Momo (food)

Momos are a type of steamed filled dumpling in Tibetan and Nepali cuisine that is also popular in neighbouring Bhutan and India. The majority of Tibetan momos are half-moon in shape like jiaozi, while Nepali momos are normally round like baozi. Momos are usually served with a sauce known as achar influenced by the spices and herbs used within many South Asian cuisines. It can also be cooked as soup versions known as jhol momo where the broth is made from achar using a mixture of tomatoes, sesame seeds, chillies, cumin and coriander or mokthuk from boiling pork/buffalo bones mixed with various herbs and vegetables.

Origin
"Momo", as written, is a phonetic transcription of the Tibetan word མོག་མོག. It is possible that this Tibetan word is borrowed from the Chinese term momo (馍馍), a name traditionally used in northwestern Chinese dialects for wheat steamed buns and bread. The word mo (馍) itself means wheat flour food products or mantou (馒头), steamed buns. Historically, Chinese names for steamed buns did not distinguish between those with or without fillings until the term baozi (包子) emerged during the Song Dynasty between the tenth and thirteenth century. However, in eastern regions of China such as Jiangsu and Shanghai, mantou continues to carry both meanings in modern day. The history of dumplings in China shows that dumplings were popular during the Southern and Northern dynasties (420–589 AD). Dumplings dated between 499 AD and 640 AD were found in the Astana Cemetery in northwestern modern-day China.

It is generally believed that the concept of dumplings was carried from China by the Mongols in the 13th century. As for the Himalayan momo, similar to the history of Korean mandu, the history of momos in Nepal dates back to as early as the fourteenth century. It is not quite known whether it spread from the Kathmandu valley of Nepal to Tibet or the other way around. Because this dish was initially popular among the Newar community of the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal, one prevalent belief is that traveling Nepali Newar merchants took the recipe from Tibet, where they traded, and brought it home to Nepal. Some argue that momos were introduced in Tibet by a Nepalese Newari princess who was married to a Tibetan king in the late fifteenth century. since in the Newar language, mome (मम) means cooking by steaming. In Tibet, the filling of the dish was typically meat, such as yak and occasionally potatoes and cheese. Traditional Tibetan momos are quite different from the Nepalese one as the former was made with a thicker dough and with little to no spices except salt.

After arriving in the Indo-Gangetic Plains, the meat was more often chicken, and mixed vegetable momos were introduced to feed the large population of vegetarian Hindus. A large number of Tibetans emigrated to India following the 1959 Tibetan uprising, bringing their recipes for momos with them. Unproven, but substantiated by the dates and references to momos in colloquial references, the civil war in Nepal pushed out the Nepali diaspora to seek a livelihood in India, which further increased the prevalence of Himalayan style momos in the southern half of India especially in the cities of Chennai and Bangalore.



Production


The earliest Tibetan dumplings were made of highland barley flour as the outer covering, and beef and mutton as the stuffing. Nowadays, a simple white-flour-and-water dough is generally preferred to make the outer covering of momos. Sometimes, a little yeast or baking soda is added to give a more doughy texture to the finished product.

Traditionally, momos are prepared with ground/minced meat, potatoes, and leek filling. Nowadays, the fillings have become more elaborate and momos are prepared with virtually any combination of ground meat, vegetables, tofu, mushrooms, paneer cheese, soft chhurpi (local hard cheese) and vegetable and meat combinations.


 * Meat: Different types of meat fillings are popular in different regions. In Nepal, Tibet, Sikkim, and Bhutan common meat fillings are pork, chicken, goat and water buffalo. In the Himalayan region of Nepal and India, lamb and yak meat are more common. Minced meat is combined with any or all of the following: onions/shallots, garlic, ginger and cilantro/coriander. Some people also add finely puréed tomatoes and soy sauce.
 * Vegetables: Finely chopped cabbage, carrot, soy granules, potato, flat bean (lilva kachori) or chayote (iskush) are used as fillings in Nepal.
 * Cheese: Usually fresh cheese (paneer) or the traditional soft chhurpi is used. This variety is common in Eastern Nepal.
 * Khoa: Momos filled with milk solids mixed with sugar are popular as a dessert in the Kathmandu Valley.

The dough is rolled into small circular flat pieces. The filling is enclosed in the circular dough cover either in a round pocket or a half-moon or crescent shape. People prefer meat with a lot of fat because it produces flavourful, juicy momos. A little oil is sometimes added to the lean ground/minced meat to keep the filling moist and juicy. The dumplings are then cooked by steaming over a soup (either a stock based on bones or vegetables) in a momo-making utensil called mucktoo. Momos may also be pan-fried or deep-fried after being steamed.

Variations
Momos are traditionally steamed but can also be deep-fried or pan-fried and cooked in soup. It is usually served with chilli garlic sauce and pickled daikon in Tibet. In Nepal, popular dipping sauces include tomato-based chutneys or sesame or peanut or soybean-based sauces called achar. Sauces can be thick or thin in consistency depending on the eatery. Momos may be used in soups, such as jhol momo from Kathmandu, or mokthuk from Tibet.

Other variations of momos include:


 * C-momo, steamed or fried then served in chili sauce.
 * Dhapu momo, from Chinese da bao (大包), or "big bun", also known as "Tibetan momo", a Nepali dumpling that is typically larger and flatter than other versions of momos. This was possibly introduced to Nepal through two routes. One was through Myanmar along the eastern Himalayas, and the other was by the Chinese who immigrated to Kolkata, India one or two hundred years ago.
 * Gonga momo, a wheat and egg fried dough dumpling filled with meat paste.
 * Green momo, a steamed vegetarian dumpling stuffed with vegetables, cabbage and green beans.
 * Hoentay, a Bhutanese dumpling made from buckwheat dough wrapper mixed with spinach and cheese.
 * Kothey momo, from Chinese guotie (锅贴), a pan-fried version of the momo. The dumpling is first filled with meat as well as vegetables and spices. It is first steamed then fried and then served in dipping sauce.
 * Open momo, another Nepali addition to the variant in that it has a distinct shape which has open holes on the top that can be used to add various sauces and spices.
 * Sadheko momo, a momo salad with onions and tomatoes, herbs, and spices.
 * Shoko momo, a Tibetan variant that is prepared using mashed potato with dough, shaped into balls, with a minced meat filling, served with bread crumbs.
 * Tingmo, a type of steamed bread made from flour, yeast and water. Tingmo is a soft and fluffy bread served with savoury dishes such as stews or curries. Unlike other versions of momos, tingmo does not contain any type of filling.
 * Shamo, a Tibetan dumpling stuffed with beef or mutton.