Archive for the ‘Newari food’ Category

Classic Momo Sauce – Roasted tomatoes and cilantro

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Here’s one of my simple and classic momo sauce with tomatoes, cilantro and black pepper or timur (similar to Szechuan pepper) . I made it for vegetarian momo.

Set oven to broil. Add chopped tomato and green chilies in oven safe pan (loaf pan here). Drizzle with oil.

Tomatoes before being roasted (broiled)

Bake until you get desired amount of charring (about 10+ minutes).

Roasted tomatoes

Cool.

Add tomatoes and cilantro in blender. Add black pepper or timur. I added timur, which is a variant of easily found Szechuan pepper. Grind.

Store in a clean and sterilized* old pasta jar.

Serve chilled with steaming hot vegetarian momos.

Making of classic momo sauce

*To sterilize pasta jar, put clean pasta jar in oven for 15 min+ at 250 °F. Turn off the oven. Let it cool inside the oven. Go green and use!

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Aloo Sadeko

Monday, December 28th, 2009

Aloo Sadeko is a boiled potato dish mostly popular in the Newar community in Kathmandu valley. Aloo (or alu) is potatoes and sadeko roughly translates into marinated. This marinated potato salad type dish is commonly used as afternoon snack and served with Chiura (dried beaten rice). I once made this as an appetizer for my friends and family in a small gathering at my place.  Since then, the popularity of this marinated potato salad has lead into a norm that I make this dish every time there is a get-together.

Complete list of ingredients and amount are given at the end of the post.

Boil egg sized red potatoes in a pot by adding some water and a pinch of salt.  Boil it under a full gas power for about 20 minutes. You can tell whether the potatoes are cooked by poking into potatoes with a fork or a tooth pick.

Once done, let the potatoes sit for 15 minutes for cooling off. Peel potatoes. Dice potatoes into to small pieces.  An egg sized potato can be cut into 6 pieces.

Dice tomatoes, onions, green chili pepper into small pieces and pour over the diced potatoes. Chop cilantro and add into the potatoes.

Chill in freezer for 10/15 minutes.

Add black peppers.

Chinese peppers.

Ginger and garlic, black salt (Kala Namak), and table salt.

Cumin powder.

Turmeric powder.

Crushed red chili pepper.

Paprika

Classic yellow French mustard. (or mustard powder)

Heat oil with Methi (fenugreek)   in a small pan for about 3/5 minutes until it turns into black. Once done, let Methi sit for 10 minutes for cooling off.  Be careful!

Pour oil with Methi over the potatoes.

Mix all the ingredients together in the bowl.

Best if mixed with bare (cleaned) hand.


Prepared Aloo Sadeko.

Most enjoyable if served with Chiura (dried rice).

Ingredients:

20 small size (an egg size or as small as you can get) red potatoes
1 small sized red dried onion (diced)
1 medium size (larger than an egg) red tomato (diced)
2 large or 4 small garlic cloves (crushed)
4 small or 2 large size green chili peppers (diced)
4 tea spoon of vegetable oil
1 tea spoon of ginger paste
1/2 tea spoon of black salt
1/3 tea spoon of regular salt
1/2 tea spoon of fenugreek
1/2 tea spoon of French’s mustard
1/2 tea spoon of red chili pepper (crushed)
1 tea spoon of paprika powder
1 tea spoon of cumin powder
1/4 table spoon of turmeric powder
10 strings of cilantro (chopped)

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Fenugreek Salad (Newari Methi Achar)

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Fenugreek seeds are widely used as spice in the Indian subcontinent (generally called methi) and horn of Africa (generally called abesh). Fenugreek seed have unique flavor and bitter to taste. There have been claims that diet rich in fenugreek seeds significantly reduced fasting blood sugar level and improve glucose tolerance – hence good for diabetic patient (scientific source).

The video is in Nepali with English subtitles for directions.

This fenugreek seed salad is a traditional Newari dish my Newari heritage, which flourished in Kathmandu Valley in Nepal for centuries. Newari fenugreek salad (Methi Achar) is healthy with high dose of fenugreek. Fenugreek seed salad (Methi ko achaar) is one of the classic Nepali recipes and is one of the two dish that I know that uses fenugreek (Methi) as the primary ingredient. The best part is fenugreek is s not that bitter when it’s done.

The video of fenugreek salad (Methi Achar) is in Nepali with English subtitles.

Here are the ingredients you need;

½ cup dry fenugreek seeds
½ cup of diced onions
1/3 cup diced tomatoes
¼ cup crushed toasted sesame seeds
3 green chilies (substitute 1 jalapeño pepper)
2 tablespoons crushed garlic
2 tablespoons crushed ginger
2 tablespoon vegetable oil (substitution extra virgin olive oil)
1 dry red chili
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
½  teaspoon turmeric powder
½  teaspoon ground Timur (substitute schezuan pepper)
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 whole lime/lemon (1½  inch in diameter) juice

This is how you make newari fenugreek salad

  1. Soak dry fenugreek in 3 cups of filtered water for at least 3 hours. Drain extra water.
  2. Heat fenugreek in microwave for 1 to 2 minutes on high power. Throw out extra water.
  3. Heat oil on medium heat.
  4. Fry dry chili divided into 3 portions.
  5. Add garlic and ginger and stir.
  6. Add turmeric, green chilies, cumin red pepper, salt and stir for few seconds.
  7. Add tomatoes and onion and stir for 2-3 minute on low heat.
  8. Transfer to salad bowl, mix with fenugreek and ground roasted sesame powder.
  9. Chill in refrigerator for 10 minutes and serve.

Video Credits:
Cooking demo by Sharda Shrestha
Direction & photography by Govinda Ram Shrestha

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