Utterly unique and delicious, momos — Tibetan dumplings — are basically the unofficial national dish of Tibet.
Every Tibetan family has a slightly different momo recipe, with various theories on how to make them the most juicy and delicious, or how to keep the dough skins to the desired delicate thinness.
The variations are endless – momos can be meat, vegetarian, steamed (the most popular), fried, and cooked in soup.
Here, we show you how to cook both beef momos and Lobsang’s unique and wonderful vegetarian momos 🙂 You might like to try also his cheese and spinach momos recipe or the super tasty chicken (cha sha) momos. And learn how many calories are in steamed veg momos.
In case you’re wondering, the word “momo” is pronounced with the same “o” sound as in “so-so.”
The Dough
First of all, make the dough.
If you want to make momo dough for four people, use about 2 cups of wheat flour (we don’t use whole wheat, but rather use white, all-purpose flour) and somewhere between 3/4 cups and 1 cup of water. The amount will depend on your particular flour. (You don’t have to be very exact about these measurements — Tibetans never are!)
Mix the flour and water very well by hand and keep adding water until you make a pretty smooth ball of dough.
Then knead the dough very well until the dough is flexible.
Now leave your dough in the pot with the lid on while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
You should not let the dough dry out, or it will be hard to work with.
The Filling
We make momo’s with either meat or vegetables.
In Tibet, they often use yak meat, but here in the United States, we usually use beef, or just vegetables for our vegetarian friends.
For vegetable momo filling:
Chop all the following ingredients into very, very small pieces:
- Two onions
- Two inches fresh ginger
- Two or three cloves of garlic
- A bunch of cilantro
- One pound of cabbage
- One pound of tofu*
- One quarter pound of dark brown mushrooms (I buy them dried from Asian markets)*
- Two tablespoons of soy sauce
- One teaspoon of chicken, beef or vegetable bouillon
*don’t use these if you are making meat momos
For meat momo filling, add:
One pound of ground beef: This beef replaces the mushrooms and tofu in the vegetable recipe.
If you have enough time, you can use un-ground beef and chop the meat into very small pieces.
For both kinds of momos, put all of the ingredients in a pot or big bowl, then add a teaspoon of bouillon and two tablespoons of soy sauce.
Mix everything together very well.
(If you are making meat momo’s with ground beef, you may need to use your hands to mix it up.)
Shaping the Momos
When your dough and filling are both ready, it is time for the tricky part of making the dumpling shapes.
For this, place the dough on a chopping board and use a rolling pin to roll it out quite thinly.
It should not be so thin that you can see through it when you pick it up, nor should it be quite as thick as a floppy disk for a computer (remember those? :-).
Somewhere between those two should work out.
After you have rolled out the dough, you will need to cut it into little circles for each momo.
The easiest way to do this is turn a small cup or glass upside down to cut out circles about the size of the palm of your hand.
That way, you don’t have to worry about making good circles of dough because each one will be the same size and shape.
Of course, you can also make the circles by the more traditional, and more difficult, way of pinching off a small ball of dough and rolling each ball in your palms until you have a smooth ball of dough.
Then, you can use a rolling pin to flatten out the dough into a circle, making the edges more thin than the middle. This is much harder to do, and takes more time, though many Tibetans still use this method.
Now that you have a small, flat, circular piece of dough, you are ready to add the filling and make the momo shapes.
There are many, many different choices for momo shapes, and I will teach you two of the most common, the basic round momo, and the half-moon shapes.
(Of these two, the half-moon shape is easier.)
For the Round Momo
For both shapes, you will need to put one circle of dough in your left hand, and add a tablespoonful of filling in the center of the dough. (Or reverse all of these instructions if you are left-handed 🙂
With your right hand, begin to pinch the edge of the dough together.
You don’t need to pinch much dough in the first pinch — just enough to make a small fold between your thumb and forefinger.
Now you will have a little piece of dough pinched together, and you should continue pinching around the circle little by little, keeping your thumb in place, and continuing along the edge of the circle with your forefinger, grabbing the next little piece of dough, and folding and pinching it down into the original fold/pinch being held by your thumb.
Basically you will be pinching the whole edge of the circle into one spot.
Continue folding and pinching all around the edge of the circle until you come back around to where you started and then close the hole with a final pinch.
