Street food

Chicken Momos

Name: Chicken Momos
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 300 g chicken mince; 100 g carrot, finely chopped; 2 medium onions, finely chopped; 3 green chillies, finely chopped; 50 g fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped; 0.5 tsp garam masala; 1 tsp butter; 1 egg; 5 g fine sea salt (about 1.5% of the filling); 300 g plain flour (maida); 2 tsp oil

Momos are the street food of the Himalayan foothills — thin, unleavened wrappers hand-folded around spiced minced meat, then steamed until silky and served with a fiery tomato chutney. They are quick to make once you get the pleating motion into muscle memory.

45 minServes 4 mild–medium

Method

Mix the flour, oil and a pinch of salt together. Add water a little at a time and knead into a smooth, firm dough. Cover with a damp cloth and rest for 20 minutes .
Combine the chicken mince, carrot, onions, chillies, coriander, garam masala, egg, butter and salt in a bowl. Mix well — this is your filling.
Pinch off small balls of dough and roll each one into a thin round about 8 cm across.
Place a heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre of each wrapper. Bring the edges up and pleat them together tightly, twisting the top to seal.
Set up a steamer over boiling water. Place the momos on a lightly oiled rack (leave gaps between them) and steam for 10–15 minutes until the wrappers are translucent and firm and the filling is cooked through. Because the filling is chicken, check one: it should read an internal 74 °C / 165 °F and be white throughout with no pink.
Serve immediately with tomato chutney.

Cook's note. Make sure the filling is not watery — squeeze any excess moisture from the vegetables before mixing or the wrappers will tear.

The story

Momos originated in Tibet and Nepal and spread through Bhutan, Sikkim and Darjeeling along mountain trade routes. In India they are most associated with the Northeastern hill towns, where Tibetan immigrants set up steamer stalls that became a defining part of local street culture. Today they are eaten from Leh to Kolkata.