Tibetan Snack Food: I Want My <i> Momo</i>

Someday, maybe, Los Angeles will go momo mad. But right now, the momo is an unknown delicacy--unless you’re lucky enough to have met some of Southern California’s 85 resident Tibetans.

The momo is a Tibetan dumpling--ground meat mixed with savory seasonings such as green onions, cilantro, ginger and cumin and wrapped in a thin circle of dough. You could call it a Himalayan hamburger, except that the momo is steamed, not grilled. And sometimes the filling is vegetarian. When they’re serving both kinds, Tibetans twist the dough one way to indicate meat, another way to indicate a vegetable filling.

The reason we’re telling you about momos is that we’re about to get an influx of new Tibetans--108 of them. This is Southern California’s share of the 1,000 refugees that the United States will allow to enter the country by the end of 1993. They’re only a fraction of the thousands who have escaped from Chinese-occupied Tibet and now live in India and Nepal.

On a recent Saturday, at least a quarter of the local Tibetan population jammed into the West Los Angeles apartment of Thepo Tulku. They had come to make momos for a dinner hosted by the board of directors of the Tibetan Resettlement Project of Southern California for those who had participated in a fund-raising event in May.

Sacks of flour and vats of filling--enough for 1,000 dumplings--took up every available inch. At a long table just in front of Tulku’s Buddhist altar, a dozen or so workers rolled out dough and filled and shaped meat momos into little bonnets. On the other side of the room, three amalas-- the respectful Tibetan term for mother--presided over the making of potato momos. Hands moving as gracefully as in a languid dance, these venerable women pleated the dough into round dumplings with a little swirl at the top and a tiny hole to release steam. The butter-rich potato filling inside was yellow with curry powder and flecked with bright green peas, cilantro and green onion.

Wangdu, a young Buddhist monk in a loose burgundy and saffron robe, pitched in to help and also got down on the floor to knead a pillow-sized lump of dough in a capacious tub. Wangdu is from Dharamsala, the Tibetan exile capital in northern India. In the tiny kitchen, Dawa Dolma, newly arrived from Nepal, made tomato salsa.

Other dishes were passed around for sampling. Desil, a close cousin of rice pudding, is served on auspicious days and presented as a religious offering. Bhatsa maku, which looks like gnocchi, is made of flour ground from barley, the most important grain in the Tibetan diet. Tossed with sugar and yak milk cheese, the little dough nuggets are eaten on meatless days. Someone had brought the cheese for this rendition from Tibet.

The volunteers occasionally stopped to revive themselves with a drink--either orange Nehi or bracing Tibetan tea. This hot and filling concoction consists of tea, butter, milk and salt, churned together in a tall container. It is always offered to guests, and the custom is to take at least two cups, leaving some tea in the second cup to show you will return.

Tapes of Tibetan music could barely be heard above the friendly uproar. There were happy tunes, dance music and a sad melody depicting the anguish of a young girl separated from her parents as she escapes across the mountains, a rough trek familiar to these Tibetan expatriates.

The workers started early in the morning and reverently placed their first few dumplings at the altar. Not all were expert--the occasional misshapen dumpling aroused good-natured laughter--and not all were Tibetan. Carole Hamilton, who is president of the L.A. Friends of Tibet, was wrapping momos for the first time. “It’s fun,” she said, “but what’s really fun is having this whole group of people together.”

The following recipes for meat and potato fillings were supplied by Tsering Chodon Dorje, and the tomato salsa is from Dawa Dolma. People usually eat eight to 10 momos at a sitting. Any leftovers can be fried the next day, like pot stickers.

MOMOS (Tibetan Dumplings)

2 1/2 cups flour

2/3 cup water

Meat Filling

Potato Filling

Tibetan Tomato Salsa

Place 2 1/4 cups flour in bowl. Add water and mix well. Turn out on work surface and knead in remaining flour as needed until dough is spongy and resilient. Divide dough into pieces about 1 inch in diameter. There will be about 30. Roll out each piece into 4-inch circle.

For meat momos, place 1 rounded tablespoon Meat Filling on wrapper. Fold wrapper in half, crimping edges to seal tightly. Dumpling will now look like half circle. Fold 2 points toward center so dumpling resembles small bonnet.

For potato dumplings, place 1 rounded tablespoon Potato Filling in center of wrapper. Hold in palm of one hand. With thumb and finger of other hand, pleat wrapper, forming dumpling into ball. While pleating, push filling down into wrapper with other thumb so all is enclosed. Finish by swirling tip of gathered dough. Leave small hole in top.

Place dumplings on rack in steamer and steam 20 minutes. Serve with Tibetan Tomato Salsa.

Meat Filling

1 pound ground beef

3 green onions, chopped

1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped, optional

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon minced ginger root

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt

1/2 to 3/4 cup cold water

Combine beef, green onions, cilantro, soy sauce, ginger root, garlic powder and cumin in bowl. Season to taste with salt. Add just enough water to make mixture juicy. Makes 2 1/2 cups, enough for about 20 momos.

Potato Filling

1 pound russet potatoes

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons butter

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup thawed frozen green peas

2 green onions, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Boil unpeeled potatoes until tender when pierced with fork. Drain and peel.

Mash potatoes well, blending in butter, curry powder and salt. Mix in peas, green onions and cilantro. Makes 2 1/2 cups, enough for about 20 momos.

Tibetan Tomato Salsa

2 green onions, chopped

2 teaspoons oil

3 serrano chiles, chopped or sliced

5 medium tomatoes, chopped

Salt

Chopped cilantro

Saute green onions in oil until tender. Stir in chiles and saute briefly. Add tomatoes and cook until softened to sauce consistency, about 15 minutes.

Season to taste with salt. Turn into serving bowl and top with cilantro. Makes 3 cups.

Each momo with meat filling contains about:

97 calories; 95 mg sodium; 13 mg cholesterol; 4 grams fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 0.37 gram fiber.

Each momo with vegetable filling contains about:

84 calories; 96 mg sodium; 4 mg cholesterol; 2 grams fat; 14 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams protein; 0.5 gram fiber.