Vegetable Momos

I know you thought this was a travel blog, but now it is a food blog because I took a cooking class! We made momos and now so can you...

Momos are traditional steamed dumpling native to Tibet and Nepal. There is a large Tibetan community in Dharamsala and the momos here are amazing! I have had them for lunch and dinner seriously everyday since we got here (that's a week of momos twice a day every day). When Carl and I saw a poster adverting a momo cooking class we knew we had to do it! I am excited to make them once I have a kitchen again, until then you guys can try to make them at home if you are feeling up it!

The vegetable momos are filled with the following:
1/2 of a medium size cabbage-finely chopped
1 large carrot-peeled and grated
2 medium onions-finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp finely chopped spring onion
1 tbsp finely chopped green or red pepper (capsicum)
1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro (coriander)
1/4 tsp crushed black pepper
Make sure the veggies are dry and there isn't excess water. Mix them all together in a bowl.

The momo dough is really simple. It is just 1/2 kilogram flour, 2 tsb baking powder and 300 ml of room temperature water. Mix the four and the baking soda in a bowl. Slowly mix in the water and stir with your hands until combined. 

Knee the dough for 3 minutes and then cover it for 6 minutes. 

Once the dough a risen for 6 minutes roll it out into a tube and then cut or rip it into 2 finger width pieces.

With your hands roll the pieces into small balls then flatten slightly. 

Then use a rolling pin roll the dough into thin circles. You can also roll a large thin circle out then use a cookie cutter or a glass to make circles.

Put a spoonful of the veggie mixture in the middle of each circle of rolled out dough. Pinch the edges together to make a ball (this part was a little tricky, but it doesn't matter what they look like because they are going to taste great.)

Once all the momos are pinched and sealed place them into the steamer tray, make sure they are not touching. Steam them for 15 minutes. This recipe should make enough momos for 6 people. 

Momos can be filled with anything you want but my favorite is the traditional veggies ones. Dip them in spicy chilly sauce and/or soy sauce!

We made spinach cheese momos and sweet momos in the class as well. Let me know if you want the recipe for those.