Make sure you close the hole on top of the momo. That way you don’t lose the juicy part of the momo.
For the Half-Moon Momo
The half-moon momo is very pretty.
For this style, you begin the same as with the round momo style, holding the flat circular dough in your left hand and putting a tablespoon of filling in the middle of the dough.
Then you have to fold your circle of dough in half, covering over the filling.
Now press together the two edges of the half circle so that there is no open edge in your half circle, and the filling is completely enclosed in the dough.
You will now have the basic half-moon shape, and you can make your momo pretty by pinching and folding along the curved edge of the half circle.
Start at one tip of the half-moon, and fold over a very small piece of dough, pinching it down.
Continue folding and pinching from the starting point, moving along the edge until you reach the other tip of the half-moon.
You can experiment with different folds and pinches to find the way that is easiest and nicest for you.
As you are making your momos, you will need to have a non-stick surface and a damp cloth or lid handy to keep the momo’s you’ve made from drying out while you’re finishing the others.
You can lay the momos in the lightly-greased steamer and keep the lid on them, or you can lay them on wax paper and cover them with the damp cloth.
Last Step: Steaming the Momos
Finally, you should boil water in a large steamer. (Tibetans often use double or even huge triple-decker steamers, to make many momos at one time.)
Oil the steamer surface lightly before putting the momos in, so they won’t stick to the metal, then place as many as you can without touching each other.
Add the momos after the water is already boiling.
Steam the momos for about 10 minutes, then serve them hot, with soy sauce or hot sauce of your choice to dip them in.
Tibetan hot sauce, sepen, is perfect for momos.
At home, along with homemade sepen, we use soy sauce and the spicy version of Patak’s Hot Lime Relish, which we get in Indian stores, or the Asian section of supermarkets.
Be careful when you take the first bite of the hot momos since the juice is very, very hot, and can burn you easily.
Momos are very good for your social life. When we are making momos, we chat and have a lot of fun. And they taste great!
To see momo making done by two masters, watch David Johnson’s spare, poignant short documentary, “Momo,” about two Tibetan refugees living in Dharamsala, India who make momo’s for a living.
And if you’re interested in experiencing the real thing in Lhasa, you can learn how to travel to Tibet here.
Tibetan Home Cooking
Bring joy to the people you love by making your own delicious, authentic Tibetan meals
free says
Lightly coat a bamboo or metal steamer with vegetable spray and arrange momo so they do not touch. Cover and steam over boiling water for l0-15 minutes.
eroprofile says
Love dim sum, dumplings of all types and momo is excellent. Found the recipes at recipecottage after watching restaurant makeover and Chef Lynn’s reaction to it. I actually use bison because of its leanness since i cannot find yak. Simple flavors but that is why it is important to use enough ginger and garlic. Test the momo by dropping a mini pea size ball into the oil and correct seasonings if needed. I like a strong ginger flavor. Will post ingredients for Sherpa Momo and Nepalese under directions as well, same dough and methods as the Tibetan. Go crazy and use vegetarian or whatever you like, but I think the first one is the best to try and get the authentic Tibetan taste to build on. If you want a dipping sauce with them, this seems like a good one: Recipe #245575 final serving amounts are guesstimates, depends on the size you make them.
Sandra says
Hi I had made Momos earlier and it tasted good I just didn’t undeestand one thing that when I placed the momos in the steamer it got dried up and after taking them out they got dried really fast . I just want to know how should i keep the momos doft and juicy ?
Should pour a lot of oil to make them soft or should i keep them in the steamer all the time before serving ?
yowangdu says
You can add some water in your filling. Also you need to serve as soon as you cook the momos.
Yer Vang says
Could I put eggs in my dough? If yes, what do you suggest – one whole egg, one egg white, or one yolk?
Bhupesh says
Excellent work. We are on the verge of starting our own business for the same and have learnt a lot from this post. Especially with the questions that have been asked. Thank you so much.
yowangdu says
You are welcome, Bhupesh!
shweta says
Thanks a lot for the detailed post. I loved the description of shaping the momos. Will certainly try them. I think while reading it seems simple though will be tough when ill start.
I just tried momos once following https://youtu.be/nkDH53S7jp0. video. Momos came out ok but shape was not that good.
Hopefully following your steps will be able to make perfect once.
