The Ultimate Steamed Chicken Momos Recipe

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Cooking With Anadi

12K subscribers · ground chicken, garam masala, green chilies in soft dough

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Growing up, momos were one of my favorite snacks. Momos originated in Nepal, and they made their way into India as an Indo-Chinese fusion recipe, adopting the technique and principle of the Nepali momo, but adding Indian flavors to the fillings. Momos resemble dumplings, prepared with a dough wrapper that is stuffed with either a meat or vegetarian filling. Momos can be steamed, pan-fried or deep fried, just like dumplings.

This recipe will focus on making a juicy chicken filling today, along with steaming our momos. This step by step recipe will walk you through all the information you need to make your very own momo wrapper and a super easy chicken filling that is packed with flavor!

If you’ve always wanted to try making your own dumplings from scratch, then you definitely need to try out this Ultimate Chicken Momo Recipe and check it off your bucket list as part of your Live to Cook one-month challenge! Get started for free today by signing up to my email newsletter, plus you’ll get the latest recipes sent straight to your inbox so you never wonder what appetizers to serve your guests for a dinner party again!

To grasp all the concepts on how to make the best chicken momos ever at home, including tips and tricks for making soft dough and for shaping the momos with ease, then be sure to watch the video! If you’re not already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel, and make sure that you’ve hit the bell button so you’re notified when all of my video recipes are live! Let’s get cooking!

Tools Needed to Make the Best Chicken Momos

• Chef’s knife
• Cutting board
• Salt crock
• Plastic wrap
• Rolling pin
• Mixing bowl
• Olive oil dispenser
• Bamboo steamer
• Large pan
• Measuring cups
• Measuring spoons
• Kitchen scale
• Ramekins: For dipping your chutney!

Tips & Tricks for Satisfying Chicken Momos

• Let the dough rest for as long as you can be patient. This is usually the hardest part for me, after all, I want to eat and who wants to wait to eat these treats. Trust me, wait at the least 30 minutes and you will be glad. This will allow the dough to rest and be easy to stuff and shape the momos.
• Roll the dough thin and even. The thinner the dough, the quicker it will cook, however be careful not to roll it too thin - or you will run a risk of it tearing during the stuffing step.
• Fill the dough portions as much as possible. You want to fill the cones as much as you can so that there’s no extra air and to get a satisfying portion of the minced chicken in every bite.
• Allow the water to start steaming. Before placing the steamer basket over the pan to start the cooking process, make sure the water has started to steam gently to ensure accuracy and efficiency while cooking the momos.
• Spray some oil. Either directly on the steamer basket insert or over the cabbage leaves, this helps ensure the momos to stick at the bottom while cooking.
• Shiny outside and cooked inside. Once the momos are cooked, about 10-12 minutes later, the dough outside appears shiny and has some translucent properties. In addition, to be sure, cut one momo portion in half at the thickest point to ensure the chicken is cooked as well.
• Folding technique matters. Find the folding method that you’re most comfortable with! There are indeed plenty of ways to fold momos, but there are no rules either! The circular spiral method is the easiest, and in the photos and video you will see a slightly more advanced method that I’ll describe in more detail.

Ingredients for Chicken Keema Momos

To see all ingredients and their quantities and to save the recipe for later, be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post for the FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD or press the “Jump to Recipe” button! You can also scale the recipe based on how many momos you want to make. With a pound of minced chicken, you’ll be able to make about 30 to 35 momos by default.

For the Momo Wrapper Dough

• Flour: In Hindi, known as “maida.” All-purpose flour will give you a classic taste and texture, so I recommend you use that for best results.
• Water: To mix with the flour.
• Salt: Essential to season the wrapper.
• Olive oil: You can technically use any cooking oil, but I like the flavor of olive oil.
• Cabbage: For steaming the momos.

For the Chicken Momo Filling

• Minced chicken: If possible, you could even grind your own minced chicken! Using minced chicken will give you the juiciest and most flavorful filling. We will be adding the raw meat to the momos, no need to cook prior to prevent the filling from drying out!
• Vegetables and aromatics: Onions, ginger-garlic paste, rice vinegar, cilantro and green chilies.
• Spices: Kashmiri red chili powder, ground black pepper, garam masala.
• Salt

How to Make the Ultimate Chicken Momos Recipe

For the Chicken Momo Filling

In a large bowl, add all the ingredients for the chicken mince filling and then mix really well.

