Kothey Momo - Himalayan Dumplings

Kothey momo aka Himalayan dumplings are small, hand-folded dumplings filled with savory meat and/or vegetables and wrapped in a thin layer of dough. These are a cheater’s version, made with gyoza skins.

When I first saw momos as the theme for this week’s Sunday FunDay post, I had to look it up! What are they even? I quickly discovered that momos or actually properly momo (which is the singular as well as the plural in their native tongue) are the unofficial national dish of Tibet.  

According to Wikipedia, “They are one of the most popular fast food in Nepal and many other South Asian region populated with people of Nepali origin and people of hilly origin. They are also common in places with noticeable Nepalese and Tibetan diaspora, such as Assam, Delhi, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Shillong, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.”

Fillings vary from place to place and can include yak, mutton, chicken, pork, or vegetables. They are most often steamed and served with a clear soup, though some versions are pan-fried and paired with a spicy tomato chutney.

Kothey momo is one of these variations. The word “kothey” in Nepali refers to the cooking method and roughly translates to half-fried or pan-fried on one side.

The dumplings are first fried in oil until the bottoms turn golden. You then add water to the pan to steam the dumplings. They puff up dramatically (so don’t crowd the pan!) then contract when the lid is removed. Once the water evaporates, they are fried again to get the bottom crispy once more.

Kothey Momo - Himalayan Dumplings

This recipe makes about three dozen momo, depending on how you divide your filling. I have adapted it from several I found online, with special nod to NishKitchen who uses store-bought dumpling skins, which felt like permission for me to do the same. So much easier than making them yourself!

Ingredients

For the filling:

1.1 lb or 500g ground pork 

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 whole spring onions, finely chopped

1 –2 hot red chili peppers, minced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

1 tablespoon canola or other light oil

1 big bunch cilantro (25g), hard stems removed, the rest finely chopped

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

For making the momo:

1-2 tablespoons canola or other light oil

1 package (300g - you won’t use them all) gyoza skins

For serving:

Chutney of your choice (I served these with my spicy tomato chutney.)

Method

Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for an hour (or more) before assembling your kothey momo. This allows the flavors to blend together.

Lightly wet the edge of one gyoza skin with water. Hold it on your palm and place a scant tablespoon of filling in the center. Fold it in half to form a semi-circle, then pleat and seal the edges tightly.

Heat a drizzle of oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the momo and cook without turning them until the bottoms become lightly golden.

Pour enough water into the pan to cover the dumplings halfway. 

Cover with a lid and turn the heat to medium high.

When the water has completely evaporated, uncover and let the bottoms crisp up again.

Add a little more oil to the pan and repeat until all of your momo are cooked. Serve them hot with the chutney of your choice.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing momo! Many thanks to our host Renu of Cook with Renu. Check out the links below.

• Easy Veg Momos  from Cook with Renu
• Keto Fried Cabbage Momos from Sneha's Recipe
• Kothey Momo - Himalayan Dumplings from Food Lust People Love
• Spiced Lamb Dumplings - Nepalese Momos from Karen's Kitchen Stories

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join

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Easy Lamb Shoulder Roast

Tender and flavorful, this easy lamb shoulder roast melts in your mouth! It’s simple to prepare and, after a fast start, cooks long and slow in the oven. Time making this dish is mostly hands-off. 

If you’ve been reading here a while, you know how much I adore Jamie Oliver. Since his young, baby-face days as the Naked Chef, I’ve watched his career expand as he grew up. Now with a family of his own, he has one of his son’s looking to follow in his footsteps, as he did with his own dad who ran the family pub kitchen.

While occasionally he does a fancy cheffy thing, a nod to his culinary training, most of his recipes are deliciously down-to-earth, like this one. 

Easy Lamb Shoulder Roast

If you can’t find new potatoes or young carrots, substitute regular ones, peeled and cut into chunks. This recipe is adapted from one of Jamie Oliver’s in his book, Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life, published in 2006. I’ve been making some version of it ever since.

Ingredients

1 (2.2 lb or 1 kg) half shoulder of lamb

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3-4 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 head garlic, peeled and large cloves halved

1 yellow onion, peeled and cut in thick slices

Olive oil

1 lb or 450g new potatoes

12 oz or 340g young carrots

Method

Preheat your oven as high as it goes, 450-500°F or 232-260°C.

