Momo | Recipe

MOMO Recipe

I ate my first plate of Momos when I was 7 years old. But now most of the children have the privilege of having momos whenever they want. It was not the case when I was a child. I have a memory of making Momos at home at Dashain vacation and eat the whole family together. We usually make it with potatoes and sometimes with cabbage or mutton. With the same memories in my mind, I tried making momos after a long time. Today I am going to share the recipe of chicken Momos but we can vary the stuffing as per our convenience. 

Ingredients:                                                                        

Momos

For Stuffing:

Minced Chicken                     400 gm

Spring onion                           1 cup

Onion                                      1 medium size

Ginger/ Garlic paste                1 tablespoon 

Green chili                              2-3 (or as per your taste)

Cabbage                                  1 cup (finely chopped)

Oil                                           2-3 tablespoon

Spices:

Black Pepper                          1 teaspoon          

Red chili powder                    1 teaspoon

Coriander and cumin powder 1 teaspoon

Garam Masala                        1/2 teaspoon

For Wrapper:

All-Purpose flour                     2 cups

Water                                        to knead 

Momo Achar/dipping Ingredients:

Tomatoes                             4 medium

Peanuts                                2-3 tablespoon

Sesame seeds                      2-3 tablespoon

Szechwan pepper                7-8 

Green Chili                         2-3 ( as per your taste)

Garlic                                 2-3 cloves

Cumin seeds                       1 teaspoon

Oil                                      1 tablespoon

Turmeric powder                1/4 teaspoon (optional if you like the red color of dipping)

Salt                                      As per your taste

Recipe:

1. Knead a soft dough from all-purpose flour and set aside for 30 minutes.

2. Mix all the ingredients and spices mentioned above and prepare stuffing for Momo.

3.  Now roll small flat-bread one by one or make a big flat-bread. Then cut it with a circular bowl or glass to make small flat-breads (this method saves a lot of time and energy).

4. The most difficult part starts here, wrapping the Momo. take one wrapper, put a spoon-full of spices mixed minced Chicken, and then wrap around to make a ball shape.  There is no hard and fast rule for the shape of Momo, you can make shapes as per your need.

 5. Put Steamer along with water half filled in the stove and let it boil. Once the water starts boiling put upper parts of the steamer filled with Momo on top of it. Let them cook for 20 minutes.

While Momo are cooking let's prepare it's dipping. Which plays the main role in the whole recipe. I  think you have noticed as well, how good your Momo are but without a  good dipping, their taste becomes fade.

Recipe for making Momo Achar/dipping:

1.  Heat pan and roast peanuts, sesame seeds, and Szechwan pepper. Roast them until peanuts cover starts separating and sesame stats splitting. You can roast them all together as well.


2. Keep roasted nuts and seeds in a bowl and let it cool. In the same pan pour oil, let it heat and then add cumin seeds and fry until they start splitting.

3. Add roughly chopped garlic and cook them until light brown.

4. Add tomatoes, salt, turmeric, and let them cook until tomatoes become soft. Add water if you need it.

5.  When tomatoes are cooked, let them cool and grind them along with the roasted peanuts and sesame seeds and green chili (Note: You can roast dried red chili pepper while cooking tomatoes to bright red color otherwise you can use green chili). Make a fine paste add water if the dipping is too thick.

6. At the end add some coriander leaves and grind for 3 to 4 cycle. Momo achar is ready to serve.

Delicious MOMOs are ready and you can enjoy yourself with your friends and family.

Stay healthy. Happy cooking. Eat home-made food.

Momo

Momo Achar/ dipping

Minced Chicken

Momo Wrapper

Chicken Nihari | Recipe

CHICKEN NIHARI RECIPE

Today I cooked Chicken Nihari which is a very famous dish in Pakistan and in the Muslim community. Last time I made Chicken Biryani inspired by some Pakistani series and Nihari happen to be the same. While doing research I found that Nihari is either Mutton or Beef. Chicken Nihari is not so famous as red meat but I don't eat beef. I prefer Chicken over Mutton so I decided to make Chicken  Nihari.

