veg momos recipe – posting one of the popular tibetan recipe of vegetable momos made from scratch
preparing momos takes quite a good amount of time. so when you have enough time to spare, then make the momos. if you have a helping hand, then the time will reduce. but if you do everything on your own, it takes about 1.5 to 2 hrs, depending on your working speed and the gadgets you have in your kitchen.
now coming to momos, i have had one of the best momos or call them dim sum in the mainland china restaurant. back then i did not know that momos would become a popular street food in north of india. a few years back when we lived in gurgaon, i was amazed to see momos as a street food snack in many places.
when living in goa, a restaurant just a few kilometers from our place, specialized only in momos and that too different kinds with various stuffings. the owner’s wife was a tibetan and she would prepare the momos. the sauce they used to serve with the momos was a spicy, hot sauce and damn good. unfortunately, i don’t know the recipe as i never asked the tibetan lady
so when i made these momos, i had to serve them with a spicy sauce. i chose to serve the veg momos with schezwan sauce. i don’t make a spicy filling for the momos. i keep the vegetable filling balanced in taste and lightly spiced, so that it accompanies the spicy & hot sauce very well. at home we love steamed momos over the fried ones. so this recipe is of steamed momos.
the shaping of the momos come through practice. i don’t make momos often. hence obviously, i am not an expert in shaping them. but i do make a decent job of it. i have shared two ways of shaping momos in the step by step pics below. choose the easy one or if you are courageous, then move on to the making the pleated momos.
i have also made a video showing the rolling of the dough, stuffing and pleating of the momos. you can check this video below, if you cannot understand the shaping part from the step by step pics below.
lets start step by step veg momos recipe:
a) preparing the outer cover of momos:
1. take the all purpose flour/maida, salt and oil in a bowl and mix it.
2. add water in parts and begin to knead to a firm dough.
3. cover the dough and keep aside for 30 minutes.
4. finely chop all the vegetables. you can also use a food processor to finely chop the vegetables.
5. heat oil. add garlic. saute for 2-3 seconds.
6. add onions. stir and saute for 10-15 seconds.
7. add all the finely chopped vegetables.
8. increase the flame and stir fry the vegetables on high heat.
9. continue to stir fry on high heat. till the vegetables are cooked. this stir frying takes about 8 to 9 mins on a high heat. then add 1 to 2 tbsp of the spring onions greens and stir fry for a minute. check the taste and add more salt, pepper or soy sauce, if required.
10. the vegetable stuffing is ready. let the stuffing cool completely.
11. divide the dough in two parts.
12. make a 6-7 inch log from each part. cut the log into equal slices.
13. make ball of each slice and keep them covered with a moist napkin.
14. take each dough ball and on a lightly dusted board, roll each dough ball into a thin circle of about 2-3 inch diameter.
15. the edges have to be thin and center have to be thick.
16. apply water with your finger tip or with a small pastry brush towards the circumference. this is an optional step.
17. place 1 or 2 tsp of vegetable stuffing in the center.
18. lift one side of the edge and start pleating. (you can also refer to the video above to see how pleating is done).
19. pleating the momos.
20. join all the pleats in the center.
21. a pleated and shaped momo
22. another simple technique to shape momos – join the edges
23. this is an easy method. the momo is shaped like gujiya or karanji. you can stop here or can proceed to the next step.
24. bring both the end together and join.
25. prepare all momos this way and keep them covered under a moist napkin. till you are ready to steam them.
26. grease a steamer pan with oil.
27. arrange the momos in the pan, keeping space between them.
28. steam in an electric cooker or a steamer pan. you can also use idli pans or pressure cooker to steam. (check recipe notes below)
29. steam the veg momos for 5 to 6 minutes till the outer cover becomes transparent. don’t over cook as then the outer cover, becomes dense and chewy. the steaming time may vary upon the thickness of momos’ cover.
when you touch the momo then dough should not feel sticky to you. this means they are done and the momos will have a transparent look.
30. serve vegetable momos hot with red chilli-garlic chutney, spicy schezwan sauce or tomato sauce. momos goes best with a spicy sauce and should be eaten hot.
Thank you very much for introducing such simple recepi,, it’ll help me so much.