Score the fat side of the lamb with a sharp knife. 

Rub it all over with a generous amount of fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Wrap it in cling film and set aside while you prep the garlic and onion according to the ingredient list.

Drizzle a little olive oil in the bottom of your Dutch oven and arrange the onion slices to cover the area where the lamb will rest. Put half of the garlic on top, along with half of the leaves from your rosemary, stripped from the sprigs. 

Unwrap the lamb and lay it fat side up on the onion, garlic and rosemary. Drizzle the top of the lamb with more olive oil. Add on the balance of the garlic and stripped rosemary leaves with another little drizzle of oil.

Put the cover on the Dutch oven (or a tightly fitting piece of thick foil) and put it in the oven. Immediately turn the oven temperature down to 325°F or 163°C. 

Roast for three hours. Meanwhile, scrub the new potatoes and young carrots and toss them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Set them aside, ready to go in. 

When the three hours are up, remove the Dutch oven from the oven and take the lid off carefully, so you don’t burn yourself.

Add in the potatoes and carrots and turn them in the pan juices. Put the lid back on and roast for a further 30 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and check to see if the meat is falling off the bones yet. It should be! 

If you’d like a little more color on your lamb, baste it with the pan juices and pop it back in the oven without the lid for another 15-20 minutes or until it is colored to your satisfaction. 

Remove the lamb to a serving platter with the potatoes and carrots. 

Pan juices, along with the onion, garlic and rosemary, can be made into gravy with the addition of a little flour and stock or they can be served as is on the side. 

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 12th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter L. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the L recipes below:

• Deviled Eggs with Lemon Caper Remoulade from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Easy Lamb Shoulder Roast from Food Lust People Love
• Greek Pork Chops from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Instant Pot Spicy Moroccan Lamb and Lentil Stew from A Messy Kitchen
• Lasooni Palak from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Lemon Lavender Scones from Blogghetti
• Lentil, Sweet Pepper, Spinach, and Linguica from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Low Carb 2 Ingredient Oat Bread from Sneha’s Recipe
• No Bake Lemon Lush Dessert from Jolene’s Recipe Journal

Here are my posts for the 2026 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Ají de Cerdo aka Peruvian Pork Stew

B: Baby Cos Peach Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing 

C. Traditional Cullen Skink 

D. Coconut Cream Date Caramel 

E. Edamame Summer Salad 

F. Lamb Feta Mint Patties 

G. Ricotta Gnocchi à la Poêle 

H. Hazelnut Vodka 

I. Italian Sausage Stuffed Mini Peppers - this post!

J. Jägersuppe - Hunter's Soup 

K. Easy Chicken Kapama 

L. Easy Lamb Shoulder Roast - this post!

To check out the Alphabet Challenges for 2024 and 2025, click here.

Pin this Easy Lamb Shoulder Roast!

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Brown Sugar Lemon Cassava Loaf #BreadBakers

Naturally gluten free, this Brown Sugar Lemon Cassava Loaf bakes up light and fluffy with a lovely crunchy sugar top. It’s great as is or even toasted.

A couple of my fellow food bloggers have introduced me through their recipes to two flours I had never used before, cassava and coconut. No one in my family needs to be gluten free but I do love experimenting with new ingredients. 

Recently I read the fascinating book, Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America and learned even more about the traditional use of cassava in cooking and baking by the indigenous tribes of the Caribbean. 

To quote the Amazon blurb: “Exemplifying how Native foodways can teach us all to connect with the natural world around us, Turtle Island features rich narrative histories and spotlights the communities producing, gathering, and cooking these foods, including remarkable stories of ingenuity and adaptation that capture the resilience of Indigenous communities.” 

It's an amazing read and extremely humbling. There’s so much I didn’t know and still need to learn about this continent, pre-arrival of foreign colonizers.

I was expecting guests for a teatime visit a couple of weeks ago so I decided to give cassava flour a spin. They took the leftovers home with them, one saying that she planned to eat her slices with coffee for breakfast, that’s how well it went over! 

