Born in Bhutan and raised in a refugee camp in Nepal, Radhika Acharya grew up eating and cooking the traditional foods of her parents and grandparents.
The rich blend of history and flavors she experienced as a child continues to reflect her cultural identity as an adult living in a new country.
Now a stay-at-home mom raising three children in Pennsylvania, she regularly cooks the flavorful Nepalese noodles, roti, potato curries, and fried samosas of her youth for her family, who needless to say, love them.
“In our culture, our parents teach us how to cook,” Acharya says.
Before moving to Pittsburgh in 2009 at age 20, she learned to cook rice- and legume-based dishes with deceptively simple techniques and lots of fresh vegetables with her mother, Tila, and maternal grandmother, Madhu.
“Cooking is my passion and my kids enjoy it too.”
They're especially crazy about momos, soft, fluffy steamed dumplings that are a popular street food in cities like Kathmandu. Home cooks, too, love to serve momos during birthday parties, holidays, and other family celebrations.
Recognized by their distinctive rose-like pleated shape, momos are thought to have arrived in Nepal via Tibet around the 14th century. Originally stuffed with juicy yak meat (a lean protein with a flavour similar to that of elk or bison), today they are more commonly stuffed with minced chicken, pork or lamb (and sometimes cheese), vegetables, and local spices and herbs.
Unlike Chinese dumplings, which feature a thin, delicate dough skin, momos have a thicker, chewier dough that gives them a heartier texture and are usually eaten steamed, but can also be fried.
The cuisine of this landlocked South Asian country, high in the Himalayas, is heavily influenced by Chinese and Indian cuisine, which explains Acharya's penchant for fried noodles and potato samosas, but the spicy dipping sauce that comes with the momos is a stark contrast to the soy-based sauces often used with Chinese dumplings.
Momo chutney is based on tomatoes and warm spices like cumin, coriander, garlic, mustard seeds and ginger, with dried chillies adding a tingly kick to the lips.
“Spices really make a difference,” says Acharya, whose family's recipe also includes toasted sesame seeds and a generous pinch of turmeric to give it a yellow colour.
Much of the Himalayan cuisine relies on slow-cooked chillies, including a special Bhutanese spicy stew called emma datsi, made with hot chillies and cheese, “and almost everything is homemade,” she adds.
Because Acharya makes momos frequently and in large quantities for his family (one recipe makes about 48 momos), he uses store-bought skins rather than making them from scratch, as his family did in Nepal.
“The dough takes time! The skin makes it easy,” she says, laughing.
Following tradition, her 10-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter are often eager sous chefs, pinching and rolling the dough around the filling in easy pierogi-like folds within seconds.
“They started when they were five years old,” she says proudly.
She doesn't eat pork, so I usually use ground chicken, but any finely chopped meat will do. I always have lots of shredded cabbage in the mix, and sometimes carrots, but you can use any fresh veggies you like, really.
For a unique and authentic Nepalese flavor, she adds 1-2 tablespoons of momo masala, a spicy curry powder blend that contains cumin seeds, black pepper, nutmeg, fenugreek, and many other spices (you can find it in Nepali grocery stores or on Amazon).
The dumplings are steamed rather than fried, which retains all the nutrients of the filling, making momos a very healthy and hearty dish, says Acharya. “We don't use any chemicals and we only use fresh vegetables.”
She admits that folding the dough neatly takes some learning; she's happy with three folds, but some cooks like to fold it five or six times. If you remember to keep your thumb down and index finger up when pinching the dough, the process is easier. But what if you just can't get it right?
“It doesn't matter,” she says, even if you simply cut them into half moons to preserve the flavor, “it still tastes the same.”
She also shared some helpful tips: Texture is important: the filling should be somewhere between dry and moist and well-seasoned. It's also important to grate or finely chop any vegetables you use so that the skin doesn't burst. This is especially true for tougher ingredients like cabbage, garlic, and ginger.