Before sharing the recipe I would like to tell you that in Chicken Nihari we don't need onions or tomatoes. Strange right! Generally in most of the chicken recipe onion and tomatoes are like mandatory but not in this case.

Chicken Nihari

Ingredients:

Chicken                             800gm

Ginger/garlic paste           2 tbs

Salt                                   as per taste

Turmeric powder              1/4 tbs

Red chili powder              1 tbs 

Oil                                    1/2 cup

Wheat flour                      1/2 cup

Garam Masala (We will prepare our own garam masala for this I will share ingredients) 

Cinnamon                          2 inch 

Black Cardamom               2

Cloves                                5/6

Cumin seeds                       quarter tbs

Fennel seeds                       1 tbs

Coriander seeds                  1 tbs

Bay leaves                          2

Black pepper                      10/12

Nutmeg                              1/4 th

Mice                                   1 flower

Star Anise                          1 

For Garnishing:

Coriander leaves       2 or 3 tbs

Ginger  (fine stripes) 1 tbs

Green chili                  1 (Finely chopped)

Recipe:

We need oil much more than in the regular chicken gravy. For those who cannot eat that much oil then you can remove excess oil after cooking chicken and spices in it.

1.  First of all heat a pan and pour half a cup of oil and let it heat. When the oil is hot enough add chicken pieces and let them cook until their color changes to golden on both sides.  It takes usually 10  to 15 minutes in high flame. Make sure chicken does not get burnt we need to stir at every 5 minutes.

Note: Chicken pieces should be big while making Nihari. Since we will be cooking it for about an hour or more depending on the amount of chicken.

2.  While chicken is being cooked we can prepare our garam masala. Roast all the spices mentioned above for 1 minute without oil in a pan and let them cool. Grind them and make a fine powder from the roasted masalas.

3.  After 15 minutes of cooking add ginger/garlic paste in the chicken and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes. After that add all the dry spices such as salt, red chili powder, turmeric, ginger powder (if you have), garam masala. Add around half a cup of water immediately else the spices will burn.

4.  Cook all the spices for about 5 minutes and then add water about 4 to 5  cups. Or how much gravy you need and let the chicken cook for 35 to 40  minutes by covering the lid.

5. In the meantime make a thin solution of wheat flour with water. Remove all the lumps by continuous stirring.

6.  After 40 minutes chicken will become very soft and tender. Reduce the flame to low you can see all the oil floats on top of the gravy. With the help of a spatula take out oil in a bowl as much as you can before adding wheat solution to it.

7.  After removing oil from the gravy add wheat solution we made earlier. Stir it and let the gravy cook for 10 more minutes and then turn off the flame.

8. Add the oil we take out earlier, garnish it with coriander leaves, ginger stripes, and green chili.


I tried Chicken Nihari with rice and with Paratha. I like the combination of Paratha and Nihari. You can eat in a combination you like.


Enjoy homemade food.     Stay Safe.    Stay Healthy.

Chicken being fried

Spices

Samosa | Recipe

SAMOSA Recipe

Fried food is not good for our body yet we eat it because it is so tasty.

If we see in Hindu culture people used to make Prasad which is usually deep-fried. It increases the shelf-life of food. Prasad is a food that is religious offering after Puja in Hindu culture. Sometimes people travel to the long distant temples. While returning bring Prasad for their family members. It may take days to return so long the self-life of food is mandatory.

Later people start eating deep-fried foods in festivals. Nowadays people eat fried foods almost every day either as a snack or breakfast of dinner as well.

Today I am going to share one of the famous street food of Nepal "Samosa".

It is a pastry stuffed with mashed potatoes along with peas and spices. It is usually eaten with chutney and some prefer to eat it with chickpea curry called "Chola Samosa". Let's start with the ingredients and then followed by a recipe to prepare samosa.

Samosa with curry

Ingredients:

For Pastry:

All-purpose flour                      200gm. 

