Momos are a bit of an indulgence of mine. I love the spicy dumplings with the various sauces they come with, and Tandoori momos are possibly my absolute favourite way to enjoy them. Momos are from Nepal and the North Eastern region of India. In recent years momos have gained mass popularity as a street food through Delhi and they have slowly made their way down to Mumbai as well.
My version uses home made momo dough and tandoori paste to make comfort filled dumplings.
For this recipe you could purchase a momo spice blend, available at South Asian grocers – but trust me when I say that nothing beats the homemade stuff! You will need a spice grinder to prepare this (I use the Coffee & Spice from Breville and absolutely love it!)
Here is a video of my recipe to make these momos and the recipe card is below!
Tandoori Momos
This is my foolproof recipe to make delicious Tandoori momos, right at home
Equipment
- Flat fry pan with a lid
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
For the Momo Dough
- 1 cup plain flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil or any flavourless oil
- ½ cup water lukewarm
Momo Filling
- 1 large white onion, chopped fine
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ inch piece of ginger, minced
- ½ tsp coriander stalk, chopped fine
- 1 medium carrot, shredded
- 400 g shredded cabbage
- 4-6 button or brown mushrooms, minced
- 1½ tsp momo spice blend available at South Asian grocers or refer to the ingredient section below
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- vegetable oil for cooking
- water
Momo Spice Blend
- ½ tbsp. whole black peper
- ½ tbsp. dry ginger powder
- 9 whole cloves
- 6 whole green cardamom
- 9 dried red chillies
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- ½ tbsp. whole black mustard seeds
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp whole fenugreek seeds
- 1 tbsp. whole coriander seeds
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
Tandoori Paste
- 3 tbsp. Greek yogurt
- ½ lime, juiced
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp chilli powder use paprika if you want something mild
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp dried fenugreek leaves (Kasuri Methi) available at South Asian grocers
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground coriander
Instructions
- If making your own momo spice blend, combine all the ingredients and make into a fine powder using a spice grinder or food processor
- Mix all the ingredients of the tandoori paste and set aside in the fridge
- Sift the plain flour into a mixing bowl along with the salt, oil and half of the water
- Knead the flour into a thick dough adding small amounts of water as required, until the dough comes together in a ball and is not sticky
- Set the dough to rest in the bowl, under a dampened tea towel
- To prepare the filling, start by heating 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil in pot. Once hot, add the onions and a pinch of salt and sauté until soft and translucent
- Add the garlic, cabbage and carrot and sauté until cooked well
- Add the mushrooms, ginger and coriander stalk. Mix and cook through
- Once the vegetables are softened and cooked, add the soy sauce and 1½ tbsp. of the momo spice blend. Mix everything through well then remove from the heat and set aside to cool for at least 10 minutes
- Roll out a small ball of the prepared dough and roll into a thin circle. You want thinner edges and a thicker middle section
- Scoop 1 tbsp. of the prepared momo filling into the center of the prepared dough circle and fold the dough into your desired shape. You can do a simple press, or gyoza fold, or pleat the dough all around the edges to bring it up to a peak and pinch
- Set the prepared momos under a dampened tea towel to prevent drying while you make the remaining momos
- Heat 1 tbsp. of vegetable oil and ⅓ cup of water in a flat pan over a medium high heat. Make sure you add both these ingredients to a cold pan and heat them together
- Once the pan is hot, add 6-8 momos (depending on the size of your pan) making sure that they do not touch each other. Do not overcrowd the pan otherwise the temperature will drop. Maintain a medium high heat for your pan
- Cover the pan and let the momos steam for 10 minutes. BE VERY CAREFUL here. Noting that each pan and stove top is different, the cooking time may vary. Always make sure there is water in the pan in this step otherwise they will burn.
- Remove the lid of the pan once the momos appear to be translucent and continue to fry the momos to develop a crispy base. You can add some more oil here if required
- Once the base is crispy and golden, remove the momos and continue to cook the remaining momos
- After all the momos are cooked and removed from the pan, reduce the heat of the pan to a low heat and pour in the tandoori paste prepared earlier along with ⅓ cup of water. Cook the paste until the smell of the raw tomato paste is gone and the sauce begins to thicken
- Add the cooked momos to the sauce and mix them around to generously coat them in the tandoori paste
- Serve hot with fresh coriander and a squeeze of lime
