Momo is the new dumpling in town at Thiruvananthapuram

Transfer it over the boiled momos. What about chocolate momos or pizza momos? Or Burger Momos and Momo Wrap? Maybe your choice is momos in gravy? It is raining momos in Thiruvananthapuram.

Salty steamed dumplings are a massive trend in the city, that too in interesting flavours. Over the past two years, momos have been added to the menus of eateries big and small. Also classic momos, big belly momos and wow! Momos which are dedicated to Momos.

“The restaurant had momos as one of the dishes on their menu. We wanted to start a venture that is all about momos and that’s how Classic Momo started its operations in 2020,” says eatery owner Alan Deepu, who has been running his own milkshake joint, Flask, since 2018. Classic Momo now has a franchise. Outlet near Lulu Mall.

Big belly momos also arrived in 2020. With a menu consisting of “over 150 varieties”, they have two dine-in restaurants at Panavila Junction and Pattur – and a takeaway counter in Kaudiyar. Sharukh Khan, who runs the brand with his wife Neha Sujahudin, says: “We sell at least 10,000 momos daily through our outlets and food delivery platforms. We introduced momos on a trial basis at our restaurant Manakalam and it was such a success that finally, we launched the first outlet with 15 varieties.

Girija S, Jayalakshmi T and Shobha S make momos in Burger Band’s Central Kitchen. photo credit: special arrangement

Momo fans say it was the burger band that made momos popular in the city in 2016. He sold momos, chow mein and momo burgers in a food truck parked on Shanghmugham beach. “It was a huge success. We opened four more outlets and kiosks. Then the pandemic forced us to shut shop but we restarted one outlet in Kuravankonam. Three housewives – Girija S, Jayalakshmi T and Shobha S – Our central kitchen at Plamood makes momos. We also supply half-cooked momos with vegetarian or chicken filling to many restaurants and cafes in the city,” says Mahesh Kumar, one of the partners. Vegetables, Chicken and Steamed, fried, grilled and schezwan varieties are available with beef fillings.

Viplavam Food Labs (VFL) with its brand Momoji is a major player in the ready-to-cook momos market, which has some popular restaurants and cafes in its clientele list. “VFL aspires to have a restaurant in a ready-to-cook format. We started with momos as there were few places serving it at that time. After extensive testing with recipes and techniques, we launched Momoji,” says Jose Mathews, who started it last year with his friend Abe Antony.

Ready-to-cook momos from Momoji, a venture of Viplavam Food Labs | photo credit: special arrangement

Momoji sells a pack of 40 momos. They are 80% cooked and have four types of fillings – vegetables, paneer, chicken and mutton. Jose says three companies, two of which are based out of Kerala, are regular suppliers of ready-to-cook momos in the city. “We have been able to get enough customers irrespective of the presence of these brands. We are planning to enter the retail segment very soon.

AB Antony and Jose Mathews, Founders of Viplavam Food Labs | photo credit: special arrangement

Originally from Tibet, momos are made from flour, usually all purpose flour. Many places have chefs from the North-East who oversee the preparation of dumplings and stuffing.

While vegetables or chicken are the main fillings, new varieties include cheese, mushrooms, soy, corn and cheese, beef, mutton and prawns. You can have the dumplings steamed, fried, pan-fried, deep-fried or grilled as a side with a spicy sauce. With so much experimentation, there is one spoiled for choice.

Momos from Classic Momo | photo credit: special arrangement

The hottest seller of classic momos is pizza momos, which are ‘mixed vegetarian momos stuffed with mozzarella cheese, onions, capsicum, tomatoes and herbs’, while burger momos (have veg or non-veg momo patties) are theirs. Latest launch. “There are so many buyers for our dips that come in 15 varieties. We also sell momos made from wheat flour,” says Allen.

Momos from Big Belly Momos | photo credit: Akshay Shankar

At Big Belly, special momos from Kerala (momos fried in a sauce of yogurt, curry leaves, peanuts and spicy chutney), Thai momos with Thai green curry or red curry, tandoor momos with mint chutney and noodles or rice The momos served are sizzlers. ,

Momos also come in the form of sweets. Try chocolate momos filled with dark chocolate, choco chips, roasted cashews or almonds. We also have banana momos and fried ice cream momos, says Sharukh.

Crystal Momos from BAO-TAO | photo credit: special arrangement

Bao Tao, Kaudiyar has crystal dumplings and soup dumplings in 25 varieties. “Crystal dumplings are made with an opaque white covering. Our recipe uses wheat starch and corn starch. Soupy momos have a paper-thin wrapper with a seasoned meat filling and hot, delicious soup,” says eatery owner Nandu Prasad.

Sharukh Khan with his wife Neha Sujahudin. He runs the Big Belly Momos brand. photo credit: special arrangement

Although momos are yet to be sold as street food in the city, a food cart at Shop Sewa Livelihood Park near Kaudiyar has started it. An initiative of the Kerala Chapter of SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association), Gaadi offers Chicken, Paneer, Vegetable, Prawns and Mushroom Momos. take your pick