When you think about street food, one thing that you can’t ignore is the stall of steaming hot momos. How is it an authentic Indian dish? Perhaps no! Then how did they manage to capture the hearts of all Indians and become a national crush? Let’s dive deep and find out the entire story of momos.
The birthplace of momos
The actual origins of momos are unknown but many believe that it came in the 14th century and was an authentic and popular dish in the Newari community that was settled in Kathmandu valley. In Newari, which is one of the oldest languages in Nepal, the term “mome” means cooking by steaming, and hence momos are steamed buns. According to many historians, this recipe was introduced to Tibet, China, and Japan when the Nepalese princess married the Tibetan king in the fifteenth century. Due to the equal popularity of the dish in Tibet and Nepal, both places argue with each other to claim the title of its birthplace. But the actual birthplace is still unclear.
The authentic recipe
Traditionally, momos were stuffed with three different types of fillings including minced meat, mashed potatoes, and Khuwa which is a form of dried milk. Even today you can see these variants on the streets of Kathmandu. But as the popularity grew, different experiments were performed with the recipe according to the food preferences. For example, in India you get to see vegetable stuffing in the momos as the majority of the population is vegetarian whereas in many countries beef is stuffed in these dumplings. Whereas the size of Tibetan momos is much larger than the one available in India
How momos travelled across the world?
According to history, the Mongol invaders travelled to different parts of Asia and Europe in the 13th & 14th centuries. At the intersection of Europe (central region) and Asia (western part), there is a country called Georgia, and a dish named Khinkali is quite popular in this country. Surprisingly, it is a momo-like dish and its recipe is brought by the Mongols and hence it is believed that the Mongols introduced the world to the recipe of momos. But how did it come to India? The answer lies in the 1960s when hundreds of Tibetans immigrated to India due to several reasons. They settled in the northeastern and northern parts of India including Ladakh, Dharamshala, West Bengal, Darjeeling, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Delhi. Hence, these became the hotspots for mom lovers. Many people believed that the recipe travelled to India through the silk route when Newar merchants came to India for travelling.
Adding Indian touch to the dish
According to the present taste palette of Indians, now we get to taste hundreds of variants. The credit goes to passionate and experimental chefs who love to bring new flavours to the tastebuds. If you are also someone who is craving for hot & juicy momos and want to try some new variants, then we have a complete platter for you. The story of momos was long but the serving time in the Kingdom Of Momos is short so you don’t have to wait for long. So meet us at our nearby outlet or just let us deliver it to your doorstep. All you need to do is place the order directly from our website or just contact us through social media platforms.