Keep posting.
yowangdu says
You’re very welcome, Shweta — thanks for writing!
Saurav Ghosh says
I tried this recipe but the dough lost its consistency and started melting in the steamer. Is my steamer too hot? It doesn’t have a temperature control so I am not sure how to fix this.
yowangdu says
Hi Saurav, We’ve never experienced this. What kind of dough are you using? Let us know.
Kabir says
Thanks for helping with simple recipes,I tried and it is just delicious
yowangdu says
Wonderful!
Quyết Vượng says
Hi. Great page. How would a person store a cooked (steamed or boiled) momo if, say, they were to be sold from a cart? Presumably in a single layer, but…how to stop them sticking together, and how to keep them moist? Thanks.
yowangdu says
Hi Quyet, thanks for the nice words. Sorry, we don’t really know how to keep them fresh for a long time.
Binod says
Thanks for sharing this simple recipe. I recently tried momos at a Tibetean restaurant and I loved the simplicity and authenticity of this food, so I thought I would make it at home. Well I made the momos as per your recipe yesterday, and I must tell you that I have surprised myself. I can’t stop eating. Thanks.
yowangdu says
How wonderful to hear this! We are addicted to homemade momos!
Sobha Juyal says
Hi,
I love making momos.
And love to eat outside as well.
I have tasted momos from few stalls its outer cover is quite different from what we make and receipe we know.
Its outer cover seems very soft and instead od translucent its white in colour and tastes so nice.
Can you please tell me its receipe.
These momos we can get in very few places central market is one of them.
yowangdu says
Hi Sobha, can you send us a photo of what you mean?
Achint Kishore says
Hello
Thanks for sharing such a nice recipe for tibetian momos. I am looking for recipe for momos chutney the same which is kept with in the middle of half moon momos picture under section “For the Half-Moon Momo” above.
I would be grateful if you share the recipe. Thanks in advance
Achint
Stephen says
Hi. Great page. How would a person store a cooked (steamed or boiled) momo if, say, they were to be sold from a cart? Presumably in a single layer, but…how to stop them sticking together, and how to keep them moist? Thanks.
Yara says
frozen them 🙂 if you wanna eat one, you can steam again.
Sailu says
Hello, I was doing a bit of research on Nepali/Tibetan momos and chanced upon your site. Thank you for sharing the poignant documentary video. Loved it.
yowangdu says
You are so welcome Sailu. We love that video too 🙂
Kalaiyarasi Karuppuswamy says
HI team… It is good to see yummy Dumplings. I tried making the ones with Chicken filling. The filling was juicy and too good. But the dough was hard. I boiled it exactly for 10 mins in idly maker. Could you please tell me how the consistency should be for the maida? How long should I knead the flour. How long should I let the dough sit. For one cup of maida how much water should we add for dough. Please help me with this dough making alone as I love momos alot.
yowangdu says
Hi Kalaiyarasi, That’s great you’re making momos! The measurement is on the recipe. Let the dough sit a couple of hours. Is an idli maker like a steamer? You need a steamer for sure. Hoe this helps!
R. R. Patil says
Dear can I use rice flour instead of all purpose flour ?
yowangdu says
We tried this one time and it did not work well at all. Best to you.
Inka Uma says
Dear yowangdu,
can we have vegetarian recipes without chicken or beef or their stock, and no eggs. the tibetans do not eat any of that stuff and eating it is dead tissue. His Holiness the dalai lama would frown and he is your spiritual guardian, higher consciousness and teacher. So let us honor him and put aside all meats and eggs which by the way are from china as is the chicken a diseased bird. Killing or endorsing the eating of any meat is prohibited as tibetans and buddhists. thank you.
Also, do you have an RSS feed for your blog so I can help you promote your site on mine?
Inka Uma Aymaray
Lyn says
I can understand that your post is well meaning in its attempt, however it is incorrect. Consider, for example, yak, goat and mutton. The specific variation of meat or even fish consumption is regarded slightly different between Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. With all do respect, perhaps it would be of interest for you to look a little further into this? I, myself, am a vegan but thought you may want to re-evaluate your post.
Regards,
Lyn
(Registered Dietitian- specialty in cultural nutrition)
yowangdu says
Hi Lyn, We’d would love to consider your thoughts, but we are not sure what you mean. Can you clarify what part of the post you think is incorrect, and why? Thanks so much.