Brown Sugar Lemon Cassava Loaf

Both my husband and I thought the loaf could have been a little sweeter but, as I said, the guests liked it just as it was. If you have a bit of a sweet tooth, use the whole ¾ cup or 150g of brown sugar in the list. Next time I bake this, I plan to. 

Ingredients

1 ½ cups or 180g cassava flour

½ – ¾ cup or 100-150g dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Zest 1 lemon (save lemon for juicing)

3 eggs, room temperature

½ cup or 120ml canola or other light oil

½ cup or 123g plain full-fat Greek yogurt

Juice 1 lemon (about 3 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Optional but highly recommended for that crunchy top: 2-3 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and line a loaf pan with baking parchment.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cassava flour, brown sugar, baking powder, sea salt and lemon zest.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, yogurt, lemon juice and vanilla extract together until smooth.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and fold until it is just combined but make sure no flour is showing.

Pour the batter into your lined loaf pan. I hold the baking parchment up with clothes pegs which works a treat. You do have to remove them before baking! 

Sprinkle on the turbinado sugar, if using. 

Bake for 45–50 minutes. The edges should be golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

Leave to cool in the pan then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Slice to serve. Enjoy! 

It’s the second Tuesday of the month which means it’s time for my Bread Baker friends to share their bakes. Our theme today is Breakfast Bread! Many thanks to our host Kelly from A Messy Kitchen. Check out the links below.

• Brown Sugar Lemon Cassava Loaf from Food Lust People Love 
• Girelle - Italian Breakfast Pastry from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Greek Yogurt and Blueberry Oat Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Kheema Anda Paratha from Sneha's Recipe
• Sourdough Gingerbread Waffles from A Messy Kitchen
• Sourdough Plum Almond Bread from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Zucchini Cassava Muffins from Passion Kneaded

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin this Brown Sugar Lemon Cassava Loaf!

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Spicy Barbecue Sauce

A perfect blend of sweet and savory, this flavorful spicy barbecue sauce is great slathered on chicken and pork ribs or even grilled vegetables. Serve extra on the side for those of us (me!) who also like to dip. 

Living overseas in tiny oilfield towns early in my married life, I discovered that some items most Americans would consider normal essentials, like barbecue sauce and Jif peanut butter, simply were not available. I learned to adapt by either doing without, making my own or trying to bring some back in our suitcases after a trip stateside.

When we wanted barbecue sauce, this recipe is the one I made most often, sometimes adding some smoked bacon, which adds an additional smoky touch, for when I didn’t have liquid smoke, or sometimes even when I did! Because bacon makes everything better.

Brush this sauce on the meat or vegetables on the grill when they are just about cooked so that it doesn't scorch. If you brush it on too early, you risk it burning because of the sugar in the sauce both from the brown sugar and what is already in the prepared ketchup. 

Spicy Barbecue Sauce

If you need this spicy barbecue sauce to be vegetarian, do use the Henderson’s Relish instead of Worcestershire sauce, which has anchovies in it. Failing that, you can add soy sauce instead. For the ketchup, use your favorite brand or even a store brand. It won’t much matter once the other things are added. This recipe makes almost 2 ½ cups or 570ml.

Ingredients

1 medium onion

1 tablespoon olive oil

14 oz or 397ml ketchup 

3/4 cup or 180ml cider vinegar

1/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar

2/3 cup or 132g dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce or Henderson’s Relish

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

Method

Mince the onion finely or use a small food processor to get little bits. You don't want it pureed, just not chunky. 

In a pot large enough to hold all of your ingredients, sauté the onion with the olive oil over a medium heat until it has softened completely and no longer smells strongly of onion. You are looking for a little color, some caramelization, all the better for creating flavor.

Add all the other ingredients to the onion pot.

Bring it to a simmer over medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes.

Cool and store in a sterilized jar in the refrigerator until ready to use. Because of the vinegar content, I find that this is good for quite a while once refrigerated. 

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes for your cookout get-togethers! Snacks, side dishes, sauces, dressings, salads or desserts - all good. Many thanks to our host Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out the links below. 

• Caribbean Pineapple & Honey Mustard Pork Chops from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Eggless & Gluten Free Orange Pots from Sneha's Recipe
• Green Goddess Dressing from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Spicy Barbecue Sauce from Food Lust People Love
• Sweet and Savory Party Mix from A Messy Kitchen
• Viral Japanese Cheesecake from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Watermelon Radish and Cucumber Salad from Karen's Kitchen Stories

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Spicy Barbecue Sauce!

