New born babies look a lot like monkeys. Sure, babies look cute after the initial couple of months, but I really couldn’t understand what beauty is there in a wrinkly, wriggly new born with skin coming off! All this thought process was, of course, before I became a mommy.

A very close friend’s son was born six months before Bebo. I saw him a couple of hours after he was born and I was absolutely blown away…that was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen!!! He didn’t remotely look like the wrinkly monkey face I was expecting. So I came out of the hospital thinking that ‘Yeah, some babies really do look beautiful’.

Six months later, when Bebo was born, I was again in for a shock. There he was – the most angelic looking child in the world!! He didn’t look like a monkey in the least!! So I thought, proudly, that there were indeed ‘Johnson & Johnson’ ads kind of new born babies too.

Now when I look at those photos, taken when Bebo was in hospital – well… he does look a bit like monkey. I mean, tightly closed eyes – clenched fists – skin peeling and all.. He looks very cute, but there is no denying that he looks just like all other new borns. 

And now -all babies- new born or not, look very very cute to me. My niece was born last week and I was telling everyone (who would listen to me :D) how beautiful she looks. 

People usually distribute sweets when babies are born, I deviated a bit and made momos, when my niece was born.  I meant to share them, but they were so good that I didn’t even realize that I had almost finished the entire batch :D. So I am just going to give a visual treat to all of you and buy a pack of chocolate to distribute around here.

 Ingredients: 

Dough:

All purpose flour : 2 cups 

Salt : 1/4 tsp or to taste

Oil : 1- 2 tsp

Water : To make the dough (approx 1/2 cup)

Filling : 

Cabbage : 2 1/2 cups, chopped into tiny bits (One small Cabbage)

Carrot : 1 cup (2-3), grated or chopped very fine

Onion : 1 medium, chopped fine

Mushrooms : 100 gms, chopped fine

Ginger garlic paste : 1 tsp

Green Chillies : 1-2 , per taste, chopped fine

Salt : to taste

Chilli Chutney: 

Dry Red Chillies : 4-5 , soaked in a little warm water for 15 minutes

Garlic : 6-8 pods

Coriander Seeds : 1 tsp

Cumin (Jeera) Seeds : 1 tsp

Oil : 1 tbsp

Salt : 1/2 tsp

Sugar : 1 tsp

Vinegar : 3 tbsp

Soya Sauce : 1/2 tsp 

Method : 

1. For the dough, add the flour, along with the salt in a big bowl. Add oil and add 1/4 cup water. 
2. Start kneading with your hands, adding water as you need to get a soft, but firm dough. Keep aside.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add the finely chopped onion, chillies and ginger garlic paste. 
4. Once its cooked, add the mushroom and saute for 4-5 minutes. Add cabbage and carrot. Cover and cook for a further 5 minutes till its cooked.  
5. Add salt, check the seasonings and adjust accordingly, and keep aside. I added a bit of Sabji masala, since I had them at home. 
6. Take the dough, tear off a small marble sized ball from it. Roll it out into small rounds, around 3″ or to the size of your palm. 
7. Place the rolled dough in your hand, and add a teaspoonful of the filling in the center. 
8. Follow the method in this video, cause I don’t think I will be able to put it in words. 
9. When you have made all your momos, steam them for about 8-10 minutes in a steamer. Check for doneness. Serve with a hot chilli sauce. 
10. For the chilli chutney, grind everything together except the vinegar and soya sauce. You can include the water in which the chillies are soaked too. 
11. Check the seasonings and add vinegar and soya sauce according to taste. 

Note:

I didn’t have mushrooms at hand, so I just skipped using them.

I steamed the momos in an idli cooker.

I couldn’t get the frills right, so just pressed the edges together :D. 

I already had some ready made garlic chilli sauce. So I didn’t make any. The original recipe for chutney is from Nita Mehta’s cookbook.