Buff Momo

What Buff Momo is

Buff momo are filled with minced water buffalo, which is leaner and more strongly flavoured than chicken and stands up to heavier seasoning. The wrapper is usually rolled a little thicker to carry the denser filling, and the achar served with it is darker and more sesame-heavy.

Dietary: Contains gluten

Allergens: WheatSesame

Where it comes from

Buffalo is the everyday red meat of the Kathmandu Valley, where cow slaughter is prohibited and goat is expensive, so buff momo is what most momo shops in the city actually sell. Outside Nepal it is harder to find, and Nepali restaurants abroad often substitute lamb or beef — worth asking, because the flavour is noticeably different.

How to eat it

The same method as any momo: lift by the pleats, bite a small opening at the side, and take the juice first — buff momo hold more liquid than chicken, so this matters more here. Dip the opened side into the achar rather than submerging the dumpling. A squeeze of lime over the plate cuts the fat. If you are offered jhol, a thin spiced broth, pour a little into the plate and eat the momo sitting in it.

Goes well with

• Sesame-tomato achar
• Jhol momo broth
• Chiya (Nepali milk tea)

Ingredients

• 300 g Plain flour
• 400 g Minced buffalo (or beef) — Lean; a little added fat helps.
• 50 g Beef or lamb fat, finely chopped — Buffalo is lean enough to come out dry without it.
• 1 large Onion, very finely chopped
• 5 cloves, 1 tbsp Garlic and ginger, grated
• 1 tsp Timur pepper, ground
• 1 tsp each Cumin and coriander powder
• 1 bunch Coriander leaf
• 4 medium, 4 tbsp Tomatoes and toasted sesame, for the achar
• 3 to 5 Dried red chillies
• 1.5 tsp Salt

How to cook it

1. 1Make and rest the dough

   Knead the flour with about 160 ml water and a pinch of salt until smooth, then rest covered for thirty minutes so it rolls without springing back.

2. 2Add fat to the lean mince

   Mix the buffalo with the chopped fat, onion, garlic, ginger, timur, ground spices, coriander leaf and salt. Buffalo carries very little fat of its own, and without the addition the filling steams dry and crumbly.

3. 3Roll slightly thicker than for chicken

   Roll circles about 8 cm across, a little thicker than you would for a chicken momo. The denser filling tears a very thin wrapper during pleating.

4. 4Fill and seal firmly

   A heaped teaspoon per wrapper, pleated around and pinched hard at the top. Check each seal — buff filling releases a lot of liquid and an open momo empties itself.

5. 5Steam for twelve minutes

   Slightly longer than chicken, on an oiled tray over rolling water. Red meat needs the extra time and the wrapper is thicker.

6. 6Make a darker achar

   Char the tomatoes until blackened, then blend with a heavier hand of toasted sesame and more dried chilli than the chicken version takes. It should be thick, dark and hot enough to answer the richness of the meat.

Calories and nutrition

Per serving — 8 pieces with achar (about 285 g)

Approximate values for a typical restaurant portion, calculated from standard ingredient tables. Actual figures vary with the kitchen, the oil used and the portion served. Not intended as medical or dietary advice.

Other dishes to read about

• Chicken Momo — Nepal's steamed dumpling, eaten by hand with a bowl of sesame-tomato achar.
• Veg Momo — The vegetarian momo, where the filling has to be seasoned harder to carry itself.
• Butter Chicken — Tandoori chicken finished in a tomato and cream gravy — mild, and deliberately so.
• Lamb Curry — Bone-in lamb cooked slowly until the sauce thickens around it.
• Chicken Biryani — Rice and marinated chicken layered raw, then sealed and steamed together.
• Mutton Biryani — The same method as chicken biryani, but the meat sets the timing.