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Serve immediately and watch them disappear faster than you can say ‘Sanjana, here’s your very own birthday tandoor.’
INGREDIENTS
For the dough:
- 200g plain flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 120ml boiling water (just enough to bind to a firm, smooth dough)
For the filling:
- 25g salted butter
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 2 tbsp grated ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 hot red birds eye chillies, chopped finely
- 60g white cabbage, finely shredded
- 2 carrots, grated
- 30g frozen peas
- 30g green beans, chopped finely
- 180g paneer, crumbled or grated
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 2 spring onions, chopped finely
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tsp light brown sugar
- 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, ground
- 1 tsp toasted fennel seeds, ground
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp cornflour, dissolved in cold water
For the tandoori paste:
- 1 tsp whole coriander seeds
- 8 black peppercorns
- 2 dried Kashmiri chillies
- 2 inches cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 star anise
- 4 cloves
- Seeds of 4 green cardamom pods
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
You’ll also need:
- 1 tbsp concentrated tomato puree
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 1 tbsp yoghurt
- 2 tsp dark brown sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp crushed garlic
Momos toppings:
- Fresh coriander, chopped
- Plain yoghurt
- Sliced red onions
1. First, make the tandoori paste. Toast all the spices in a dry pan until aromatic. Grind them in a coffee grinder until super fine. Put half the ground spices in a jar and stow away for another day.
2. With the remaining half of the masala, mix in the tomato puree, lemon juice, yoghurt, brown sugar, salt, ginger and garlic. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
3. To make the filling, heat the butter in a non-stick pan. Add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent but not browned. Add in ginger, garlic and chillies, cook for a moment and then add in the rest of the ingredients, apart from the cornflour.
4. Once the veggies and paneer have cooked down, about 10 minutes, add the cornflour and mix vigorously. The mixture should bind together. Turn out onto a plate to cool.
5. Meanwhile, make the dough. In a bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Little by little, add in the boiling water, mixing with a spoon. Once you’ve added in almost all the water, leave it for a few moments until cool enough to handle. Try to bind, checking if the rest of the water is required. Add more water if you need to. Bind to a smooth dough, kneading for around 8 minutes.
6. Allow to rest, covered for 10 minutes.
7. Line a couple of baking trays with greaseproof paper.
8. Take a grape-sized piece of dough and roll it out, 3 inches in diameter. A thin as you can. Take about 2 tsp cooled filling and place into the middle of the dough. Use your fingers to pull the dough together and pleat one side to the other, using your fingers to seal.
9. There are lots of handy YouTube video around to help show you how to fold dumplings if you’re not sure. There are so many pays to do it and you don’t have to be a pro to make amazing ones. Just make sure the filling is totally sealed in. The shape is up to you.
10. Repeat this process for all the dumplings. Put a movie on, make a cup of tea, enjoy the process.
11. Once you have a tray or two of finished dumplings, you’re ready to cook.
12. Pre-heat the oven to 220C. Boil the kettle.
13. Heat a large, flat bottomed pan (one that has a lid). Add 2 tsp oil. Arrange the dumplings in the pan – you may need to do this in batches. Allow for them to sizzle for a minute. Now very quickly and extremely carefully add hot water from the kettle to the pan – just a splash or two. Put the lid on and allow to steam for 3 minutes on a low heat.
14. Remove the lid and place the momos back onto a baking tray. Brush them with the tandoori paste you made earlier.
15. Place them in the oven for 10 minutes or until charred in places and looking delicious.
16. Tumble onto a platter and garnish with chopped coriander, sliced red onion and plain yoghurt. Serve immediately.
