Jhol Momo

Ingredients

Wrappers

• 300 gplain flour
• 170 mlwarm water
• ½ tspsalt

Filling

• 400 gminced buffalo or chicken
• 1onion, very finely chopped
• 3spring onions
• 1 tbspginger garlic paste
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspground coriander
• 1 tsptimur, ground
• 2 tbspoil
• salt

Jhol achar

• 3tomatoes, roasted
• 3 tbspsesame seeds, toasted
• 2 tbsppeanuts, roasted
• 3dried red chillies
• 3 clovesgarlic
• 2cm ginger
• 1 tsptimur
• 1 tspturmeric
• juice of 1 lime
• 400 mlwater
• salt

To serve

• coriander

Directions

1. Make the broth first, because it is the dish. Roast the tomatoes whole over a flame or under a grill until the skins blister and blacken, then peel them.
2. Blacken the tomato skins properly. That char is where the smokiness of jhol achar comes from and boiled tomatoes give a flat, thin sauce.
3. Toast the sesame seeds and peanuts in a dry pan until deeply golden and fragrant.
4. Blend the roasted tomatoes, sesame, peanuts, chillies, garlic, ginger, timur and turmeric with the water until completely smooth.
5. Blend it long. The sesame and peanut must break down entirely, and a coarse grind settles into grit at the bottom of the bowl.
6. Simmer it for 10 minutes, season, and finish with lime juice off the heat.
7. Timur is Nepali Sichuan pepper and it numbs the lips slightly. It is the signature of the broth and no other pepper does the same thing.
8. Make a firm dough with the flour, water and salt, knead it 10 minutes, and rest it 30 minutes covered.
9. Mix the filling ingredients and work them well with your hands.
10. Roll the dough into small balls and flatten each into a thin round, thinner at the edges than in the middle.
11. Thin edges and a thicker centre. The pleats double the dough at the rim, and an even round gives a doughy lump at the top.
12. Put a spoonful of filling in the centre and pleat the edge closed, either into a round purse or a half-moon.
13. Steam them in an oiled steamer over vigorously boiling water for 12 to 15 minutes.
14. Oil the steamer tiers well or the momo weld themselves to the metal and tear when lifted.
15. Ladle the hot jhol achar into wide bowls and float six to eight momo in each.
16. Scatter coriander over and serve with a spoon, because the broth is drunk as much as the dumplings are eaten.
17. It is a Kathmandu street dish, a way of serving momo that turns them into something to be eaten from a bowl rather than dipped.

Technique

• Buffalo is the traditional meat in Nepal and chicken is the common alternative.
• The broth should be nutty, sour, smoky and hot all at once, and it is worth tasting and adjusting hard.
• Momo freeze raw on a tray and steam from frozen with three minutes added.

Substitutions

• Shop-bought dumpling wrappers.
• Sichuan peppercorns in place of timur, which are a close relative.

Variations

• Kothey momo, pan-fried on one side then steamed.
• Vegetable momo, with cabbage and paneer.
• C momo, tossed in a thick chilli sauce rather than a broth.

History

A Kathmandu restaurant variation on the plain steamed momo, distinguished by its thin, tangy, sesame-thickened dipping broth.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jhol Momo?

Jhol Momo is a street food from Nepal: steamed dumplings floated in a soupy sesame-and-tomato broth, eaten with a spoon. A Kathmandu restaurant variation on the plain steamed momo, distinguished by its thin, tangy, sesame-thickened dipping broth.

How long does Jhol Momo take to make?

Jhol Momo takes 1 hr of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Jhol Momo?

Yes, within limits. Shop-bought dumpling wrappers. Sichuan peppercorns in place of timur, which are a close relative.

What is the most important thing to get right in Jhol Momo?

Blend it long. The sesame and peanut must break down entirely, and a coarse grind settles into grit at the bottom of the bowl.