Ajowan caraway (ajwain)         1/2 tbs

Salt                                            1/4 tbs

Ghee                                          3/4 tbs

For Stuffing:

Oil                                              2/3 tbs

Cumin seeds                             1/2 tbs

Onion                                       1 medium  

Ginger garlic paste                   1 tbs 

Green peas                               1/2 cup

Potato                                       4 medium

Peanuts  (optional)                    1/4 cup

Coriander leaves                      1/4 cup

Spices:

Green Chili                               2/3

Red chili powder                      1/4 tbs

turmeric powder                       1/4 tbs

Salt                                           as per taste

Coriander/ cumin powder         1 tbs

Frying:

Oil                                       To fry (samosa should dip inside oil) take a deep fryer.

Recipe:

1. Put the potatoes in a pressure cooker and let it cook in a stove for 3/4 whistle in medium flame.

2.  First of all mix flour with salt, ajwain, and salt. Then knead the dough with little water at a time and make a tight dough and let it rest for at least an hour.

3.  For Stuffing heat a pan and add oil. When oil is hot then add cumin seeds and let them split. Fried cumin seed gives a very good aroma. Add chopped onion in the oil and let them cook until their color becomes transparent. Then add ginger garlic paste and cook it for 2/3 minutes.

4. Add peas and cook it by continuous steering for 1 to 2 minutes.   Mash the boiled potatoes and add them too with peas. Add roasted peanuts, coriander leaves, and all the spices mentioned in the ingredients.

5. Mix them well and cook everything for 4/5 minutes. Turn off the flame after 5 minutes and let it cool.

6.  In the meantime knead the dough again for 10 minutes. It makes the dough soft and make small balls and roll them to make oval flatbread.

7.  Now the main part is wrapping: Cut the oval flatbread in two equal half, fold two sides of the bread to make a cone shape. Apply water in the border so that the samosa does not open while frying. Fill stuffing inside the cone and then seal the open surface to make a triangular shape. In this case apply water in the border before sealing.

8. Keep oil to heat in the gas and in the meantime prepare rest of the triangles too. (Make sure oil is not too hot).

9. Put Samosa and let them fry in low flame which allows them to cook well and gives a beautiful light golden color.

You can serve these delicious Samosa with ketchup or homemade chutney or you can have with chickpea curry. 

Enjoy home cooking.        Eat healthy.            Stay safe.

Samosa

 

Ingredients

Kathi Roll | Recipe

Kathi Roll | Recipe

Right now the whole world is fighting against coronavirus pandemic. The government announced locked down here in Nepal as well. We are inside our house for 20 days, only the grocery store, medical stores, and dairy are open. I am also working from home. Going to the office is likely for everyone to get infected from coronavirus. Also, Police are arresting people who violate locked down.

Though the situation is not good and hope it will end soon and everything will become normal again. To avoid boredom and to give our taste bud different taste of food I will share some food recipes.

Kathi roll is a kind of full meal recipe made with bread and vegetable or meat or mixed. It is very filling, satisfying, and healthy food. We can prepare it with minimal ingredients but still taste good. In the western part of the globe tacos are like Kathi roll. Now let's begin with the ingredients for making Kathi roll and then followed by its recipe.

Add caption

Ingredients:

For Roti/Flat Bread:

All-purpose flour/ Wheat flour             1 cup
Salt                                                        1/4 tbsp
Oil                                                         2/3 tbsp

For Stuffing:

For Spreading: 

  Onion                                                 1medium
   Lemon                                               half or 2/3 tbs lemon juice
   Carrot                                                1 medium
   Cucumber (optional)                         2 inch cylinder
   Tomato ketchup                                 as required
   Mayonnaise (optional)                       as required

For Cooking chicken:
   Oil                                                          2/3 tbsp
  Chicken (boneless)                                200 gm
  Onion                                                     1 medium
  Tomato                                                   1 medium
  Tomato ketchup                                     2 tbsp
  Green chili                                             2 or As per your taste
  Ginger/ garlic paste                               1 tbsp
  Coriander/ cumin powder                     1 tbsp
  Turmeric                                               1/4 tbsp
  Salt                                                        as per taste