Darkstar says
Seriously? It’s a recipe for momos not a thesis on religion. Sounds to me like you are just trying to show off. Stop being a dork and go find something more productive to do with your time?
Anna says
Saint Lyn,
Tibet is a country above the tree line. OK. That means they don’t have many plants and NO trees. That’s what above the treeline means. OK. Interesting that Buddhism flourished there, don’t you think. Ponder that while you play holier than thou and do your insulting cultural appropriation thing you do, telling Tibetans what idiots they are when it comes to food. Respect for life is something the Tibetans have in spades and you will never understand, despite your condescending spouting. You need to re-evaluate your colonial attitude. Also, when China committed genocide in Tibet, the Men zekhang was not demolished as they understood Tibetan medicine was more advanced that theirs. Interesting you dare give food advice to a culture whose nutritional tradition was embedded in their medical tradition, so either cook these damn mo-mos according to his recipe and just SHUT.
Anish says
Hi! Thanks for the recipe! I made them with chicken and they turned out quite well! I wasn’t too happy with the dough though. I am going to roll it thinner the next time, but it was a little too..”doughy”. Any tips to make it more melt in the mouth?
yowangdu says
I am glad it turned out good for you the first time. Making thin dough is quite important.Also you shouldn’t make dough too thin because while you are cooking momos you don’t break the dough. That will lose the juices of the momos.
Shashikant says
We were trying to prepare veg momo. However, fillings are getting lots of extra liquids after mixing with Salt. If we remove the liquid taste is getting impacted and we cannot add egg to bind it as vegeterians dont take egg in our location. Kindly help me with binding agent, I mean what to be mixed to bind the liquid with chopped veg.
yowangdu says
Hi Shashikant,
Basically we don’t use any binding agent. We remove the liquid by drying the veggies well after you wash them. In the case of spinach, we blanch it ahead of time and squeeze out all the liquid. In the case of the tofu and mushrooms, we fry ahead of time, and that removes the liquid. So all of that is before adding salt and other veggies and ingredients. What veggies are you using?
Jim Lavigne says
I’m from the US. I was introduced to Momos at a farmers market in Australia.
We tried to make them ourselves, and they came out OK.
I really enjoyed the conversational style of presenting the recipe for this dish. Rather than giving you strict instructions, it also told you ways to experiment and what to do if it went wrong.
Well done!
SUNIL KHAWAS says
I love momos drajeeling is a most famous place for momos,,,
yowangdu says
Hi Sunil,
Sorry for the long delay in replying! Thanks for heads up 🙂
Arianne says
Can I make my momo four hours before I need them, keep them in the fridge (I don’t like to freeze potato, and that’s what I’m putting in them) and then steam them before dinner?
yowangdu says
Hi Arianne, You could do this but you run the risk then of drying out your dough before cooking. Sometimes we put a damp cloth on the shaped momos while finishing all of the shaping, but four hours is a long time to do that and likely to be sticky. Sorry we can’t offer a nicer solution!
Soumya says
Hi,
Thank you for this amazing recipe.
Do you have a recipe for the authentic momo sauce as well?
Thanks,
Soumya
yowangdu says
Thanks Soumya! Yes, we have hot sauce recipe or two on the site. If you search for “hot sauce” or “sepen” in the search bar on every page, you should come up with them. Cheers!
Pauline says
This recipe sounds amazing, I’ll give it a go soon!
Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
yowangdu says
Thanks Pauline! It is truly delicious. Let us know how it goes for you 🙂
varun says
If i wish to re-steam it later For how long we can keep them out after first steam in normal temprature ?
yowangdu says
Hi Varun,
After the first steam you can leave them outside maybe half a day or less, depending on the heat, and in the fridge 2-3 days — then to resteam just follow the same steaming procedure as the first time. All the best!
Rach says
Thanks for your simple recipe and clear instructions. Can I make and keep momos in advance? If so how much in advance and how can I store them? Can I keep them in the fridge? Will they get sticky or watery if made in advance and refrigerated (to be steamed or re-steamed when needed)?
Yolanda says
You are so welcome! You can make momos and freeze them in advance, but don’t keep them in the fridge. If you freeze them, you can steam them right out of the freezer. Just take a little longer. Tibetans often do this. Hope this helps!
