If you want to soak in the flavours of a region in the most rustic way, street food is the way to go! From sev puri and vada pav in Mumbai to chole kulche and steam momos in Delhi – the love for these dishes is unmatched. Standing at the corner of the lane, right outside the shack, and placing your order with the vendor while he carefully listens to all your specifications and gives you a plate of food that perfectly resonates with your taste buds – nothing can feel better than that. However, with the pandemic, eating outside, especially from street hawkers has decreased drastically. With local lockdowns and restrictions, these vendors have not been permitted to set up their stall, and moreover even if they were, most people deem their food unhygienic and unsafe now. So, what do you do when you’re craving for the perfect and most succulent chicken or paneer momos? Simple, you make them at home. Here’s a list of momos that can be easily recreated in your very own kitchen with some basic ingredients.
Vegetable Momos
A healthier version of the southeast Asian delicacy, veg momos are easy to prepare at home. You don’t need anything specific and can throw in all the veggies you have in your refrigerator. Knead the dough with all-purpose or wheat flour and some water and a few drops of oil. Saute your vegetables in some oil and cook for a few minutes. Season with salt, pepper, garlic and ginger, and a little soy sauce. Stuff this filling into discs of your momo sheets and fold. Put them into the steamer and voila your steam momos are ready! You can also choose to deep fry or panfry these.
Fried chicken momos
Tired of veg or paneer momos? Want a change from the soft and fluffy pockets of flavour? Fried chicken ones are what you should dig into. Mince your chicken if you want the filling to melt in your mouth, and chop it if you like a bite. Does cooking a full-blown momo dish seem like too much effort? Most brands recognise the time crunch millennials are facing and have come out with frozen momos. All you need to do is take them out of the freezer and cook them in any way that you like.
Tandoori momos
If you are looking for a change from the same old Asian spices and flavours in your momos, we’ve found you the perfect variant. Steam or fry your regular momos and then give them an Indian twist. You could use vegetables, chicken, paneer, tofu, or any other filling for this. After you cook them, dunk them in a marinade of curd, chili powder, garlic, ginger, lemon, dried methi, lemon juice, salt, and raw mango powder. Let the momos rest for 30 minutes in this mixture and then cook on a hot pan. To enhance the smoked flavour, you can also heat a piece of coal till it turns red hot, place it in a small bowl in the middle of your container, and pour a tablespoon of ghee over it. Once the container smokes up, seal it and let the flavours settle into the momos before you cook them on the pan.
Lamb momos
Change is the only constant and that applies to food too. Play around with your momo filling and give yourself a break from the same old chicken or crunchy vegetables. Try minced lamb, tossed in soy or oyster sauce and fiery spices, and encased in soft dough that melts in your mouth. You can also choose to call them dim sums to complete the fine dine experience at home.