Vegetarian Tibetan Momos..

Today is my big brother's fiftieth birthday and this is a vegetarian recipe for him. In a recent conversation, he was telling  me of the wonderful vegetable Momos he had in a Tibetan restaurant in Brighton  (his blog is HERE (Auty and the Angel...) , so I thought I would try to recreate them. I have never made these dumplings before, so there is room for improvement with the shapes but I shall be sending some over to him via our parents for him to enjoy with my love.... Happy Birthday Paul!

Yes... I made the dough and it was really not too difficult but wonton wrappers could be used.

225 g / 1 and 1/2 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

100 ml / bit less than a 1/2 cup of water

Mix into a dough, let rest in the fridge for half an hour then divide into 24 balls and roll out thinly. I found it best to start them off small and go back to them, rolling out bigger as they relax a bit.

Plenty of flour!

The stuffing 

- these ones I made are for vegetarians, but you can easily make a meat stuffing of your choice :

2 red onions finely sliced

1 leek cut finely

1/8 red cabbage grated

1 small courgette/zucchini (remove the middle seeds and dice)

12 fine green beans chopped finely

1 carrot - using a veg peeler I made ribbons

2 garlic cloves

grating of ginger (thumbs worth!)

3 tablespoons light soya sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

coriander leaves and stalks (1/2 bunch) chop finely

chilli powder - just a dusting

I just cooked all this up in a wok, starting with the onions so they caramelise first, adding in the vegetables for only a few minutes so just cooked. Finish with the rice vinegar to deglaze the pan and let it reduce, then add the soya sauce (this is the salt so don't add any) and let this all cool down before putting in the wrappers.

There are the round ones at the top or the half moon one above; you have to wet the edges that are to be folded against each other with a tiny bit of water. It is just a question of folding and pleating - I hope the photographs show you how I did it - but pinching and folding was about it (a small brush for the water was handy for the bits I missed).

Steam in a 'steamer' pan on few lettuce leaves for about 7 to 8 minutes...and serve with a chilli jam or dipping sauce of your choice!