white-flour-and-water dough is used to make the outer covering of momos. Sometimes, a little yeast or baking soda is added to give a more doughy texture to the finished product.

Traditionally, momos were made with ground/minced meat, potatoes, and leek filling. Momos are now made with almost any combination of ground meat, vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, paneer, soft chhurpi (local hard cheese) and vegetable and meat combinations.

• Meat: Different types of meat fillings are popular in different regions. In Nepal, Tibet, Sikkim, and Bhutan common meat fillings are pork, chicken, goat and water buffalo. In the Himalayan region of Nepal and India, lamb and yak meat are more common. Minced meat is combined with any or all of the following: onions/shallots, garlic, ginger and cilantro/coriander. Some people also add finely puréed tomatoes and soy sauce.^[5]
• Vegetables: Finely chopped cabbage, carrot, soy granules, potato, flat bean (lilva kachori) or chayote (iskush) are used as fillings in Nepal.
• Cheese: Usually fresh paneer or the traditional soft chhurpi is used. This variety is common in Eastern Nepal.
• Khoa: Momos filled with milk solids mixed with sugar are popular as a dessert in the Kathmandu Valley.

The dough is rolled into small circular flat pieces. The filling is enclosed in the circular dough cover either in a round pocket or a half-moon or crescent shape. People prefer meat with a lot of fat because it produces flavourful, juicy momos. A little oil is sometimes added to the lean ground/minced meat to keep the filling moist and juicy. The dumplings are then cooked by steaming over a soup (either a stock based on bones or vegetables) in a momo-making utensil called mucktoo. Momos may also be pan-fried or deep-fried after being steamed.

Gallery

• 
  Momos in a mucktoo in Kathmandu, Nepal
• 
  Kothey, a pan-fried momo variety from "The Bakery Cafe" in Nepal