Anonymous says
For what portions are the quantities you mention in this recipe? How many people or how many momos can you make with the quantities that you mention?
yowangdu says
This recipe is four people.
yangchen says
I make mine with regular self rising flour. Make sure not to knead too hard. I also add 1 egg to the dough
muthiah says
Had made the maida base flour and stuffed with chicken, but it was like fried in oil, such harder..
tried thrice in same month but the result was the same.
can you please help as we luv momos..
in a shop atleast 5 to 6 plates of each 6 or 7 served will be the qty of we have weekly. if you could help, we could make this at home and enjoy life long,,
thanks, Muts
Nina says
Muts,I can understand how you feel being a momo addict myself. Half my salary spent on momos lol.
Try it my way- maida+ 1 spoon oil+water. Knead to dough. Cover with plastic bag/ziploc and leave for 1/2 hour. You’ll have soft atta dough then-fermented.
Do the steaming in a bamboo steamer. Yeah,I know it is difficult to get it in many parts of India but if you can get it – fantastic. Don’t try steaming in an idli steamer.
Place a kadhai on the stove,put water in it.Simmer heat not boiling. Then settle the stuffed momos on top of the water- if the steamer is placed in the water, make sure there is enough of water in the kadhai -the container lining is a banana leaf, /cabbage leaf .The layer is 1 layer only with distance between momos-when you are stuffing them, place stuffed ones on a greased plate .
under a wet napkin/cloth so that they don’t dry before steaming is done. Enjoy!
Cheers.
8-13 minutes steaming for chicken. The outer shell will be semi transparent.
Flo says
Do you have to cook the beef and ingredients before filling the momo?
yowangdu says
Hi Flo,
For the beef version we do not usually cook the ingredients before filling, though you can if you wish. For the veggie version we often cook the tofu and mushrooms ahead of time to reduce the liquid inside the momo when steaming. There is a version of this recipe with pre-cooking in our Tibetan Home Cooking ebook at: https://www.yowangdu.com/tibetan-food/tibetan-cookbook.html
rozario anand says
dear Mr. yowandu
how much dough will i need to make roughly 100 momos. I would like to make it for my sons birthday.
yowangdu says
If you double the dough from the recipe, you can make about 100 Momos.
Swathi says
Hi. I am writing from Sydney. My momos are always soggy, whether it is a chicken one or vegetable one. Please tell me where am I wrong in making the momos.
Regards
Swathi
Lobsang and Yolanda says
Hi Swathi,
Can you help us understand? Do you mean that the filling is too wet after they are cooked, or before? Also, do you mean your dough gets soggy after cooking? Assuming that you mean that the momo wrapper is soggy after cooking, you probably need to remove the excess liquid in your filling before you shape your momos. In the case of veggie momos, we pre-cook the tofu and mushrooms, and make sure there is no excess liquid before we shape the momos. Your veggies should not be wet before making the filling. You can literally pat them down with a paper towel to dry off the extra liquid. Hope this helps.
CHANDAN SHAH says
dear sir,
thank you for you recipe… momos became our favourite food now a days.
we want to know the process of frozen it. will you please send me the details of the process . so that we can make it in bulk and keep it frozen to be used over months. now a days every foods are available in frozen version. we want to make momos a commercial product and popularize tibetian food and their lifestyle in our area.
please mail me the complete process of frozen
yowangdu says
You are welcome, Chandan. Sorry, we do not know the answer to your question. All the best to you.
Aditya says
Hi
I know my dough and the filling to the best and they come out good. But I miss the sauces that my Tibetan friend used to make it in Melbourne. He used to make two three different types of sauces,
1. With tomatoes ginger garlic
2. Chillies tomatoes garlic
It was the best sauces I had in my life
Will any body if know how to make these sauces or chutnees please advise
Thanks
yowangdu says
Hi Aditya,
Did you see our chillies/tomatoes/garlic hot sauce recipe, here: https://www.yowangdu.com/tibetan-food/sepen-tibetan-hot-sauce.html? You can of course add ginger if you like. Let us know what you think about it. Good luck to you!
Varun says
Made these in India with maida, weren’t bad at all. although when serving them they got stickier and stickier. they would break as the part touching the plate would not come off. the first few were really hot and good.
