Woman Connected to Recipe: Gita Bhutia
Submitted by Sanjita Pradhan (Gita’s cousin)
About Gita:
Gita is my cousin. She is much older than me and a great role model . Many girls and women did not have a chance to go to school in Nepal in the 1960's-70's. She was privileged enough to attend a great school and used it to advance herself. She ended up being a teacher in a prestigious school in India in those days when many women did not attend school. She had a tough life but lived it with grace.
About Gita's Mo-mos:
This is originally a Tibetan recipe. My cousin Gita married a man with Tibetan origin. In the Nepali culture we are not supposed to marry someone outside of our caste. Gita broke all rules and had the courage to marry who she loved regardless of his caste.
Because of her marriage with this Tibetan man, we got to learn this recipe. We made this every time she visited us. Till today, this is a recipe and food we make as a family.
It is a rather tedious process, so all of us sit around the table and make it and eat it for hours. One person rolls the dough, which is one of the tough jobs, the other one puts in the filling, the other one folds it and puts it neatly in the steamer, one person is usually in the stove monitoring the cooking and everyone obviously eats it.
When we were young, we used to have a contest of who eats the most. I may have eaten up to 30 momos at a time, my brother might have eaten 40. Even when we are full we can always eat one more of these.
This is one of the most popular dishes in Nepal and just like a taco stand in every corner in LA, you will find a momo shop in every corner in Nepal.
INGREDIENTS
1 lb ground chicken (can use ground pork, ground turkey or a mix of these meats)
1/2 cup finely chopped cabbage (sneak those veggies in, add more if you’d like)
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped (don’t like onion? You will never know it was in)
2 tablespoon finely minced ginger
3 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoon ground coriander
Salt to taste
6 tbsp olive oil (chicken needs more oil, pork has natural fat so use less oil)
6-8 tbsp water
mo:mo wrapper/Wanton wrapper (found in most grocery stores now but always available in the Asian grocery store)
INSTRUCTIONS
To make the sauce:
Take Roma or any other tomatoes, cut them in cubes, microwave until soft or cooked (usually 2-3 minutes for 2 tomatoes and depending on microwave power). Add salt and desired amount of chilies and blend. (Thai chilies are the best, but you can use serrano, habanero or any other chili you prefer, no chili if you prefer)
To make the Mo-Mos:
Combine all the ingredients and mix well and viola your filling is ready. Not sure if there is enough salt? Microwave a small portion and taste!
Make sure the wrappers are thawed/defrosted.
Take one wrapper at a time and put some water around the edges, put filling inside and wrap or fold in desired shape.
Fill a steamer (pasta steamer works well) with water and grease the steamer basket with oil or oil spray.
Arrange neatly in the steamer leaving some space in between momos allowing them space to expand during the cooking process. Steam for 8-10 minutes.
Enjoy it hot with tomato achar.