the best combination

while in nepal, you must indulge yourself in the local food.

in my case my favorite nepali food was MOMOS! small dumplings with vegetables (or chicken) inside, i think i ate 100 of them. i had a range of different tasting momos, which i rated accordingly. but i definitely didn’t have a bad momo the entire time! yes, i ate some so-so ones. but overall? momos are just plain delicious!

my favorite momos were chicken momos i had on my last morning in nepal. it could have been because it was my last morning. it could have been because i was super hungry since i hadn’t had breakfast. or, they could have just been plain amazing! these were at a little restaurant just outside of our hostel.

and we had these amazing vegetable momos for lunch at a little restaurant when we were visiting the boudhanath stupa in kathmandu. they were juicy and tasty and went perfectly with beer on a hot afternoon!

i even learned how to make momos!!!

at the peace dragon lodge where we stayed in pokhara, they arranged a momo making class for us. momos are a challenge to make when you are first learning. i have giant hands, so working with small things is always a bit of a challenge. but after trying my hand at a dozen, and watching the chef do it SO slowly another dozen times, i finally got the hang of it. momos are pretty fun to make after that!

the filling is simple to make. and the dough is even simpler.

the dough is a simple white flour and water recipe. roughly 1 cup of flour plus 2-3 tablespoons of water is enough to make a dozen momos. you mix and work the dough a tiny bit and then let it sit for about 15 minutes. pinch off a tablespoon sized bit of dough and roll this out into a circle. OR, to make things easier, you can roll all the dough out and use a circle cookie cutter or a glass to cut out circles in your dough. when rolling out the dough, you want the thickness to be approximately the same thickness as a tortilla, maybe a bit thinner.

the filling is also super easy! you use a combination of vegetables, in this case carrots, onions, cabbage and green beans. you chop these up very finely and mix with momo masala, oil and soy sauce. you filling shouldn’t be too wet. and the more oil and soy sauce you add, the juicier your momo will be! if you want to add meat, it’s easier to use minced or mashed chicken and mix that with the vegetable mix. and if you are just learning how to make them? the chef suggested cooking the meat before you add them into the momos, that way you know that it is cooked 100%.

then comes the hard part. actually trying to figure out how to fill and fold the momos!

with a tablespoon of filing, put this into the center of your dough circle. you pinch one end together. then you basically pleat the dough together. we were all doing this differently, but you really just have to figure out how it works best for your fingers and your brain!

finally you can cook your momos! steam or fried, they are delicious and fast to cook!

i was also brainstorming different flavor combinations that you could create inside. taco momos. dessert momos. bbq chicken momos. the combinations are endless! i’ve been so inspired that i even bought 2 momo plates as well!

beer

i tried many local beers too!

beer is expensive in nepal compared to india, the prices seem more in line with what you buy on tap at a bar at home. you can get a cocktail for about 520 nepali rupees. a beer is anywhere from 420 nepali rupees to 545 nepali rupees.

my favorite beer is everest. it’s light and has a good crisp-can drink it on a hot day flavor. i’d recommend it when you visit nepal! they also have nepal ice and nepal ice strong. a few of the others in our group enjoyed the nepal ice. i liked the nepal ice strong better. (but i usually prefer the strong version of any kind of beer in this part of the world!)