Recipe:

1. First of all squeeze lemon in a bowl ( or use lemon juice) and then add onion, cucumber, and carrot in it. Also add a pinch of chat masala and salt in it and let it rest for half an hour.
2. Take flour in a  bowl add salt and oil and mix them very well. Then add water (small amount at a time) to knead and make a soft dough and also keep it aside for half to 1 hour.
3. 3. In the meantime cook chicken:                                     

• For this put pan in a stove, when it is hot add 2/3 tbs of oil and let it heat. 
• Add chopped onion in it and let it cook until its color changed to light brown. 
• And then add chicken (make sure chicken pieces are not more than one-inch or quarter-inch are also fine). Let them cook until all the water from chicken dry and oil separate at the bottom of the pan. 
• At that time add ginger garlic paste. Stir them for 1 minute and then add salt, turmeric, cumin, and coriander powder and stir them for 1 more minute. 
• After that add tomato (chopped or paste). Let it cook in low flame for 5/6 minutes (you can add Ketchup now or later also no issue. I prefer to add after tomato become soft). 
• Do not add water and also cook chicken till it becomes dry and then turn off the flame

 4. Now make flatbread by taking small dough at a time and roll thin roti.

 5. Heat pan or Tawa and then put roti (flatbread) in it and cook well on one side and then only flip to the other side. On the cooked side apply some oil. Crack one egg and spread it all over the roti in the meantime another side is cooking. Flip the bread to cook on the egg side and spread oil on the side without egg.

6. After cooking both sides transfer the roti in the paper, spread ketchup in the roti. Then put the cooked chicken and the salad on top of it. At last add some mayonnaise (if you have else no need). Then wrap the roti with paper at the bottom to make the shape given in the picture.
From the steps it seems tedious process but actually it is very simple and very tasty. You can use leftover chicken in it too.

Enjoy this yummy Kathi Roll recipe with your friends and family.
Happy cooking.               Healthy cooking.                   Stay safe and healthy.
For more homemade recipes stay tuned.

Kathi roll stuffing

Roti being cooked

Roti

Ting Mo (Tibetian bread)

Ting Mo (Tibetan bread)

I ate this Ting Mo or Tibetan bread in a restaurant near Bouddha and it taste so good. Thus, I decided to make it at home during this locked down to refresh those memories and give variance to my lunch recipes.

It's a very simple dish with minimum ingredients. All we need is 

All-purpose flour                 2 cups

Yeast                                    1 tbs

Salt                                       1/4 tbs

Sugar                                    2 tbs

Oil                                         to grease

Recipe:

1. Take half a cup of warm water and put 1 tbs of yeast and leave it for 5 to 10 min. You can see foam on top of the water after 10 minutes.

2. Take a bowl and put flour in it, put salt and sugar and mix them well. After that add yeast water in the mixture and knead the dough. If water is not enough then add some more cold water. Knead a soft dough by repeated stretching and folding it so that it could form gluten. 

3. After kneading for about 10 min leave the dough in the bowl. Cover it with a thin plastic sheet in a warm place for around 2 hours. after 2 hours the dough will double in size.

4. Now grease the working surface with oil and again knead the dough for about 5 to 10 minutes by stretching it.

5. Then sprinkle some dry flour on the working surface and move the dough in it. Flatten the dough in a rectangular shape with palm. Then with the rolling pin and roll it into a thin sheet maintaining the rectangular sheet.

6. Apply oil in the sheet and fold it in one-third size. And then cut the folded sheet in 4 to 6 equal parts.

7. Cut each piece into 6 smaller stripes and then stretch those stripes. Roll around to make the shape as in the picture. 

8. Grease oil in streamer and put the Tingmo and let then rest for half an hour. 

9. Steam the Tingmo for 10/15 min also you can see a non-sticky shiny surface.

Serve them with any gravy, I like them with chicken gravy.

Enjoy your delicious Tingmo with your family and spend quality time together.

Happy cooking, stay healthy.

Tingmo

Tingmo