Momoमम
⏱ Prep 45m🍳 Cook 20m🍽 Serves 4🌿 Non-veg
Video: Hebbars Kitchen (YouTube)
In Sikkim and the Nepali communities across the Eastern Himalayas, momos are not a snack but a way of gathering — folded in batches, steamed in tiers, and eaten off a shared plate with achar that hits with heat, tang, and a faint numbing tingle from timur (Sichuan pepper). The wrapper is thin and taut from a simple flour-water dough, and the cabbage-ginger filling stays moist from its own released water. The tomato achar is not optional — it is the other half of the dish.
📍 Make it in Plano
This recipe is the same everywhere — but where you buy the ingredients and eat the dish is local to you.
Finding Desi spots near Plano…
Ingredients
- For the wrapper dough
- ▪all-purpose flour (maida)2 cups (240 g)
- ▪salt½ tsp
- ▪water, lukewarm¾ cup (180 ml)
- For the filling
- ▪green cabbage, very finely shredded then chopped2 cups (200 g)
- ▪spring onion (hariyo pyaz), finely sliced4 stalks (about ½ cup)
- ▪fresh ginger (aduwa), grated1½-inch piece
- ▪garlic cloves, minced4
- ▪neutral oil (or sesame oil)1 tbsp
- ▪soy sauce1 tsp
- ▪fresh coriander (dhania), chopped3 tbsp
- ▪white or black pepper, freshly ground½ tsp
- For the tomato achar
- ▪ripe tomatoes3 medium
- ▪dried red chilies (Dalle or Jwala variety)4–6
- ▪timur (Sichuan / Szechuan peppercorns)½ tsp
🌍 Cooking abroad? Substitutions
- Timur (Himalayan Sichuan pepper) is the defining flavour of Nepali/Sikkimese achar — look for it as 'timur' or 'timmur' at Nepali, Tibetan, or general Asian grocery stores abroad. Chinese Sichuan peppercorns (huajiao) are a close substitute with the same numbing citrus quality.
- Dalle or Jwala dried chilies can be replaced with any hot dried red chili — Korean gochugaru (not ground), arbol, or even Kashmiri chili plus extra cayenne for heat give a workable achar.
- Spring onions can be substituted with finely diced white onion; sesame oil (½ tsp) added to neutral oil gives a fragrance closer to the Sikkimese original.
Method
- 11. Make the dough: mix flour and salt, then gradually add warm water and knead for 8 minutes until smooth and slightly stiff — stiffer than roti dough. Cover with a damp cloth and rest for 30 minutes.
- 22. Make the filling: salt the shredded cabbage lightly (½ tsp), mix well, and leave 10 minutes. Squeeze out all excess water with your hands — this step is essential to prevent soggy momos. Combine with spring onion, ginger, garlic, oil, soy sauce, pepper, and coriander. Taste and adjust salt.
- 33. Make the achar: dry-roast the dried red chilies and timur in a dry pan for 1–2 minutes until fragrant. Char the tomatoes directly over a gas flame or under a broiler until the skin blisters and blackens. Blend tomatoes, chilies, timur, half the garlic from the filling (reserve 2 cloves), and salt to a coarse sauce. It should have body, not be completely smooth.
- 44. Divide the rested dough into 20 equal balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a thin round, about 8 cm across, with edges thinner than the centre.
- 55. Place 1 heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre. Fold the wrapper in half and pleat the edge from one end to the other in a tight crescent, pressing firmly to seal. Alternatively, gather the edges upward and twist to form a round bundle.
- 66. Set a steamer basket over boiling water. Lightly oil the steamer surface. Arrange momos in a single layer without touching. Cover and steam for 12–14 minutes until the wrapper turns translucent and slightly taut.
- 77. Serve immediately with tomato achar on the side. Momos are eaten hot, dipped into the achar with each bite.
A Desi.Net original recipe · part of our Indian Cuisine library. Confirm details and adjust to taste.