Thursday 4 November 2010

Sweet and spicy Asian dipping sauce with Tibetan Momos

I was first introduced to Momos by my college mates in Chennai. I had three Tibetan friends in my class and they used to rant and rave about these, and invariably all of us ended up liking it so much we started harassing them to throw Momo parties. Even for our culturals there used to be Momo stalls and needless to say we absolutely loved gorging on those with the sauce topping it all.

I have no idea what came over me yesterday, but I had to make some Momos and I put in a message on one of these friends' FB page asking him for the recipe. He had not replied and my lack of patience didn't let me back out. So I harassed my best friend on gtalk asking for the recipe because she had made it once long back after seeing it in some mag. She gave me a-lil-bit-of-that a lil-bit-of-this recipe and I soooo knew I was gonna screw up and that's when I realized, why not head to the Chinese store and just buy the wrapper (which is where I usually screw up) and use the remaining mince meat which I'd frozen, as the filling. Oh how clever am I? Yes, clever indeed and ran to the Chinese store only to realize there were at least 4 varieties of dumpling wrappers and another 4 varieties of wonton wrappers. After a failed attempt at trying to understand what the store keeper was trying to explain, I called Ro, who was working from home, to check it up online and let me know. He just confused me even more (no surprises there). Anyway, picked the one I thought was apt and ran back home.

The focus here, however, is the kick-ass sauce I whipped up surprising me altogether. I usually don't experiment when it comes to food and follow a recipe religiously, but this time, I just threw in a few things and came up with this dipping sauce which I'm sure teams well with almost any Asian appetizer and maybe Indian ones like samosas and I'd even serve them as a dip for normal chips.
Filling:
I used this recipe for the mincemeat filling. I know its not authentic but by now you'd already know be familiar with my lack of patience and so had to make do with this. But my mom-in-laws spring roll filling is a good enough one I'd assume and so please do follow that for a more authentic recipe. 

Wrapping and cooking:
Now wrapping it up...I just blindly followed this video and it is actually as simple as that. But where I think I screwed up was the steaming bit which I either kept for too long or too short and it was a wee bit rubbery. If you guys have some knowledge about it please clear it for me. Is 20 minutes too short or too long a time to steam the dumplings??? 

Dipping sauce:
(The quantity is for a very small bowl of sauce, so adapt it to how much ever you'd like)
Tomato- 1/2 of one medium sized tomato, thinly sliced
Onion- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
Dried red chillies- 3 to 4 (or even more if you want it really spicy)
Chopped coriander leaves- 1 tbsp
Tomato ketchup- 1/2 tbsp (if you want it sweeter, add a wee bit more but not too much)
Cumin powder- a pinch (optional)
Soy sauce- a dash (Its optional , but if adding add very little)
Salt- to taste
Oil- 1/2 to 1 tbsp (yes I know its a lot for such small quantities, but it just worked for me. Reduce if you are not comfortable)
EVOO- a dash (optional)

In a saucepan, heat the oil and throw in the onions and red chillies. Sauté till they turn light brown.
Add the tomatoes, cumin powder, soy sauce and salt to this and on medium heat cook till the oil separates.
Add the tomato ketchup and coriander leaves and mix well for about a minute or so.
Take it off the fire and leave aside to cool a bit.
Now using either an immersion blender (oh how I love you immersion blender) or a pestle and mortar, grind/crush this till it becomes more or less mushy....not too paste like. Pulse it two or three times if using a blender.
Pour into a sauce bowl, add a dash of olive oil, mix well and serve with just about anything.
Notes: Adding garlic to this makes it even tastier, but I just didn't have time. Next time for sure.
Its like a tomato chutney, but with a sweetness attached to it.
I think I've found the perfect and easiest sauce for all my fried stuff.

Since the first batch didn't turn out well, I fried a few just to see if it would be any different. Well compared to the steamed ones, the fried ones were better but that is simply not an option for me cos I detest fried stuff. This is how it looked like:
Sending the sauce over to the Food Palette Red Event over at Torviewtoronto

41 comments:

Foodie Ann said...

They look gorgeous...Love momos....:)

Anonymous said...

Ooooo...love momos...steaming ones in cold wintery nights in Delhi!Look awesome

Monet said...

