M for Momos

The legends that are associated with dumplings. There's bonus too 10 recipes!

The legends that are associated with dumplings. There's bonus too 10 recipes!

Buddhist practitioners of Shunyata (nothingness) believe that if you chant the word momo in low tones (mo...mo...mo...) repeatedly, it has the resonance of the universal 'Om' which spirals you towards shunyata or cosmic nothingness. And this is just the beginning. In Nepal, they love momos so much that, reports say, it's their unofficial national dish.

Momo is just the Tibetan name for dumpling. It's legends are plenty, sprinkled liberally over the history and heritage of several South-East Asian cultures. Like the Jiaozi (as the dumpling is called in China), before called Jiao'er, was apparently used to treat frostbitten ears. We wonder if that is the reason they are crescent shaped.

Closer home, India's northeastern belt has an enthusiastic momo eating population. The ancient Tibetan dish trickled through borders into tiny pockets of West Bengal (predominantly Darjeeling), Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya. In most of these states, momos, along with thukpa (a Tibetan broth) have become the most popular street dish. The minority Tibetan population introduced their fare of momos and thukpa to the indigenous residents.

The word momo has a certain rotundity to it. The sort that conjures up images of rosy-cheeked Tibetan and Nepali babies, strapped, with a piece of cloth, to their mothers' backs as they begin a steep climb. Or of the laughing Buddhas, whose bellies you rub for a stroke of luck. People belonging to the momo-eating cult have almost given it omnipotent powers. On a particular trip to Arunachal Pradesh, in the small town of Bomdila, I was introduced to the soul food at a roadside eatery. Hot bowls of vegetables and meat broth followed the pearly white momo balls. It was there that I was told that the momo qualifies as the best suited food for dhamma followers. In fact, it is a standing joke between the followers of Buddha, that the momo, father of dim sums, is the only likely platform that unites the Hinayana and Mahayana schools.

Legend has it that a rotund lama once demolished 32 momos at a single sitting after a particularly intense meditation session. Momos are a motley gathering of stuffings, often meat if you are Tibetan but with vegetarian options as well. They are placed on thinly rolled maida sheets and steamed like dim sums, pinched into fat rotund shapes or crescent moon shapes. Momos are not delicate like dim sum thicker portion of the dough is used to cover chunkier meat portions. This is hardy mountain fare to be consumed after a long day of meditation or back-breaking climbs on steep mountain roads.

Typically, momos are only made in the round, rotund shapes, patterned neatly into folds that cork the open mouth. They are, as a rule, eaten only steamed, but there are other preferred versions as well. These latter, then, are called dumplings.

I cruised through the city's dynamic dumpling-churning pits to discover places that do it justice. Eating a momo is a journey into mindfulness. I reflect on the goodness that is possible around us as I dip my steaming hot momo into a spicy tomato chutney and bite into its soft roundness. I wish all beings well as I sip the mildly spiced soup that accompanies the momos. I am aware of being warm and happy and for a moment wonder if 32 momos later, I will be ready for enlightenment. I hear a chuckle. Looking up, I sense that somewhere the Buddha is laughing.

Our vote goes to...

The Great Wall Try 25 varieties of dumplings, each a masterpiece. Fillings in flour, lotus leaves and buns.
Sernyaa Get the original Tibetan momo and thukpa here. Try their pork momos (not part of the menu). All you have to do is whisper and wink conspiratorially to Uncle John (the manager).
Mainland China Their water chestnut and corn dumplings are out of the world.
Busaba Go for the popular open-faced beauties. Sui mai dumplings in veg and non-veg are superb.
China Garden They've got the delicate bite-sized portions right try their chicken dumplings, transluscent, delicate and dreamy.

Get your fill of these

Chef Ben, the dim sum chef at The Great Wall, Leela Kempinski, shares 10 recipes of his much preferred fillings

Non-vegetarian fillings

Crystal Prawn Dumpling (Har Kao)
120 gms shrimp, peeled
30 gms wheat starch
30 gms potato starch
2 gms salt
3 gms chicken broil powder
5 gms sugar
1 gm white pepper powder
Mix the wheat and potato starch with hot boiling water, by pouring in hot water little by little. Mix it up into a dough. Mix shrimp with seasoning for the stuffing. Flatten the dough and wrap the stuffing. Steam dumpling for five minutes.

Chicken & Prawn Sui Mai
100 gms chicken leg
80 gms shrimp, unpeeled
26 gms Chinese black mushrooms
40 gms wanton skin
2 gms salt
4 gms sugar
3 gms chicken broil powder
5 gms sesame oil
Mix all the ingredients and use the wonton skin to wrap them up into sui mai. Steam sui mai for seven minutes.

