Vinogger

When my son told me he wanted to make dumplings, I decided to make this weeks virtual travel destination Nepal in order to make their delicious dumplings called Momos. Momos are a fun to say word and a super tasty food to eat.

My husband and I have been lucky enough to visit Nepal, a very interesting country located in South Asia mainly known for the Himalayas and providing access to Mount Everest. The country has gorgeous views, beautiful hikes and trekking opportunities and super friendly people.

To start our Nepalese adventure we looked at the flag of Nepal which is a neat shape and has cool symbols. It is the world’s only non-quadrilateral flag that acts as both the state flag and civil flag of a sovereign nation. The flag is a simplified combination of two single pennons, known as a double-pennon. The flag is crimson with blue borders and incorporates stylized symbols of the sun and moon. My son learned that the capitol of Nepal is Kathmandu and we then looked on a world map to see the shape of Nepal, where it is located and to see how far it is from San Francisco (very far) and how long it take to get there from SF (15 hours an 40 minutes) and looked at some pictures of Nepal and the Himalayas

We then set out to make momos. First up was the dough which is very easy to make. Place 2 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon of oil and a sprinkle of salt in a bowl, gradually add water and knead with your hands until a dough forms. My son loved kneading the dough and squishing it thru his fingers. ONce it came together he liked pushing it down and then turning it on its side to knead it. Once a dough of smooth consistency is formed roll it into a ball and then place it back in the bowl you used to mix it and let sit 30 minutes

While the dough it sitting make the filling. We did beef. Take 1 pound of ground beef, 1 cup of minced onions, 1 Tablespoon of minced garlic, 1 Tablespoon of minced ginger, a pinch of nutmeg and 1/2 Tablespoon of curry, 1 cup of minced cabbage and 1 large diced tomato. Mix with your hands well so everything is well distributed, cover with plastic and then put in your fridge to sit at least 1 hour so the flavors meld.

While we waited for the dough to rest and the filling to meld we went for a hike.

Once the dough has rested cut it into 4 equal sized pieces. Then roll each piece into a long strip and cut into 7 pieces. put all the dough back into the bowl and cover to keep it from drying out. Take each piece and roll into a circle, keep the center thicker and make the edges thinner.

Then take the dough circle and put in your non-dominate hand. Put a large heaping Tablespoon of filling in the middle and then with your dominant hand pinch the dough between your thumb and forefinger while turning the dough around to seal it and make a swirl in the center that you should push to seal well. Place each completed dumpling on a cookie sheet. You will end up with 28 good sized momos.

Spray the bottom of a bamboo steamer with nonstick spray or spread oil on it. Bowl water and then place the steamer on the boiling water with the dumplings inside place the top on and cook 10 minutes. Serve with bowls of rice vinegar and chili oil to dunk the momos in.

We ate half and froze half to eat another day. To make these more kid friendly for eating perhaps leave the curry out or use a veggie filling ie carrots, and cabbage instead of beef.

This was my first attempt at making momos, they were surprisingly easy to make, my son enjoyed helping to make them and they tasted delicious and brought back great memories for my husband and me of our trip to Nepal

I hope you will consider making delicious momos and when the shelter in place is lifted perhaps consider a visit to lovely Nepal

Namaste!

This entry was posted on Monday, April 13th, 2020 at 11:22 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.