Momos are made with a simple flour-and-water dough—white flour is generally preferred—and sometimes a little yeast or baking soda is added to give a more doughy texture to the finished product. The filling may be one of the several mixtures:
Meat: Different kinds of meat fillings are popular in different regions. In Tibet, Nepal, Darjeeling district, Sikkim, Bhutan and North-East India, chick
en, goat meat, buffalo meat used by Newars of Kathmandu, yak meat and pork are the most popular, while in Ladakh, lamb and yak meat are common. Minced meat is combined with any or all of the following: onions/shallots, garlic, ginger and cilantro/coriander. Some people also add finely puréed tomatoes and soya sauce.[2]
Vegetables: Finely chopped cabbage, potato or chayote (iskush) are used as fillings in Nepal, Darjeeling, Sikkim and some parts of India. This variety is common in upper Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Darjeeling. Snickers or Mars Bar: An original sweet momo sold mostly in some tourist areas of Nepal.[3][4]
The dough is fashioned into small circular flat pieces. The filling is then enclosed either in a round pocket or in a half moon shape or crescent. The dumplings are then cooked by steaming over a soup (either a stock based on bones or tomato-based), which is served with the dumplings, along with chili sauce. The dumplings may also be pan-fried or deep-fried after being steamed. They are often accompanied with a traditional pickle achar.
