Momos (Nepali version of Dim sums) are a favorites amongst teenagers in India, particularly North India. In the past 1 decade, i have seen how this Nepali dish has changed the street food culture of Delhi. Every busy nook and corner of Delhi would have many small food shacks of vendors selling amazing & mouth-watering Chinese/ Nepali dishes. Tempting in looks, the food would have a variety ranging from Veg/Chicken momos, Wontons to Hot & sour soups and Chowmein – A dish suiting everyone’s palate.
Every day while coming back from my office, my car would cross this intersection where there would be a swarm of people standing besides the momo stalls, binging away to happiness. Driving past these vendors, my attention always drew to the aroma of the fresh stir fry , the steam from the steam pot carrying promising smell & the mingling fragrances of the Chinese sauces making it irresistible for anyone to just ignore. I am no exception here !
After many days of fighting with my inner voice, i finally gave up and one glorious day i decided to stop my car at that intersection in hope of joining the crowd to attain my share of happiness. As beautiful as that evening could be, sun setting with birds chirping around and cloudy sky with strong signs of raging rain in the night to follow, i stepped out of my car. With the accompanying cold breeze, the weather was perfect to have a hot plate of steamed momos.
It had just started drizzling and realizing that there might not be enough time to finish a plate before the rain arrives in full swing, i got my momos packed and rushed home. At home, when i opened the packet , i was surprised to find the sauce/chutney accompanied with the momos. It was one of the most interesting chutney i have tried in sometime. Tangy and fiercely red in colour, the chutney added a perfect constrast to the white momos and made the dish look very elegant. One bite of momos with that chutney and i knew why this was a favorite of many 🙂
The usual momos are made with cabbage,carrots and onion filling. This next recipe is my interpretation of a classic momo with a very unusual yet sensational mix of ingredients, giving this beautiful dish a very nutritional balance. Enjoy cooking and savoring this interesting “Bean twist Momos”
Bean Twist Momos
Bean Twist Momos
Recipe
Preperation time: 20-25 minutes
Steaming time : 15 minutes
Serves : 4
For the momos cover/ wrapper
- 1 cup All purpose flour (maida)
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/4 cup water
For filling
- 50 gms feta cheese crumbled (Can also use crumbled soft paneer- preferably fresh for milky texture)
- 1 cup Sprouted Chickpeas/moong/kidney beans
- 3-4 big sized mushrooms – roughly chopped
- 1 spring onion (white and green portions separated)
- 1 inch ginger – finely chopped
- 1 green chili – finely chopped
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp oil
Method
- To make the dough for the momos wrappers, in a bowl, take the flour, add some salt, 1 tsp oil and water to knead into a tight dough. For a healthier approach, you can also mix wheat flour to the all purpose flour (1:1 ratio). Cover with a damp cloth and keep aside till required.
- Now, take a small pan and add oil. When the oil gets hot, add in the chopped ginger, spring onion whites, mushrooms and saute. Keep it on medium high flame. After 1 minute add in the sprouted beans, spring onion greens, salt and pepper. Toss. Cover the pan and cook on low flame till the sprouts are tender and cooked. Remove from flame and let it cool down.
- After the mixture has cooled down, add the crumbled feta cheese/paneer and mix to form firm stuffing. Keep aside.
- Now take a small portion of the dough (1 inch dia) and roll out to make the wrappers. Keep the center portion thicker than the side of the discs.
- Now, take 1 tablespoon of filling and place it in center of 1 disc. Pull 2 sides of the dough disc and bring together. Pinch from other sides and close all the sides to form a dumpling. You can make various designs of the dumpling. See some of the design videos here.
- While you are making the momos, heat some water in a steam pot and bring to boil. In case you don’t have a steam pot, you can also use a cooker or any vessel where you can create a layer by a plate (having perforation for the steam to travel through) and cover with a lid so that the steam does not escape outside.
- Place the momos on the steam tray and steam for 15 minutes. Try and keep some distance between each momo to avoid the momos from sticking with each other.The dumplings/momos are ready when the skin of the wrapper turns translucent.
- Remove from the steam pot and serve hot with Sichuan sauce.
The filling is very nutritional and un-usual. You must try this bean twist for your momos. For a more traditional approach, make a filling using cabbage, mushrooms and carrots. You can also add some dash of soya sauce in your filling for an added Chinese flavour.
Find the recipe for Sichuan sauce along with other aromatic- tingling sauces/chutneys here.
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Indeed a twist and great twist.
Same pinch!
I made momos too yesterday :). Mine coming up soon.
I told u we think alike ! This is not the first time 😛 High five Sonal <3
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