For the Momo Dough

Add the flour, salt and some water in a bowl and begin kneading. Knead to a soft dough, that is not sticky. Add more flour or water as needed to reach this consistency.

Spray some oil over your work surface and the dough and start to stretch and fold the dough until you have a smooth, and pliable dough ball.

Cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow the dough ball to sit for at least 30 minutes.

To Make the Chicken Momos

Divide the dough into 3-5 smaller portions and then using your hands, roll each portion out to a thin, long cylindrical portion, about 3/4 to 1 inch thick in diameter. Cut each of these portions into 1 to 1 1/2 inch portions to create the dough disks for the momos.

Roll out each of these smaller portions into a thin disk, about 3-4 inch in diameter and then place 1-2 Tbsp of the chicken mince portion in the center.

Use one of the following folding techniques to form the momos:
Technique 1: Pinched Edge (Half-Moon Shape)

1. Place a small spoonful of filling in the center of the dough circle.
2. Bring the four “corners” of the circle (top, bottom, left, and right) up and over the filling to the center.
3. Pinch the corners together in the center to create a small “parcel” shape.
4. Press along the edges to make sure it’s fully sealed.

Technique 2: Square Pocket

1. Place a small spoonful of filling in the center of the dough circle.
2. Bring the four “corners” of the circle (top, bottom, left, and right) up and over the filling to the center.
3. Pinch the corners together in the center to create a small “parcel” shape.
4. Press along the edges to make sure it’s fully sealed.

Technique 3: Closed Purse (Money Bag)

1. Place the filling in the center of the dough.
2. Bring all the edges up to the center over the filling, creating a “purse” shape.
3. Pinch the top where the edges meet, twisting it slightly to seal tightly.

Repeat the desired technique for the remaining portions.

To cook the momos, get a large pan and fill with water, about 1/2 an inch up the sides of the pan. Turn the heat on to medium.

In the meanwhile, line the steamer basket with a layer of cabbage leaves and then spray with some olive oil.

Arrange the momo portions over the cabbage leaves, ensuring no portions are touching each other. Cover with the steamer basket lid.

Once the water is steaming, place the prepared steamer basket in the pan and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the dough is shiny outside and slightly translucent. You can even slice one of the cooked momos to ensure the filling is well cooked.

Serve hot and fresh with spicy chili momo chutney.

Enjoy!

How to Serve Chicken Momos

The most traditional way to serve your chicken momos is with a Spicy Red Chili Chutney! However, you can serve momos with any chutney of your choice, really! Here are some options:

• Tangy Amla Chutney - Indian Gooseberry Chutney
• Mint & Cilantro Chutney
• Sweet & Sour Tamarind Chutney
• Sweet & Spicy Tomato Chutney
• Nariyal Chutney - Coconut Chutney 3 Ways

You could also serve with the peanut sauce I made with my Singapore Chicken Satay!

Storing Chicken Momos

• In the fridge: Transfer the momos into an airtight container. Due to the chicken and garlic and the fresh pastry, I would not keep them in the fridge for longer than 4 days.
• In the freezer: Transfer assembled uncooked momos into a freezer-safe container. When ready to cook, you can take them directly from the freezer. The steaming time will take a bit longer than if you were to cook the momos at room temperature, but the process is the same!

Getting the Momo Dough Right

The wrapper is where most homemade momos go wrong — too thick and they turn doughy, too dry and they crack as you fold. It is only flour, salt and water, so technique carries it:

• Knead to a soft dough that is not sticky, adding flour or water a little at a time until it gets there. Softer than you think is correct.
• Oil your work surface and the dough, then stretch and fold until the ball is smooth and pliable. This is what makes it roll thin without tearing.
• Rest it for at least 30 minutes under a damp cloth. The gluten relaxes and the dough stops fighting the rolling pin — skipping this is the single most common mistake.
• Roll each disk to about 3 to 4 inches and keep the ones you are not filling under the damp cloth. Exposed dough dries out within minutes and will not seal.
• You can use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose for a nuttier, sturdier wrapper. It will not go as translucent when steamed, so roll it slightly thinner.