Did i leave them in the steamer for too long?
yowangdu says
Hi Varun,
Thanks for writing. It is possible the momos were in the steamer too long – as soon as you cook the momos, remove them from the steamer. (Dump them on a serving plate or bowl.) More likely is that you need add more oil to the steamer before you put the momos in. Oil the bottom and sides of the steamer tray that you will put the momos on quite well. It’s also possible the dough could be a bit too wet. Not sure about that. Hopefully you can solve this issue and just enjoy your tasty momos!
Dheeraj Chakilam says
We made the vegan version.
I’m not sure if we got it right. The filling was tasteless.
I didn’t add the vegetable bouillon.
But I wasn’t sure what to do with the garlic or ginger.
Just dice them along with the others or grind them?
yowangdu says
Thanks for your feedback, Dheeraj. As for the ginger and garlic, you chop them very, very small. We’ve never had the experience of the veggie filling being tasteless. The veggie bouillon shouldn’t make that much difference but might have some affect. Definitely the garlic, onion, cilantro and ginger all give quite a strong flavor to our tastes. One thing may be that Indian food is usually quite a bit spicier than Tibetan food, so that could be a factor. Also, Tibetans almost always eat momos with hot sauce. We eat them with hot sauce and/or Patak’s Lime Pickle and/or soy sauce. You can see our hot sauce recipe here: https://www.yowangdu.com/tibetan-food/sepen-tibetan-hot-sauce.html Hope this helps.
Dheeraj Chakilam says
I think the problem was that we didn’t chop the garlic and ginger fine enough because of which the flavour didn’t mix well.
We cooked the vegetable mix a bit in water after dropping in the garlic and ginger to make sure the taste is even and a little more Indian to our taste, haha.
This might be useful for the Indian readers here-
Also, because All-purpose flour in its plain and unrefined form is not really available in India, so we used Indian Roti Whole flour and a little maida to make the Dough. Also, because we didn’t have any kind of steamers, we just used our Idli cooker/steamer to steam the momos and it didn’t cause any problems at all.
In the end we ate the Momos with Indian Lemon Pickle and also with Sepen, which was extremeley easy to make, and they tasted amazing!
Thank you, Mr. Wangdu!
yowangdu says
It’s great to hear back from you, Deeraj, and to hear all your clever modifications, which I’m sure our other Indian readers can take advantage of 🙂 We are always happy to share the joys of momo-making and momo eating. All the best to you!
Nandita says
I thought maida and all purpose flour are pretty much the same thing! I always make my momos with a maida dough and they turn out beautifully every time..
yowangdu says
Hi Nandita,
Here’s an interesting piece about it: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/14789/difference-between-maida-and-all-purpose-flour
best to you!
sunitha says
I have tried the Momo’s for my little daughters last week. they were hard and sticky.
Will try with procedure given here and write you back.
yowangdu says
Hi Sunitha – thanks for writing.
Please do try our recipe, and let us know how it works for you!
Sarthak Brahma says
Hii dear I am interested for opening a momos shop in Bhubaneswar.So how much it costs for opening this shop and where i can easyly get the momo makers .please inform me
yowangdu says
Hi Sarthak, It’s great to hear that you are opening a momo shop 🙂 We have never sold momos so unfortunately do not know about the costs for opening a shop. As for momo makers, we don’t know if there are any machines that make momos. All the shops we know that sell momos have cooks preparing them by hand. It is a labor intensive process. All the best to you on your endeavors!
Pai says
What flour do we use , rice flour ,Maida , or wheat flour?
yowangdu says
Hi Pai,
We use wheat flour. More specifically, it is white all-purpose flour.
Thanks for your question. We will update the recipe.
🙂
arjun rai says
Hello really delicious momos.
i would like to have them right now.
hmmmm i cnt wait any longer to eat it.
Nancy says
Help! Is there any possible way to _estimate_ the nutritional makeup of these?? I LOVE the beef dumplings a local Tibetan restaurant has as one of their offerings at the annual outdoor “Taste of…” here – _but_ I am half way through a 90-day diet and have been doing very well (except recently, because of a fall & getting less exercise). It’s a great diet – mostly, more food than I want to eat, but very little in the starch family. The “Taste” is this weekend – and these dumplings are my all-time favorite item there. They come two to an order – and I eventually have two orders, after seeing what all else is on offer. It’s the wrapper that I can’t estimate – and, on the diet, one starch item should be no more than 17g carbs / 80 calories. [edit: 15g carbs – haven’t been able to make a correction]
Helena says
Thanks soooo much for sharing the recipe. I tried the vegan version with minor changes (I hate cilantro) and I LOVE the momos 🙂
yowangdu says
You are so welcome, Helena! We are happy that you love the momos, and love it when our readers make the recipes their own 🙂 All the best to you.
