Recipe: Chicken Momos

Ruelha

As a child right up until my adult life, the only foreign trip/vacation, we ever had was a trip to Nepal. Well, Nepal is very close to India and one of the few countries where Indians didn’t require a visa. We didn’t have a passport, nothing back then. That was the first time my brother, my mum and me ever travelled by plane. And for many years later, none of us did so again. My dad expired the following year and that was the last vacation we had together as a family. Unfortunately, we never went anywhere together after that trip till date. That was the last. My dad had travelled abroad extensively, all through Western Europe in the late 70s and had a few very good friends especially in Switzerland who would visit us almost every year. He thought life was stable enough by that year and had made some financial plans and dreams to take us all on some more trips abroad. But those never really materialized because he died before those came to pass. One of my fondest memories of Nepal is that I ate a lot of momos there. I fell in love with momos and I still love them. Everywhere we ate, every meal, every single day I would excitedly ask for momos and they were always available everywhere. Momos, dim sum, wantons, dumplings, gyoza….they’re not the same, but quite similar….and I love them all! I make momos at least once every two months since the last 8 years. They’re not too difficult. But I’d be lying if I told you they’re easy for an amateur cook. Once you get a hang of shaping/wrapping them, it’s not a difficult task at all. There are 4 stages in the preparation process and hence, making momos is extremely time-consuming especially if you are making these for a large crowd/family. Here’s what I do:

Ingredients: makes about 30 small momos

  • 1.5tbsp + to oil the steamer plate: Sesame oil or any other refined oil
  • 1 small Onion, finely chopped
  • 1 Green Chili, finely chopped
  • 2-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 150 gms, minced chicken meat
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 tbsp Spring onion greens or corriander leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 cup All purpose flour (maida)
  • Water, as required

Method:

  • Take 1 cup of all purpose flour. Add some water and make an almost firm/tight dough (like you would for rotis). You can add some salt and oil if you like. But I don’t add any salt in my doughs usually. I find the extra sodium quite unnecessary. It is not noticeable at all. Keep this dough aside for a while (at least 30minutes) for the gluten to develop.
  • Heat about 1.5tbsp of sesame oil in a vessel. Add the green chilies, garlic and onions and some salt. Sauté for a few seconds.
  • When the onions get translucent and the raw smell disappears, turn off the heat source (gas/etc) and keep this mix aside to cool.
  • Once this mixture is completely cool, add the minced meat, an appropriate amount of salt and the chopped herbs and mix very well.
  • Let it marinate for a while in the refrigerator.
  • Now roll out a huge roti/flatbread. Divide into smaller portions.
  • Stuff each portion with a tiny amount of minced meat mixture and shape into momos.
  • Just lift the edges of the mini roti/rolled out dough like a cloth parcel and seal the edges well.
  • Then twist and cut off the excess dough at the top.
  • Now spread some oil on a steamer tray/plate to prevent the momos from sticking to the plate and tearing.
  • Arrange your uncooked momos on the plate keeping them sufficiently apart because steaming will cause them to increase in size a bit.
  • Pour about 10 cups of water under to boil. I do not have a steamer so I just use a huge aluminium vessel and a flat steel colander with a glass lid that is sort of oversized. But it works great for me. I steam idlis and dhoklas the same way. I don’t see the need for excess equipment that have restricted uses….especially ones that take up a lot of space.
  • Once your water is bubbling, place the steamer plate on the boiler/vessel/steamer and shut the lid.
  • Make sure there is always water at the bottom in your vessel. It must never dry up completely because you will end up burning your vessel and even your momos will get a burned flavour. So stay alert.
  • Also remember steam burns are a lot more painful than dry burns and can scald your skin easily so be very careful please. Use protective gloves and adequate safety measures.
  • Keep it to steam for about 12-15minutes at max if you are using chicken mince/ minced prawns/crabmeat. These cook very quickly.
  • Serve hot. You can store the remaining ones in your fridge and steam them again for a short while to re-heat them before serving.
  • You can alternatively choose to deep fry/bake/pan fry your momos. But I personally think momos taste best when they are steamed.
  • You can use any other meat/cooked vegetables of your choice like pork/beef/veal/lamb but then the cooking time will differ.

I hope you enjoy cooking and eating/serving this dish.

-RUELHA 
www.ruelha.com 
© Copyright Protected. All Rights Reserved.

