Nepalese Turkey Momos 🥟

Sez
Jan 8, 2020
4 min read

If you are following us on Instagram, you might be aware that we recently went to Bath for the holidays. Apart from all the cultural activities we did, we also had so much food! There were 2 restaurants that stood out and it was Sotto Sotto (Italian) and Yak Yeti Yak (Nepalese). It was the first time I've had Nepalese food and to say that I was impressed is an under-statement. I absolutely loved it. PK has had Nepalese food before in Reading so he knew what we were walking into. If you haven't taken the plunge, you definitely should. The only way we can describe it is that it has all the lovely strong flavours of Indian food, but it also tastes a lot healthier and lighter.

I loved Yak Yeti Yak so much that I told PK we have to return for lunch before we leave Bath. When we got to the restaurant it was closed though and I nearly cried. I really wanted those lovely Pork Momos and I was upset we couldn't have them for lunch. PK told me that we will make our own Momos in London so this recipe is inspired by those lovely Momos.

Momos are basically steamed dumplings that you fill with minced meat, coriander, chilli, vegetables and ginger. It is also served with this lovey chilli dip they call "achar"so we will also be breaking down how we did it. Momos might not be the easiest dish to make but it is definitely fun and sooooo delicious. We filled ours with minced turkey but you can also do this with minced pork, minced chicken or just vegetables.

Serves: 4

Difficulty:

Level 1 for filling

Level 4 for dumpling making

Wow factor: ⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ingredients

For the dough

2 cups plain flour, more for flouring and as needed
1/2tsp salt
1tbs sunflower oil
3/4 cup water

For the filling

2 cups shredded green cabbage
3 carrots, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 thumb-sized ginger, skin peeled
30gr coriander
400gr minced turkey
4 spring onions, chopped
glug of oil
salt & pepper to taste
glug of soy sauce

For the chilli dip

1tbsp sunflower oil
4 gloves garlic, chopped
1 ginger, half of the size of your thumb, chopped
2 small chillies, deseeded, thinly sliced (leave the seeds in if you want it to be hella spicy)
2tbsp sesame seeds
1 cup of red onion, chopped
1 can of tinned tomatoes
1 lemon squeezed
soy sauce to taste

Instructions

To make the dough, take a large mixing bowl and whisk together the flour and salt. Now pour in the water and oil and use your hands to mix the dough until it becomes one huge ball and has taken up all the flour.
Turn out the dough onto a cleaned and floured surface, and start kneading. Add more flour as you go along if it is still too sticky to handle. Continue to knead until the dough is smooth and is no longer sticking to your hands.
Place the dough back in the mixing bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let it rest for around 30 minutes.
For the filling, take a food processor and add all your vegetables. Whiz this up until the desired texture has been achieved. We prefer it to have crunchy bits here and there so we pulsed it for a few seconds.
Put the mixture into a mixing bowl and add your minced turkey, oil, salt & pepper and soy sauce. Mix with your hands or a wooden spoon until well combined. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
To make your chilli dip, heat oil in a skillet over medium - high heat. Add the garlic, sesame seeds, chillies and ginger until fragrant. Add the onion and cook until soft before adding in your tinned tomatoes.
Cook mixture for about 6 minutes then transfer to a blender where you will also be adding in your soy sauce and lemon juice until smooth. If this is too clumpy, feel free to add a dash of water. This is now done so set aside or add more salt or pepper if desired.
Now you are back to your floured surface. Turn out the rested dough and divide it in half. Leave one under the damp towel and roll the other one out with a rolling pin.
Keep adding flour if things get too sticky. Roll the dough out as thin as you possibly can. Don't forget to lift the dough, dust, flip and repeat with more flour until you think you can't roll it out any further.
Turn on your steamer. PK and I also added parchment paper to the steamer to ensure the dumplings don't stick to the steamer case.
Using a plastic cup or a round cookie cutter, cut the dough into circles. Take a little bowl and fill it with water. The water will help you seal the dough once you have filled it.
Now for the filling part. Take it one dumpling at a time. Place the circle on your left hand, dip one finger from your right hand into the bowl of water and dampen the outer circumference of the circle.
Use a teaspoon to scoop up the filling and place it in the middle of the circle. Now you can begin pinching the sides to ensure that there are no air bubbles inside, and that the momos are tightly sealed. Place the momos on a lightly floured plate and repeat for the remaining circles and dough.
Once the steamer has reached boiling point, it is ready for your delicate momos. We used tongs to place these momos on the steamer case. Make sure that the momos do not touch each other as we don't want them to stick to one another. As they have raw meat in them, we want to ensure that the momos are cooked through before they are served, so depending on size, we would recommend that you steam them for around 10-15 minutes.
Take out a momo that has been in for 10-15 minutes and check if the turkey meat is cooked through, if not, then you just need to adjust your steaming time.
Serve the momos with the delicious chilli dip. Don't throw away any uneaten momos as they can just be steamed again when you want to eat them.