RUBI says
These momo looks good but momo’s of Kathmandu are the best. I miss them so much
yowangdu says
🙂 What kind of momos did you eat in Nepal?
DropForged says
I’ve been to Tibet and tried momo. But frankly, albeit momo originated from Tibet, Nepal has the best momo.
yowangdu says
Thanks for writing in, DropForged 🙂 It’s the great thing about momos, there are so many kinds and everyone has a favorite!
nishant says
saw this on google+ and then decided to check myself and cook momo at home so here i’m on your page and loved the simple cooking also shared it on Twitter and Pinterest Google+ 🙂
yowangdu says
Thanks, Nishant, for the good thoughts and the shares! All the best to you.
Nidhi Agarwal says
Agreed.. their momos with spinach filling can never satiate ur hunger..
md says
This recipe is very good, this is my favorite food to pick up in the mornings in Tibet, and western Sichuan. Makes a good meal to carry along on a long journey.
I also made momos using finely chopped chicken, and it cooked up very well.
Can you give a recipe for homemade spicy lime sauce?
Your film is beautiful.
Richard Kurzkoch says
I’m not sure if they’re “utterly unique” if they look the same as Chinese dumplings (such as jiaozi).
yowangdu says
You are right that they do look like Chinese jiaozi, and of course some Tibetan foods have roots in Chinese food, but honestly Tibetan momos are truly unique in taste. That’s all we meant. Thank you for your feedback.
nishant says
Hi Richard visit Dharamsala and taste some momos of McLeodganj…you’ll taste the difference in Tibetan momo and Chinese jiaozi 🙂
selman says
Pls tell me the flour you use is all purpose flour or Maida
yowangdu says
We use all purpose flour because it makes easier to make the dough flexible. Some Tibetan use Maida. It works fine. Good luck with making Momo!
yowangdu says
Thanks, Jeff! Sweet that you are teaching your kids the virtues of momos 🙂
Just made a dozen vegetarian momos for the family. Very tasty. The kids each ate one while I explained what a momo was. They definitely got a kick out of trying something new but are not used to eating dumplings. Me and my wife loved them though.
Thanks
2011-11-17 14:31
Just made a dozen vegetarian momos for the family. Very tasty. The kids each ate one while I explained what a momo was. They definitely got a kick out of trying something new but are not used to eating dumplings. Me and my wife loved them though.
Thanks
Quote
2011-10-27 10:31
You’re so welcome Shivani! Are you in India?
2011-10-26 22:00
this is my favorite street food!!..me and my sister can literally ive on them..thanks for the recipe!!
Quote
2011-10-24 02:37
Quoting Lobsang and Yolanda:
Hi Anil,
Great to hear from a Nepali in Russia who loves momos 🙂 We’re totally addicts too!
All the best!
thanks Lobsang & yolanda…..all the best
2011-10-21 12:20
Hi Anil,
Great to hear from a Nepali in Russia who loves momos 🙂 We’re totally addicts too!
All the best!
2011-10-21 11:42
I’m myself from nepal,but have been living in Russia for the past 20yrs…..I’ve made lot of Russians(friend s) MOMO ADDICT!!my wife(Russian) is a great momo fan…she can make great momo dumplings!!
2011-10-10 08:02
You’re so welcome, Handrick. Let us know how they turned out 🙂
2011-10-09 19:14
I am from South Africa but was in Nepal for six months recently.. I became a momo addict there.. Today I will be making momo’s like crazy.. Thanks for the recipre and techniques..
2011-09-21 15:13
Us too, Anna — craving momos we mean 🙂
2011-09-21 14:56
I could eat momos all day long! I go to this little place called House of Tibet in Salt Lake City and I CRAVE their momos!
