I attended a cooking class about a popular Nepalese plate at Las Cosas. I was curious about this cuisine and what it might have in common with Indian cuisine. This was a class with a guest chef. When we have a guest chef, Chef Johnny Vee who is the regular instructor is still present, but the recipes are from the guest chef – in this case Natalie Bovis.
Class Description: Join guest teacher Natalie Bovis for a crash course in Nepalese cooking. Inspired by Natalie’s recent tour of that part of the world, the class will focus on the famed Dal Bhat Meal featuring a Vegetarian Curry, Lentil Stew, Garlic Ginger Greens, Rice, a Pickled Salad with Creamed Sesame Dressing, and a sumptuous side order of mouthwatering Chicken MoMo (dumplings). Don’t miss this exotic menu of unique wintertime comfort food. (Hands-on)
Per usual the menu items were divided up among class members. This class had a nice number of students. I think 8-10 of us. I worked with classmate Rita to make the Chicken MoMo. I do love dumplings.
Chicken MoMo
We started working on the dumpling wrappers. This consisted of flour, water, and a little bit of oil.
I had to knead it for five minutes and needed to add quite a bit of flour because it was very sticky. I rolled it into a ball and then we covered it to let it rest for five minutes.
While we waited for the dough to rest. We started on the filling. We would be using all of the things on the tray and some cilantro and greens onions.
Rita chopped the green onions and cilantro that we needed.
First we heated the oil. And then added the garlic-ginger paste, turmeric, garam masala, coriander, cinnamon, and soy sauce.
Then we added the ground chicken, green onions, and cilantro.
After the chicken was browned slightly, we put the filling in the refrigerator so it would cool faster. Then it was back to the dough. The dough was rolled into thin sheets.
I cut little circles out of it.
We got the filling out of the fridge and put about a teaspoon of it on the circles.
I used a press to make my dumpling shapes, but others folded by hand or folded in half and used a fork to make a pattern on the edge.
You can see the variety of folding styles here.
The dumplings then went into the bamboo steamer.
And after 20 minutes, they were ready.
Ginger Garlic Paste
Quite of few of the recipes needed garlic-ginger paste. Rita and I actually made this before starting our Chicken MoMo because our dish required it as well.
We put sesame oil, ginger, turmeric, garlic, and water into a food processor.
This was the paste halfway through processing.
And this was the consistency we were trying to achieve. We took the amount we needed for our Chicken MoMo and let the other groups get what they needed.
The Other Menu Items
Salad with Chatni
- Chatni – oil, peppercorns, tomato, turmeric, garam masala, red chili powder, green chili powder, and salt
- Salad – cucumber, carrots, and lettuce
Greens – oil, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic-ginger paste, greens, salt and pepper
Vegetarian Curry – oil, garlic-ginger paste, onion, potatoes, green beans, carrots, cabbage, tomatoes, fennel seed, turmeric, garam masala, cumin, coriander, tomato paste, and vegetable broth
Dal (Lentil Stew) – garlic-ginger paste, oil, cumin, dried red chili, lentils, onion, turmeric, cumin, oregano, garam masala, salt, pepper, tomato, tomato paste, water, and vegetable broth
Butter Rice – basmati rice, vegetable stock, water, salt, ghee, and white vinegar
The Whole Spread – Dal Baht
If Only This Were Springfield 