Momo

Ingredients

• Plain flour400 g
• Cold water200 ml
• Beef or chicken — chopped by hand500 g
• Onion — finely diced300 g
• Ginger25 g
• Garlic5 clove
• Coriander20 g
• Timur pepper1 tsp
• Tomatoes for the achar400 g
• Dried chillies3
• Sesame seeds2 tbsp
• Neutral oil3 tbsp
• Saltto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Knead a dough from the flour, cold water and a pinch of salt for eight minutes and rest it under film for half an hour.

   40 min

2. 2

   Mix the chopped meat with the onion, ginger, garlic, coriander, timur, a spoon of oil and salt. Do not work it to a paste; pieces should remain.

   12 min

3. 3

   Char the tomatoes over a flame until blackened, toast the chillies and sesame in a dry pan, and blend everything with salt into a sauce.

   15 min

4. 4

   Roll eight-centimetre rounds, thinner at the edges. Add a spoon of filling and pleat all the way round, twisting the top shut.

   35 min

5. 5

   Oil the steamer and cook the momo ten minutes over a fierce steam, keeping them from touching.

   12 min

About the dish

Momo filling is not worked into a paste: the meat is chopped and the onion goes in by equal volume. The onion is the source of juice; without it the filling is dry however much fat is added.

The dough uses cold water and no egg. It should be elastic and roll very thin at the edges while staying thicker in the middle: the middle carries the filling, the thin edge takes the pleats.

The achar is not merely a sauce but a required part. The tomatoes are charred over a flame until blackened, and that smoke is what separates a Nepali achar from an Indian chutney.

Worth knowing

• — Oiling the steamer is not optional: the dough sticks fast and the momo will not come off whole.
• — Timur is the Nepali relative of Sichuan pepper, with a citrus note. Without it use Sichuan pepper, not black: the flavour is nothing alike.
• — Do not pour away the juices left in the steamer. They go into the achar, where all the flavour of the filling has ended up.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

560 kcal

Protein

30 g

Fat

20 g

Carbs

62 g

More from Nepal

• Dal bhat — Lentil soup with rice and a vegetable tarkari. Nepal's everyday meal, eaten twice a day for a lifetime.