Steamed chicken momo

About the food:

Momos are a traditional delicacy to the Himalayas of Tibet. They are also very popular in Nepal, Bhutan and N-E parts of India. It is at present growing in popularity in the eastern as well the Western world.

I learnt this recipe from my mom, and she makes delicious momos. Try this out, and I am sure you would love it. You can serve this an evening snack or a starter.

A note: I set up a momo party for my friends, and I had to improvise the recipe and the result was loveable : Paneer momos. As I was not sure the chicken was halal or not, I had to invent something else for a friend of mine. I substituted paneer in the place of chicken, and it was pretty simple! I thank her for triggering the innovation.

Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 30 mins

Serves 4

ingredients:
400 gm boneless chicken minced
1 medium piece of chicken (with bone or boneless) for the soup (the soup is optional)
5-6 ginger cloves chopped finely
1 bunch of spring onion, chopped finely
1 big onion, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp black pepper seeds
2 cups of white flour
vegetable oil for deep frying
4 tbsp soya sauce
1/4 tbsp ajinamoto
black pepper powder
salt to taste

Method:

1.Put the chicken in a mixing bowl. Add the soya sauce, spring onions, onions, a bit of salt, and black pepper powder and mix well. Set it aside.

2.Heat a pan. Add 1 tbsp of oil. Add 3-4 chopped garlic cloves and fry till they are golden. remove from the flame add this to the chicken mixture. Mix it well, and keep the chicken bowl covered for 30 mins and let it marinate.

3.Put the white flour in a big bowl. Add 2 tbsp of oil, 1/2 cup of hot water (take care, as the amount of water may vary. Put small amount of water first to get the estimate) and a pinch of salt. Mix them well until a soft and homogeneous dough is formed. Keep on kneading with both hands, ( you have to get messy to get a good result!) until the dough is soft. This is a very crucial part for getting perfectly soft momos.

4. Now make the wrappers by making small round balls from the dough and rolling it thin with a rolling pin.Get a cup or a bowl with apprx. 4 inch in diameter, and use it to cut the wrappers.It will give an uniform size to the momos.

5. Take one wrapper in hand, put 1 spoon of the chicken mixture in the middle, and wrap it carefully so that the content does not leak out. Repeat with all the wrappers.

6.Now the Steaming part. You can steam the momos if you have a steamer. If not, find a deep flat cooking pot and a metal perforated tray which would go inside the pot. If you are using a steamer, you have to prepare the soup separately, in a bowl with a lid, or in a pressure cooker, if you have one.

7. The soup (optional)

Put 500ml of water in the pot and bring it to boil. Put in the chicken piece, salt, black pepper powder, 2 chopped garlic cloves, a portion of the chopped spring onions.Cover and simmer for about 20-25 mins. Add 1 tbsp of butter. The soup is ready.If you think you need more quantity of soup, just add boiling water to increase the quantity.

8.If you are using a steamer, brush the rack with oil. Place the momos carefully on it, and at a little apart from each other. The momos will increase in size, so take care they do not stick to each other.Steam the momos for about 15 mins, or until soft and tender.

9.If you are using the pot and tray, you can cook both the soup and momos at the same time. Put all the contents for the soup as in step 7 in the pot, and support the tray on the water on a cup, taking care water does not reach it( you can use room temperature water here for the mixture).
Brush the tray with oil, and follow step 8. Cover the pot with a heavy lid, and you might take a little longer time to cook. Get an idea from the picture here:



7. Your momos are now ready. Serve them with the soup and sweet-chilly sauce.