2011-09-04 12:50
Hi Thubde,
You’re in luck — we include everything you mentioned in our Tibetan Home Cooking ebook and video series except for khapse. We will definitely put out a khapse recipe one of these days 🙂 Thanks so much for taking the time to write in!
2011-09-04 01:41
Hi all!
I prefer deep-fried momos meself!
And for your cookbook you must, this is an order, include a recipe for khapses!
And Tibetan hot sauce and maybe some nice veggie dishes and breads, so you know the Amdo bread His Holiness’ mother used to make Him? I think he mentions it (very fondly) it in My Country My People… And of course sweet rice, which we all know from staying at monasteries and attending certain religious ceremonies! And maybe a sweet dessert, though I’ve understood Tibetans don’t usually do desserts!
2011-07-26 07:57
Sounds great, Mish, thanks for the feedback and tip!
2011-07-25 22:46
I made these for tea last night and used pork mince and cabbage. The kids loved them as did I.
2011-07-13 15:24
Hi Lana — you don’t really need salt since the soy sauce and bouillon both give saltiness. Of course if you like dishes quite salty, go for it 🙂 Thanks for writing and let us know how it goes!
2011-07-13 07:00
Does the recipe need salt ?
2011-06-28 19:07
Hi kylee,
you do use the cabbage in the meat version. It softens the meat and gives a nice flavor:-)
2011-06-28 18:35
do you alsp add the cabbage to the beef ones ?
2011-06-21 06:00
You’re welcome Deepak 🙂
2011-06-21 01:27
thank you so much
2011-05-29 13:24
Thanks Karma la!
2011-05-13 22:21
Thanks so much. Was waiting on FB for one of my friends to remind me. This recipe was so simple and helpful. Thanks, now I can go and make some 🙂
2011-04-28 10:43
We’re glad you found us, Sherin 🙂 Hope you enjoy the momos!
2011-04-28 10:27
I enjoy Memo’s the most and was searching for the recipe for a while.Thank you so much
2011-03-08 09:04
Thanks, Angel, and so glad you enjoyed them 🙂 Like the idea of using beef stock instead of boullion — we may try this.
2011-03-07 19:46
I tried this recipe and it was very good! I left out the boullion though as I can’t find one that I would personally put in my or anyone else’s body! I replaced it with a little reduced beef stock I had, and that worked very well! Thanks for the great directions!
2010-11-30 09:16
Thanks, Hblyon and Sukanya. Let us know if we can improve in any way. We are making a Tibetan cookbook and want to be sure the process is easy to follow.
just made this recipe! So delicious! Thank you for sharing 🙂
2010-11-09 04:06
i am a fan of momos and will make this very often.
2010-10-20 09:30
Thanks, Shobha and lpr237 — the Tamil version sounds incredible. Is there a recipe somewhere? LPR237 — we haven’t made momo’s in a while and your post makes me think it’s time to make some at home again!
2010-10-19 06:33
@ Yowangdu – thx for d recipe…..i’ve been plannin to make momos myself for quite some time now after ages nd ages of hoggin over dem at restaurants ….. gonna try dem soon 😀
2010-10-13 19:37
as krishna says, we do make modaks or kozhakattai as we call them in tamil. They are sweet,but we do have this savoury version which is filled with a roucly ground paste of moong dal, chilli, coconut, coriander etc.
I tasted my first momos in Tawang. being a vegetarian, I opted for the one filled with cabbage. It was good and filling too. I did try making some at home after I came back. but not as good as the ones I had there. May be I rolled out the flour a little too thin. Now that I have read this, will try it out again.
We did get some delicious momos at the Kala Goda festival in mumbai!!!!
2010-10-13 15:06
Thanks to you both 🙂
Krishna, the sweet versions sound absolutely wonderful. Are they steamed also?
Deb, yes, the fried version is great too, but heavy, for sure. There’s the soup version too. We may put a recipe for this on the site. Did you eat the fried ones in Tibet, or in exile communities?
2010-10-13 04:14
Momos taste good, and moreover, as it is mostly steamed, we can avoid eating oily fried stuff (however, there is this fried version of momo sold on the streets too).
2010-10-13 03:54
Very interesting. But I would like to tell
that in all over south india we prepare similar to momos for Ganesh chaturthi festival and we call them as MODAKA OR KADUBU and generally the fillings are sweet made out of coconut, sugar or jaggery, white thil and jaggery.