That dipping sauce looks amazing! I love making dumplings, and I imagine that your creation would pair well with them. I have a hard time with steaming mine too, though. Thanks for sharing (and for introducing me to Momos!)

Sreelekha Sumesh said...

Great recipe.Looks so good.

Umm Mymoonah said...

This looks very good.

Priya Suresh said...

Yumm, very inviting momos..mouthwatering here..

Sayantani Mahapatra Mudi said...

awesome is the word for this...looks so so good. I love and make momos a lot and this dipping sauce is to die for.

Shabs.. said...

gorgeous pics da...love the dishe and the blue background!i still have to get soem chinese crockeries...planning to drain soem more money...hehe..;)

vrinda said...

They look gr8...Happy Diwali..Check the image size,loading very slowly...

Kalyani said...

awesome clicks ... and looks delicious ...........

Suja Manoj said...

They look awesome..love the dipping sauce..superb

Suji said...

Love momos and the pics are really tempting Nisha..

Soumya said...

wow....looks delicious and tempting.

Ria Mathew said...

I am a big fan of momos! Loved your first pic.

Btw, apple cider is a bit more tart than apple juice. It has many types of apples in it, so. But you can easily drink apple juice and feel contented thinking it's apple cider ;)

Namitha said...

Love them...and the sauce looks fantastic.. Iam sure all the efforts worth it :-)
Happy Diwali to you and your family !

Torviewtoronto said...

Love the dish especially the dipping sauce thank you for linking

Unknown said...

I Kind of think, trusting my memory, remembering my friend cooking 20 mins is bit too long, but those fried ones are fantastic and sauce is spicy and look absolutely wow :)

Nitha said...

I think I would prefer the fried ones..

Lena Jayadev said...

happy diwali to u n ur family.. momos looks delicious.. even i had a hard time in the steaming part

blackbookkitchendiaries said...

this looks so lovely... i would love to have this for dinner tonight. thanks for sharing this.

archana said...

Will have to try out this dipping sauce of yours, looks too appetizing.

Pushpa said...

They look soo good,must have tasted great with the dip...

simplehomefood.com

Akila said...

wow so lovely dear...
happy deepavali to you and your family dear...

Satrupa said...

I have heard a lot about momos but never got to tried any ..... looks lovely !

Cheers,
Satrupa

http://satrupa-foodforthought.blogspot.com

PJ said...

never heard of momos or tried them i think.. but they look delicious. the sauce is so unique.. has got a indo-chinese thing going for itself.

mamtc said...

Looks so yummy .

Unknown said...

Never tasted momos before. Looks fantastic!! Am drooling over your pics..

Sajna Aseef said...

They look yummy...waiting to make u cook when u come down!!!

Sunitha said...

Beautiful pictures and the sauce looks lip smacking good.

Fathima said...

I should say "Great Presentation"... love the clicks and feel like grabbing out of those pics!

aipi said...

WOw my fav one too..looks so so so delicious and perfect.

US Masala

Sarah, Maison Cupcake said...

I would devour these... are they any different to gyoza?

M D said...

oh my beloved momos! they look sinfully good with that dip :) i want to grab one !

PreeOccupied said...

I love momos and love the way have presented them here. The dipping sauce is a great find. Must try. I usually open a bottle of sambal and mix some green onions and soy sauce to it.

Sarah Naveen said...

Beautiful clicks..looks mouthwatering loved both versions, but i prefer fried ones:)

Anonymous said...

Your dipping sauce really hit some nerve in my mouth that's causing me to drool!

GB said...

I love momos.....ah the street food in India. Nothing compares to it!

Have to try your chutney/sauce it looks yumms!

Sanjeeta kk said...

I am a momo fan and these look delicious.

Anonymous said...

I just added your web page to my favorites. I like reading your posts. Thanks!

bcweb said...

I have spread your link to my friends they should also come to know about your great work.

Gayathri Ramdas Sreekanth said...

Seeing this post of urs took me instantly to my Bangalore days where me and my friends used to always go to this tiny restaurant called Popsies and they served the best steamed/fried momos in town ! I fell head over heels with them there. Thought I havn't used your recipe, this was the one which kickstarted my urge to recreate momos at home. I made them today and it came out great ! Made your sauce and it was just a perfect accompaniment to them. So restaurant-y ! :) Thanks gal..