Momo Chronicles

Everybody's mouth starts watering on mentioning 'Momos'. I have not, till date, come across a single soul who doesn't like them. Be it of any shape, cooked in any method or consist of any filling, I adore momos. In fact, even if you give me a plateful of momos every day, I will not be bored of consuming them. These delightful dumplings just melt in your mouth and are the ideal snack for a cold winter evening (I don't mind them in the peak of summer either. ;) )

To those who aren't aware of their existence (seriously you should die!!), momos are dumplings made of water and wheat flour dough coating with a meat or vegetable filling and then steamed. Momos were introduced from Han China into Tibet, Nepal, Sikkim, North Bengal, North-East India and Bhutan and is similar to the Jiaozi dim sum in China, the Mongolian buuz and the Japanese gyoza.

Classification on the basis of filling:
1) Meat momos: These are the best. Juicy and succulent, they may be of pork, chicken, mutton or buffalo meat. The Ladakhians make it with lamb or yak meat. The meat filling is mixed with shallots, coriander, ginger, garlic and spices. From personal experience, I have seen that the Nepalese make the momo filling spicy by addition of special momo masala which is available in markets whereas in Sikkim and North Bengal the filling is slightly bland. Both versions are delicious.

2) Vegetable momos: The veggies which comprise the filling are usually carrots, shallots and cabbage. Sometimes they use potatoes/ soya bean in Veg. Momo filling.

3) T-momo: This is basically utilization of leftover dough. The usual momo dough is mixed with butter, some more salt and baking soda, shaped and steamed. It is usually served with Alu Dum or Matar ko sabzi.

Some other fillings that I've come across are scrambled eggs, paneer, cheese, Chhurpi and khoya. Basically, you use any filling to fill your momos, it's your call!

Classification on the basis of cooking method:
1) Steamed momos, 2)Fried momos: These are steamed momos which are later deep-fried, 3)Kothey: These are pan-fried momos, thus only the base of the momo is fried after steaming.

Classification on the basis of shape: Usually meat momos are round and vegetable momos are half mooned.

Condiments:
Momo is usually served with one or two of the first 5 options along with the sixth:
1) Hot coriander and mint chutney
2) Tomato/tree tomato with chili and garlic chutney
3) Spicy dallae/red chili chutney
4) Sesame and mustard paste
5) Tomato ketchup
6) Clear soup made of  broth obtained from the steaming process.

With the Nepalese diaspora having reached various parts of India and some parts of the world, everybody is familiar with this delicacy. Coincidentally while I was writing this, my mom came home with a packet of pork and chicken dim sums. Though someone once said, 'Dim sums are poor substitutions for momos', I am greatly satisfied right now, for now. :-D