Nepal’s Favorite Snack: Momo

By Crivenica

Momo Platter from Belle Momo

I’ve never heard about Momo until David made his first visit to Nepal prior to our move here two years ago. One night, he called me from Kathmandu and said, “Honey, I just tried these little Nepali steamed dumplings today. You’re going to love them!”

We love dumplings. When we lived in Jakarta, we would drive to the other side of the city to get Hakau/Har gau (shrimp dumplings) or to my parents’ area to get some Kwotie (potstickers) or we would just drive to the nearest mall to eat at Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese franchise specializing in Xiaolongbao (steamed dumplings). I even once made David stop in the East Village in NY to try the dumplings at the Dumpling Man. So you can imagine how excited I was to try these Nepali dumplings they call ‘Momo’.

I was actually quite surprised when I heard about Momo. They are basically meat or vegetable dumplings wrapped in thin dough which then are steamed. Steamed dumplings seem Chinese to me. Though Tibet and China are just at the northern border of Nepal, I thought the food in Nepal would be more related to Indian cuisine than Chinese cuisine. That shows how much I didn't know about South Asian cuisine!

Though the concept of Momo is borrowed from China and Tibet, these Nepali dumplings are not quite like those Chinese dumplings I love. From the physical sense, they look similar, but the taste of Momo has been adjusted to the Nepali tongue. The fillings, which are comprised of a selection of meat or vegetable, onions, shallots and garlic, are seasoned with salt, pepper, coriander and cumin. The dipping sauces are mostly tomato or chili based, so they taste different, but they are so good!

Traditional Steamed Momo

They are so good that the regular Kathmandunites can chow down at least 20 Momos in one sitting as a snack or as a full meal, while I draw the line at eating 12 pieces by myself. But I get huge cravings for these savory dumplings that every couple of weeks I just have to get me some. And when my friends visit me from abroad, I always make a point to take them to try some Momos.

There are several types of Momo. The most common type found is the steamed Momos that are usually round in shape. However, people have experimented with this type of Momo and created new dishes with them like steamed dumplings in a sweet sour sauce or broth. There is also deep fried Momo which is really the same kind of Momo fried to a crisp. My personal favorite is the Tibetan pan fried Momo that’s also known as Khotey, which is similar to Kwotie in appearance. They are mini-submarine shaped, steamed, then pan fried to get a crispy browning on the skin.

Any of these types of Momo usually come with a choice of chicken, pork, buff (buffalo meat) or vegetable filling. However, there are places that play around with the fillings by offering garlic and cheese filling, paneer and peanut filling, mushroom filling and even sweet filling like chocolate. I’ve never tried the sweet filling ones, so I can’t testify to how good they are, but I’ve read that this type is popular among the foreigners.

Tibetan Pan Fried Momo (Khotey)

However, if you ever visit Nepal, I would definitely recommend trying the traditional Momo or the Tibetan style Khotey. Momo can be easily found in road side stalls, trendy cafes and even in some higher end restaurants. And there are some restaurants that specialize in momo like the Bakery Cafe and Belle Momo, which I would recommend to tourists. These places are clean and have a huge selection of Momo. Bakery Cafe is scattered all over town so they’re easy to find, while Belle Momo, which I prefer, has three locations: two on Durbar Marg and one that just opened on my side of town in Patan. Can’t you tell I’m ecstatic? I actually just dragged David there for lunch today.

So, even though there are other Nepali dishes that I could write about, obviously I feel as strongly about Momo as the locals here that I think it deserves its own posting. I will definitely miss those little dumplings when we move away someday. I better get going and learn to make them!