26 Comments

  1. A Multi-Media Gif
    Really Gives the
    Presentation Soul
    Smiles i Am Surprised
    To Find No Sugar in the
    Ingredients It is surely
    More Healthy
    Than
    What
    One Normally
    Finds in Sugar
    Loaded Treats
    Where i am From… Moving Through
    Kashmir Country of ‘This Food’ Origin
    Nepal.. Origin of Name A Place
    of the Himalayas Mountains Ice
    Covered by Name And Another
    Friend’s Name Derivative From
    These Icy Topped Mountains and
    Just Yesterday i Found out Another
    Blogger Friend Actually Living in Nepal
    True All is
    Connecting
    A-Causally Now
    This Way There
    Is No Up or Down
    In or Out
    In
    The
    Center
    of Reality God
    More On that
    In A Moment hehe
    In Short God’s Story
    Is More Poem Than
    Science AbstracT Hehe..;)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. The People Yes!!

        He he But ReMeMBeR

        i LiVE iN Paradise

        And Still

        Get To

        Visit Angels
        In India With SMiLes

        God Bless All

        The Nerds And

        Geeks Preparing

        An Avenue

        To Circle The

        Globe

        Fitting

        My Soul

        In A Fiber

        Optic

        Cable At

        The Speed oF LiGHT

        Oh The Gifts Now

        Just Now Eternally

        Now No Sun

        Or Moon,

        Distance,

        Time, Space,

        Matter At

        The

        Speed

        Form

        And

        Essence oF LiGHT 💫😁

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

          1. SMiLes When i Am Small
            i Thought Of A Machine
            With A Button
            To Press to
            Answer
            All My
            Questions…
            Lucid Conscious
            Guiding Dreams At
            Night As A Lonely
            Teenager
            Living
            With A
            Beautiful
            Dark Haired
            Girl Who Never
            Ages Always
            Beautiful
            In A Cave
            So on An 8th
            Day God Created
            Google And Katrina
            In 1970 Be Careful
            What We Wish
            For i Almost
            Did Not
            Escape the
            Cave To Fit
            My Soul Through
            This Fiber Optic
            Cable At Speed
            Essence
            oF LiGHT
            And Meet
            Beautiful Souls
            Like You All
            Around A
            Globe For
            True God
            Provides
            Beyond
            Our Wildest
            iMaGiNaTioNS
            For Those of
            Us Who
            Do
            Not
            Put
            The Real
            MaGiC Of
            Hope, Faith,
            Charity, And
            Love
            Most
            Importantly
            Belief iN The
            Impossible
            In Any One
            PRiSoN
            Restricting
            Miracles
            From
            Breathing
            Real And Free

            To

            See

            And Be

            Eternally Now

            Living Loving Belief

            Creating Now CoLoRinG

            💫For Real Ever Green🎄

            Liked by 1 person

            Reply

            1. Fascinating, yet daunting at times…..technology….boon or a bane….difficult to decide….I guess it depends on whose hands it is in…..’Google’ is my mum’s best friend btw!😁😅🤣😂….she asks him everything….😅

              Liked by 1 person

              Reply

              1. SMiles Some Become
                The Tools The Words
                The Clothes
                The Apple
                Machine
                Too

                The Tool

                Does Not

                Eat me

                Servant

                Only Slave

                To My Naked

                God Soul

                Master

                Of

                Human

                ClotheS iNDeeD

                STill LiVinG

                In ‘The

                Garden’

                ‘Naked’

                And Free

                With Eve Yet

                She Only

                Tempts

                And

                Is So

                Shy

                She

                Insists

                On Still

                WeaRinG Clothes..

                All (Pan)
                (God)

                Naked

                Of

                All Human
                Tools

                LiVinG

                iN

                The (A)

                FoResT NoW

                -me

                i Am

                Hehe JusT

                A DaY iN
                ‘The Life’
                💫🌊🧚🏾NoW😁

                Liked by 1 person

                Reply

    1. Thank you Inspirechief.😊🎀
      I don’t make any sauce…I just serve it with some very spicy Sichuan sauce or sriracha 🌶😊🌶…thank you for reading 😊😊😃😃….
      Have a lovely evening 💐

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thank you gldn2th😊😊😃😊😊…
      I’ve been using that same makeshift steam basket for 8years now🙈😅😂😁🙈….I don’t think I’ll ever buy a steamer🤭😎🤭😂

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Bro Matt….this contains gluten. I did try a healthier version once…many years ago. I wrapped the meat in lettuce leaves and tied them up with chives. That would be much simpler too because you won’t have to worry about preparing a wrapper or shaping them too well. You don’t even need to tie the parcels….you can just fold the meat in the leaves nice and tight. 🥟🥬
      I hope you’re fine and are having an awesome week brother 💐🤩🥰🎀

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  5. Pingback: The Black Cat Blue Sea Award #2 – Poorwa's blog

  7. Going through those pictures and the recipe made my mouth water. Those momoes look absolutely delicious! I am a very big fan of momo but never knew how to make them, now that I know I will definitely give it a try.
    #MyWordsKraft

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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