A steamed filled dumplings with Tibetan roots is called a momos. Momo is a resident of Tibet, Nepal, as well as Ladakh, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Darjeeling in the Indian Himalayan Region. It is well- liked in a larger area of the Indian peninsula. It has recently become popular in numerous foreign marketplaces. Momo shares similarities with Chinese baozi, jiaozi, and mantou, Mongolian buuz, Japanese gyoza, Korean mandu, and Turkic manti, but it also herbs from the Indian subcontinent. Momo are incredibly famous and are sold by street vendors as well as restaurants.
ORIGIN
The slang term for the Tibetan phrase ”mog mog” is momo. It’s conceivable that this Tibetan word was derived from the Chinese word momo which is a common name for bread in dialects of northwest china. The term mo itself refers to a flour- related food. As evidenced by Shaanxi cuisine delicacies like roujiamo and paomo. It’s also possible that it came from the Nepalese Bhase word momoe which indicate steaming food. Momo has a long tradition in Nepal, dating back to the fourteenth century.
Regarding the Himalayan momo, it is unclear whether it originated in Tibet and then moved to Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley or vice versa. According to a widely held opinion, travelling Nepali merchants brought the momo recipe back to Nepal from Tibet, where the Nepali Newar Merchant used to journey for the trade, where it first gained popularity among the Newar community of the Kathmandu valley of Nepal. Since ”mome” means ”cooking by steaming” in Newari, one of Nepal’s oldest languages, some claim that a Nepalese Newari princess who married a Tibet. In Tibet, the dish was usually filled with meat, such as yak and occasionally potatoes and cheese. With a thicker dough and little to no seasonings other than salt, traditional Tibetan momo differs significantly from its Nepalese counterpart. To support the sizable number of vegetarian Hindus in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, mixed vegetable momo was introduced, and the meat changed to chicken. Unproven but supported by dates and references to momo in slang, the civil war in Nepal drove the Nepali diaspora to seek work in India, which led to a rise in the popularity of momo in the Himalayan manner in the southern regions of the country, particularly in the cities of Chennai and Bangalore.
PRODUCTION
The outer momo coating is often made with a simple white-flour and water dough, Yeast or baking soda may occasionally be added to recipe to give baked goods a more doughy texture.
Momo’s traditional stuffing consists of ground/ minced beef, potatoes, and leeks. At days , momo may be made with almost any combination pf minced meat, veggies, tofu, mushrooms, paneer cheese, soft chhurpi( local had cheese), and vegetable and meat combinations. The fillings have also become more complex.
Meat: Various regions kind of meat fillings. It is usual to eat hog, chicken, goat and buffalo meat in Nepal’s Himalayan area . Any or all of the following can be added to minced meat: onions, garlic, ginger and coriander. Some people additionally include soya sauce and finely pureed tomatoes.
Vegetables: In Nepal flat beans or chayote are used as fillers along with finely chopped cabbage, carrot, soy granules, potato and flat beans.
Cheese: Fresh cheese or the classic soft chhurpi are frequently used in Nepal.
Khao: In the Kathmandu valley, momo packed with milk solids and sugar are a common dessert.
Rolling the dough into thin, flat, round pieces. The circular dough cover has a pocket for the filling that is either round, half-moon-shaped or crescent- shaped. People prefer fat meat in momos because it gives juicy and a delicious taste. To keep the lean ground meat wet and juicy, a little oil is used. The dumplings are then prepared by steaming device known as mucktoo. After being steamed, momos can also be deep-fried or pan fried.