Seasoning the Chicken Filling

A stuffed momo is only as good as what is inside it, and ground chicken needs a confident hand. This filling leans on ginger-garlic paste, garam masala, Kashmiri red chili powder for color more than heat, plenty of ground black pepper, green chilies, onion and a generous amount of cilantro, with rice vinegar for a little lift. The trick worth stealing from the recipe: before you fold a single momo, fry a dime-sized piece of the raw mixture and taste it. Raw mince always tastes under-seasoned, and this is the only reliable way to know whether it needs more salt or more heat while you can still fix it.

What to Serve With Chicken Momos

Momos are never served naked. The classic partner is a spicy, tomato chutney style momo sauce — the tomatoes and dried red chilies blended smooth with roasted cashews and garlic. For an Indo-Chinese leaning dipping sauce, mix soy sauce with rice vinegar, a little grated ginger and chili oil. A clear broth alongside turns a plate of momos into a full meal, and it is what you would be handed on the street in Darjeeling or Kathmandu.

Folding Styles and Filling Variations

The three folds in this recipe are the ones worth learning: the pinched half-moon, the square pocket, and the closed purse — the money-bag shape known in Hindi as a potli, which is the easiest of the three to seal cleanly because you gather all the edges to one point. Whichever you choose, work with a smooth dough and small pieces of filling; overfilling is what splits a momo in the steamer.

The same wrapper and method take a vegetarian filling happily. Finely grated carrots, cabbage and onion squeezed dry, or crumbled paneer with ginger, green chilies and coriander leaves, both make excellent veg momos — just keep the mixture on the dry side, since watery filling steams the wrapper from the inside and tears it.

Steaming Momos: Cabbage Leaves, Parchment, and Working in Batches

The steaming is the part that gets least attention and ruins the most momos. Fill a wide pan with water only about half an inch up the sides and set it on medium heat. You want it steaming steadily rather than at a hard rolling boil, and the water must never reach the bottom of the basket — momos that sit in water go slimy and split.

Line the steamer basket with cabbage leaves and spray them with oil. The leaves are not decoration; they stop the wet dough welding itself to the metal, and they let steam through in a way a solid liner does not. If you have no cabbage, parchment paper works as long as you grease it lightly and tear a few holes in it, and banana leaves are the nicest option if you can get them, adding a faint grassy note to the wrapper.

Arrange them so no two are touching. This is the rule people break, because it means working in batches, and a momo that touches its neighbour will tear when you lift it. Ten to twelve minutes with the lid on gets you there; the finished momos look shiny and slightly translucent, and the wrapper stops tasting of raw flour. Do not lift the lid to check in the first eight minutes. Keep each finished batch under a damp cloth in a covered bowl while the next one cooks, or they dry out and go leathery within minutes.

One thing worth saying about the shape: the closed purse, that little pouch with the pleats gathered at the top, is the most forgiving fold for steaming because the seam sits above the filling rather than along the side, so there is nothing to split as the juices come up.

Where Momos Come From, and How to Measure the Filling

Momos are Himalayan rather than Indian in origin. The dumpling travelled from Tibet, where it has been eaten for centuries, into Nepal, and from there into Darjeeling, Sikkim and eventually the street food of Delhi, picking up more chili and more garam masala at every stop. This recipe is firmly at the Indian end of that journey, which is why it tastes closer to a keema dumpling than to the mild, juicy Tibetan original.

If you cook by weight, the numbers convert cleanly. A pound of ground chicken is about 450 grams, and 2 cups of all-purpose flour is roughly 240 to 250 grams, with about 180 millilitres of water to bring it together. The dough gets rolled into a long log about three quarters of an inch to an inch thick, then cut into small pieces of an inch or so, and each piece of dough becomes one ball of dough and then one wrapper.

The 2 tablespoons of ginger-garlic paste is the seasoning people ask about most. If you are making it fresh rather than buying it, that is roughly four or five cloves garlic with an equal volume of peeled ginger, and a small blender does the job better than a knife because you want a paste rather than a mince. Note there is no standalone cumin in this filling; the garam masala carries it, along with the coriander and the warm spices, which is why adding extra cumin on top usually makes it taste muddy.

A few swaps that hold up. Red onion works in place of the medium onion and brings a little more sweetness. A handful of chopped scallions folded in at the end adds freshness without extra moisture, which matters because a wet filling makes the wrapper sag. And if you would rather not spray oil on the cabbage leaves, a thin smear of ghee does the same job and tastes better with the spices in this filling.