Dough for wrappers
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp oil
- 1 cup water
- 1 pinch salt
Filling
- 1 lb. lean ground lamb or chicken
- 1 cup onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup green onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 tsp garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1/2 tsp timur (Szechwan pepper)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 fresh red chilies, minced
- 1 cup Nepali cheese (homemade paneer), roughly crushed (optional)
- 2 Tbsp clarified butter
- salt, to taste
Dough:
In a large bowl combine flour, oil, salt and water; mix well.
Knead
until dough becomes homogeneous in texture, about 8-10 min.
Cover and let stand at least 30 minutes Knead well again before
making wrappers.
Filling:
In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients; mix well.
Cover and refrigerate at
least an hour to allow all ingredients to impart their unique flavors.
This also improves consistency of filling.
Assembly:
Give dough a final knead. Prepare 1-inch dough balls by
taking a ball and rolling it between your palms to
spherical shape.
Dust working board with dry
flour. On the board, gently flatten the ball with your palm
to about a 2-inch circle. Make a few semi-flattened circles; cover
with a bowl.
Use a rolling pin to roll out each
flattened circle into a wrapper. For well-executed momos,
it's essential that middle portion of wrapper be
slightly thicker than edges to ensure the structural
integrity of dumplings during packing and steaming.
Hold
edges of semi-flattened dough with one hand, and with
the other hand, begin rolling edges of dough out, swirling
a bit at a time. Continue until the wrapper attains 3-inch diameter
circular shape.
Repeat with remaining semi-flattened dough circles. Cover with bowl to prevent from drying.
For
packing, hold wrapper on one palm, put in one Tbsp
filling mixture and with the other hand, bring all edges
together to the center, making pleats.
Pinch and
twist pleats to ensure closure of stuffed dumpling. This holds the key
to good tasting, juicy dumplings.
Heat up a
steamer and oil the steamer rack well. This is critical because
it will prevent dumplings from sticking.
Arrange uncooked
momos in steamer. Close lid and allow steaming until
dumplings are cooked through, about 10-15 min.
Take dumplings off steamer and immediately serve. To serve, arrange cooked momos on a plate dressed with tomato achar.
