The Day I Made Learned How to Make Momos

I don't know about you, but time has flooooown by this fall. I can’t believe it’s Christmas on Thursday and that Brett and I have lived in New York City for 6 months already! I had a feeling that I’d enjoy living in New York, but I didn’t realize just how much I’d love it. I especially love living in Queens where I can interact with people from all over the world. I’ve been able to make a lot of friends from India, Nepal and China and I’ve loved getting to know more about their cultures and worldviews.

One thing I’ve especially loved about living in Queens is having the ability to try out so many different kinds of cuisines! We have authentic Indian, Nepalese, Columbian, Pakistani, Afghani, Thai, Chinese and Tibetan food literally right outside our apartment doors. Did you know Queens is the most ethnically diverse city in the world?

I’ve mentioned this a lot before, but eating out is one of the main ways I get inspiration for the food I make at home. And now that I also have access to the unique ingredients that I need to make different cultural dishes, I’ve been trying to find people who will teach me how to cook popular dishes from their home countries.

And guess what?!

The other day our friend Choden, who grew up in the Himalayas, came over and taught my friends and I how to make Momos! It was a dream come true! Okay, yes. I’m easily pleased, but it really was so much fun to finally have a mini cooking class in my own home.

What is a momo you ask? Momo is actually just the Tibetan word for dumpling. The dough is slightly thicker than Chinese dumplings and instead of dipping them in soy sauce, most people dip them in hot chili sauce. Usually people use their hands to eat momos instead of chopsticks too. The most popular fillings are beef, potato, and vegetable. Potato momos are my absolute favorite and whenever Brett and I eat at a Tibetan restaurant, I always order them. I can’t get enough!

Choden ended up doing most of the momo making himself, while all of us watched and took notes. But once he got the dough and meat filling prepped, he showed us how to form the momos by placing a small amount of filling into the center of a circle of dough and pinching the edges together. You can make crescent shaped momos or a circular momos. Us girls picked it up pretty quickly, while the guys had a harder time.

It was such a treat to have some homemade, authentic momos prepared for us in my own home! Since I don’t eat meat, Choden was also kind enough to make me some steamed buns, called Tingmo. Having Choden show us in person how to make momos also gave me the confidence to try making some vegetable momos on my own. Two days after we learned I took a stab at some cabbage and carrot filled momos and they turned out pretty good. To steam them I just used my rice cooker which has a steaming tray on the top. The hardest part of the process is getting the dough to be the right consistency. Usually when people make momos they just eye ball the amount of flour and water and don’t measure anything, which is very different than how I normally cook. I guess I just need to practice more!

I don't have an exact recipe to share with you all just yet, but I'll be working on it after Christmas break. It's a lot easier than it looks and I love how versatile you can be with the fillings! Get excited:)

Have any of you ever had momos before? Or dumplings?