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shall i be honest with you? I’m not really a fan of Momo. As much as I love dim sums like siu mai or har gau, or chueng fan crispy or otherwise or even char siu, momos are still not really my thing. and trust me; I’ve sampled them everywhere I’ve managed to find them.
I have stayed at Thapa stall in Mumbai where they sell their momos from aluminum steam boxes, I have been to Tibetan or there was Meghalaya stall at Dilli Haat in Delhi, even gave a shot to the Kalimpong momos people in Kolkata. , Not only this, I have also searched for the most reputed and acclaimed momo sellers in McLeodganj and Dharamshala. I have seen them driving on the highways between Shillong and Wet Cherrapunji, in homes and cafes.
Steamed, pan-fried and deep-fried but I could never understand them. I never fully understood the half-left-leaning ideologues who made epic trips to the as-yet-undiscovered Northeast and rammed a rambunctious bus on top of one another to attend concerts while consuming vast amounts of marijuana. traveled in Listening to Bob Dylan, and wholeheartedly embracing momos as gourmet.
Most of these momos, especially those made by old Tibetan women on the street, were thick dough covers, mostly flavored with pork, chicken or vegetables.
It was when we Indians realized that this fairly simple snack could be incorporated into our dishes, hijacked into our daily menu and morphed into an Indian dish that momo really came into its own.
The history of Momo dates back to 14th century Nepal. The Newaris of Nepal are historical residents of the Kathmandu Valley. They are the builders of its historical heritage and civilization. In addition to building almost all temples and shrines, pagodas and stupas in Kathmandu, the Newaris also invented the momo. In Newari, ‘mom’ means to cook with steam and this is exactly what a momo steamed dumpling was. It is believed that Newari merchants who traded and traveled with Tibet fell in love with these Tibetan dumplings. These steamed dumplings made from yak meat were a staple food in the Himalayan region. They brought these dumplings back home to Nepal and (I don’t know if this is true).
It was from Nepal when a Nepalese princess married a Tibetan king in the late 15th century that the dumplings were exported to China and as far away as Korea and Japan, making Momo, the mother of all Jiaozi, Mandus and Gyoza. . Of course, the Chinese added a bit of sophistication to the momos as did the Italians and made tortellini and ravioli.
If China and Japan can and should adopt Momo in the 15th century, why not the India of the 21st century? In fact, we’ve almost confiscated Momo and made it our own.
A momo is essentially all-purpose flour that is wrapped around cooked vegetables or meat. Once wrapped in small parcels, they are usually steamed in a metal vessel with a hole in the base. But they can be baked, fried or even boiled. Momos appeared on the Indian street food scene almost 20 years ago and seem to have started popping up on roadside carts in and around the Jawaharlal Nehru campus in Delhi. These steamed and fried vegetarian or chicken momos were the perfect feed for the hungry students who used to roam these carts all the time during the day. Served with a dangerous looking fiery red chutney with chillies, in the form of schezwan sauce, momos are perfectly suited for our spice buds.
Momos are present everywhere in India today. And just like we’ve innovated with burritos and quesadillas, pizza and pasta, burgers and Burmese Khao Soo, we’ve done so with Momo. Today, on the streets of Mumbai, and dedicated momo takeaways like Wow Momos, you can find chicken and paneer, veg, chicken, prawn, and schezwan in its most original form. You can have Chicken Darjeeling Fried, Steamed or Pan Fried Momo. A paneer momo, or a corn and cheese momo, a chicken butter masala momo, or chicken tandoori momo, momo au gratin, chocolate or fried momos in Manchurian gravy, chicken fried momos with red, green sauce and mayonnaise and anything you want Can want to imagine. I wouldn’t be surprised if we have momos with Kerala stew or Goan curry as well.
Once again we have proved that our Indian food culture is so strong that we can make everything our own.
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