Chicken Glutinous Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaf
40 gms chicken leg
7 gms canned bamboo shoot
7 gms button mushrooms
7 gms canned straw mushrooms
50 gms glutinous rice
1 lotus leaf
2 gms salt
1 gm sugar
1 gm chicken broil powder
0.5 gm white pepper powder
5 gms sesame oil
Steam the rice. Stir-fry chicken, bamboo shoot and mushroom with seasoning. Soak lotus leaf for two hours and cut into sizes for wrapping. Steam dumpling for 10 minutes.

Shanghai pan-fried chicken dumpling
60 gms chicken leg
12 gms garlic chives
25 gms flour narcissus HK
25 gms clover flour
1 gm salt
1 gm sugar
1 gm white pepper powder
1 gm chicken broil powder
Mix flour narcissus and clover flour with water into dough. Mix up the rest of the ingredients for stuffing. Flatten the dough to wrap the stuffing. Steam the dumpling for five minutes. Pan-fry with a little oil.

Taro chicken spring roll
35 gms chicken leg
35 gms taro/yam
12 gms carrot
8 gms black fungus
25 gms Chinese black mushrooms
6 gms dried shrimp
1 gm each salt and sugar
1 gm chicken broil powder
0.5 gm white pepper powder
4 pcs spring roll sheets
Cut all ingredients except for the chicken into shreds. Deep-fry taro before stir-frying the stuffing. Pour oil into a hot wok and stir-fry chicken for a minute. Mix in the other ingredients. Add 100 gms of water and cook for five minutes. Put corn starch mixture to thicken. Leave stuffing to cool and wrap with spring roll sheets. Deep-fry spring rolls till golden blown.

Vegetarian fillings

Steamed shanghai dumpling served with spicy black vinegar
10 gms carrots
20 gms local celery
5 gms black fungus
20 gms canned straw mushroom
20 gms canned button mushrooms
25 gms flour narcissus HK
25 gms clover flour
2 gms salt
2 gms sugar
2 gms aroma powder
3 gms sesame oil
5 gms potato starch
Mix chili and garlic with black vinegar. Mix flour narcissus and clover flour into dough. Stir-fry the ingredients for three minutes. Cool. Wrap stuffing. Steam for three minutes. Put over black vinegar sauce.

Crystal vegetarian dumpling
15 gms carrots
8 gms black fungus
15 gms canned corn kernels
15 gms button mushrooms
15 gms straw mushrooms
15 gms canned bamboo shoot
20 gms wheat starch
20 gms potato starch
1 gm salt
1 gm sugar
1 gm aroma powder
0.5 gms white pepper powder
3 gms sesame oil
Mix wheat and potato starch by adding hot boiling water. Stir-fry ingredients with water. Add starch mixture to thicken. Let it cool. Flatten dough to wrap stuffing. Steam dumpling for three minutes.

Vegetarian Siu Mai
10 gms carrots
15 gms canned corn kernel
8 gms Chinese black mushrooms
10 gms canned straw mushrooms
10 gms canned button mushrooms
25 gms potato
25 gms wonton skin
1 gm salt
1 gm sugar
10 gms potato starch
3 gms sesame oil
1 gm aroma powder
Stir-fry ingredients for three minutes with water. Let it cool and wrap stuffing with wonton skin. Steam siu mai for five minutes.

Crispy vegetarian wonton served with sweet & sour dip
15 gms carrots
15 gms canned corn kernel
15 gms canned straw mushrooms
15 gms canned button mushrooms
15 gms canned bamboo shoot
25 gms wonton skin
1 gm salt
1 gm sugar
1 gm aroma powder
60 gms sweet and sour sauce
5 gms potato starch
Stir-fry ingredients for five minutes. Let it cool and wrap it into wonton skins. Deep-fry wontons till golden blown and serve with sweet and sour sauce.

Fried vegetarian bean curd roll
20 gms carrots
20 gms canned bamboo shoot
10 gms Chinese black mushrooms
20 gms onions
8 gms black fungus
1 pc bean curd skin
60 gms sweet and sour sauce
1 gm salt
1 gm sugar
1 gm aroma powder
0.5 gms white pepper powder
5 gms potato starch
Cut bean curd skin into 4 sq pcs. Stir-fry ingredients for three minutes. Let it cool. Wrap stuffing with bean curd skin and deep-fry till golden brown.