Above all (and this applies to all kinds of dumplings), resist the urge to make the momos as fat as possible, and keep them wrapped in a damp paper towel until you're ready to steam them, warns Acharya. If you stuff the skins too much, the dumplings will fall apart while cooking, resulting in a mess rather than a meal; a generous teaspoon of filling is plenty.
Additionally, make sure to lightly coat the steamer tray with oil or nonstick cooking spray before placing each momo in. Place the momos slightly apart, or they will stick together. They're done when the batter is translucent and no longer sticky, which usually takes about 10 minutes.
Momos are made in bulk and taste best freshly steamed, so you can pop them in the freezer before cooking them – just make sure you freeze them apart on a tray before putting them together in a bag, otherwise they may stick together.
Chicken thigh
Momo masala, a fragrant mix of Nepalese spices, can be found at Nepali grocery stores, such as Nepali Bazaar in Brentwood, or Indian markets. It's also available on Amazon. Dumpling wrappers can be found at Asian markets and in the refrigerated section of most large grocery stores.
Following her mother's example, Radhika Acharya measures all the ingredients by eye, so portions aren't exact, and you can add or subtract ingredients to suit your taste, or substitute other favourite veggies, like carrots.
material
For filling:
- 1 pound ground chicken or turkey
- 1/2 cabbage, finely shredded (about 5 cups)
- 1/2 large red onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
- 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coriander
- 3 green onions, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped and crushed
- 1 inch peeled ginger, finely chopped and crushed
- 1 tomato, finely chopped
- 1-2 tablespoons momo masala (curry powder blend), or to taste
- Makes about 48 round dumpling wrappers (approximately 3 1/4 inches wide)
For the chutney:
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- Sprinkle with coriander seeds
- 2 tomatoes (cut into wedges)
- 1/4 red onion, sliced
- 3 dried red chillies (separated)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- A handful of coriander
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 cup sesame seeds
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice, or more to taste
- Salt, to taste
- 1 inch peeled ginger
direction
- Prepare the filling: In a large bowl, combine ground chicken or turkey, cabbage, onion, coriander, green onions, crushed garlic and ginger, tomatoes, and peach masala seasoning. Mix lightly but thoroughly with your hands.
- Add the filling to the skins: Spoon 2 teaspoons of the filling onto the top half of each skin. With wet fingertips, moisten the edges of each skin and fold it up over the filling to form a half-moon shape. Pleat the edges by making small creases in the dough, then press flat, working along the edges. (Radhika folds them in thirds, but you can use more.)
- Place the finished dumplings on a nonstick surface, cover loosely with a damp paper towel and place in the refrigerator if you are not cooking them immediately, or they can be frozen for up to 3 months.
- When you're ready to cook, bring water to a boil in the bottom of a large steamer. Lightly coat the steamer tray with oil or nonstick spray. Gently place the dumplings one at a time, making sure they are not touching. (They will expand slightly while cooking.)
- Steam in batches for 10 to 15 minutes until the skin is slightly translucent and firm.
- While the dumplings are steaming, prepare the momo chutney.
- Heat the oil in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle in a few coriander seeds and fry for about 20 seconds until sizzling. Add the tomatoes, red onion, 2 red chillies, turmeric and a pinch of salt. Stir to combine, cover and fry for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
- Add the coriander and garlic and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the coriander is wilted and the garlic is soft, then cover again and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove from the pan to a plate and set aside to cool.
- Add the raw sesame seeds to a dry frying pan or skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until golden and fragrant, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Place the roasted sesame seeds in a blender with the cooked vegetables, add the lemon juice and a pinch of salt and blend well. Add a little water to thin the sauce and blend again. Add the remaining dried chilies and 1 inch of peeled ginger and blend until completely smooth. If it's still too thick, you can add a bit more water.
- Place the steamed dumplings on a plate and serve with chutney.
Makes about 48 dumplings.
Radhika Acharya
