Tibetan Recipes for MomosTibetan Food is Delicious and Nutritious!Tibetan Recipes for Momos are slightly different according to each region in Tibet. Momos are easy and quick to make once you get the hang of it and make unique party hors d'oeuvres, appetizer or the main dinner course. Here are pictures of a cute Tibetan guy actually making momos to inspire you!
Ingredients for Tibetan Recipes for Momos:
*1 pound of meat finely chopped - beef in the west, yak or sheep in Tibet, sheep or goat in India *1 onion finely chopped *Salt *Soya sauce You can add some ginger, finely chopped cauliflower or curry powder if you like. Experiment!
Mix the flour and water together to make the dough. Tibetans usually use their hands throughout the whole procedure. You can do this or start out with a mixing spoon, up to you. But you will have to roll up your sleeves at some point to knead that dough! This is not easy to do but is a great workout for the arms. Take little balls of dough and one by one roll them with a bit of flour so they don't stick to table or rolling pin and roll out nice little circles about 3" x 3" each.
In another bowl, mix the hamburger meat or ground beef, salt, and onions together well. Add it a tiny bit of soya sauce. This is my husband's special homemade hamburger recipe. The ingredients may vary from recipe to recipe, depending on which Tibetan chef has taken control of the kitchen! Taste the mixture to see if any more salt is needed. When in doubt, don't add more. With a teaspoon scoop a small amount of the meat mix onto one of the circular pieces of dough.
With the right hand, start to close the piece of dough around the meat while pushing the meat back in with the left thumb as shown. All the while you turn the momo with the right hand eventually making a nice circular shape.
Keep turning and pinching the edges of the momo until it looks somewhat like this. You can also make Tibetan momos in a half moon shape.
As you can tell from the sad and deformed momos on the left side of this picture, I haven't quite mastered this art form yet. It takes a lot of practice the Tibetans tell me and I agree completely!
Time to cook these delicacies. In a big momo or vegetable steamer, add a few inches of water, set the momo trays in and put the top on and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes. It's a good idea to set a timer as you might get distracted, especially if your house is full of Tibetan people all joking around.
In the summer this can get a bit warm in the room so open a window. Don't worry about offering a fabulous dessert as most Tibetans don't like sugar or sweets of any kind. My guess is they are sweet enough themselves and don't need adding to. Serve Momos with either soya sauce, chili sauce and have some vinegar on hand as some people like to dip the dumplings in this also. (yuck) I like to serve cold slices of cucumber as well as it is a yummy compliment and can put out a fire in case someone takes in too much chili!
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