Make Vegetable Momos at Home

11 Apr

Momos seemed like exotic restaurant-only food to me for a long time, till a friend taught me how easy it is to make them at home. All you need is to figure out a way to steam the momos. The good news is: you don’t need fancy equipment for it; an idli stand and an Indian pressure cooker do the job perfectly.

The pictures below are those my friend has clicked in her kitchen. She served momos at a party and the dish was a huge hit. I’ll probably come back to this post later to add a few pics of my own. Till then, try making these!

Steamed Vegetable Momos

You Need:

For the filling:

Cabbage – 1 cup, shredded fine
Carrot – 1/2 cup, grated
Capsicum – 1/2 cup, sliced thin
Onion – 1/2 cup, sliced thin
Ginger – 1 teaspoon, minced
Garlic – 1 teaspoon, minced
Green chilies – 1/2 teaspoon, minced (adjust to taste)
Salt – to taste
Pepper – to taste
Sesame or vegetable oil – 2 teaspoons

For the dough:

Refined flour – 1.5 cups
Salt – to taste
Sesame or vegetable oil – 2 teaspoons
Water for kneading

How To Make Vegetable Momos:

1. Prepare the dough

Sift the flour and salt together. Mix them together with the oil till well-blended.

Add water, a little at a time, and keep kneading till you get a pliant dough.

Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes while you work on the filling.

2. Get the filling ready

Heat oil in a pan. Add to it all the vegetables together.

Saute for five minutes on medium heat – soften them a bit but let them retain their crunch.

Switch off the heat. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper.

Let the filling cool.

Vegetable Filling

3. Stuff the momos

Divide the dough into equal-sized balls of about the size you’d use for making small pooris. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a circle about 3 inches in diameter.

Place a tablespoon of stuffing in the center of the rolled out dough.

Fold up the ends of the rolled-out dough and scrunch it close modak-style.

4. Steam the momos

[This is one way to steam the momos – using an idli stand that goes inside an Indian-style pressure cooker. You might have another preferred way of steaming and if so, go for that instead.]p>

Grease the idli stand. Arrange the momos on the stand, one in each receptacle.

Momos Placed on Idli Stand

Fill water in the pressure cooker upto an inch from the base. Heat the pressure cooker to bring the water to a boil, then set the heat to low.

Position the idli stand inside a pressure cooker – make sure that the water is some distance below the lowest tier of the idli stand on which momos are placed.

Lock the lid of the cooker, without putting the whistle on – the vent should be open to let the steam escape. Steam the momos at low heat for ~15 minutes.

That’s it – the momos are ready.