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Spicy Carrot Ginger Dressing

This Spicy Carrot Ginger Dressing is made with the carrots in escabeche that come in canned pickled jalapeños. Bright and tasty, it’s great on salads. Also good as a dip for crudités, especially little carrots. Just saying.

I don’t know about you, but we always have a Tupperware full of whole jalapeños stashed in the refrigerator. Can't eat a lot of dishes without them. (Looking at you, fried chicken and grilled chicken tacos.) It’s one of those tall guys with a strainer inside so you can lift the jalapeños out of the juice easily. The Tupperware people call it a Pick-A-Deli® Container and it’s great for pickles, olives and, of course, jalapeños. 

When we run out of jalapeños and I have to open a new can, I need to tip a bit of the juice out of the Tupperware to make room for the new stuff. And sometimes, if it’s been a while, I have to take out some of the left-behind carrots and onions too or the whole new can won’t fit. I know some people simply eat these spicy pickled carrots as a snack but we really don’t, so there are always carrots leftover at the end of the jalapeños.

The other day I removed about 4 ounces or 112g of carrots and was looking for something to use them in. You know, not to have a container of pickled carrots just sitting in the fridge. And, no, I could not throw them out! Bite your tongue. My grandfather came of age in the Great Depression so my mother was raised by him and I think frugality came down to me by a genetic disposition. Look it up. It's a thing.  

In my search, I came across lots of recipes for a carrot ginger dressing that is apparently a popular Japanese restaurant thing. Who knew? This dressing is not that but, boy, is it good! I could eat it with a spoon. Plus, now I have a jar of dressing I WILL USE instead of pickled carrots that I will not. 

Spicy Carrot Ginger Dressing

The carrots in escabeche are an essential part of the recipe for canned pickled jalapeños, for flavor, adding a some carrot-y sweetness and helping to balance the spiciness of the peppers. They are not just cheaper filler for the can as I thought before researching this! This dressing recipe is adapted from one by Andrew Zimmern. His is made with cooked carrots, not escabeche ones. Missed a trick, Andrew.

Ingredients

4 oz or 112g carrots in escabeche 

1/3 cup or 80ml olive oil

1/4 cup or 60ml rice vinegar

3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon peeled, grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1/2 shallot, chopped

1-2 teaspoons sugar (to taste, I added just one)

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

Method

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender. Blend until completely smooth. 

We like a thicker dressing but you can add a little water to thin it, if you prefer. Serve over your favorite salad! Or use the thicker dressing for dipping faux baby carrots.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing some of our favorite carrot recipes. Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. Check out the links below.

• Carrot Cake Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Carrot Pudding from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Carrot Fries from Mildly Indian
• Carrot Roulade from Sneha's Recipe
• Grilled Carrots from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Nomato Soup - a Faux Tomato Soup with Carrots from A Messy Kitchen
• Roasted Carrots with Burrata from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Spicy Carrot Ginger Dressing from Food Lust People Love

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin this Spicy Carrot Ginger Dressing! 

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Easy Chicken Kapama

Boneless skinless chicken thighs make this easy kapama chicken with a rich cinnamon scented tomato sauce quick to the table. It’s so very delicious! 

Not that I’ve ever made it before but New York Times Cooking says that the traditional Greek version would be made with a whole chicken, cut into its typical pieces. But, of course, bone-in chicken takes much longer to cook so if you are looking for a weeknight dish, starting with boneless chicken is ideal. 

It's also a great make-ahead dish because it just gets better the next day! We liked it the first night but loved it even more as leftovers. 

Easy Chicken Kapama

This recipe is adapted from one on New York Times Cooking. It calls for ground cinnamon as well as two cinnamon sticks and it needs both for a more authentic Greek flavor. Serve it over buttered egg noodles or orzo.

Ingredients

1 lb 12 oz or 800g boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Ground cayenne

Ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 (15 oz or 425g) can tomato puree

2 cinnamon sticks

1 teaspoon sugar

2-3 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves only

½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional

For garnish:

2 tablespoons fresh herbs, such as Italian parsley and oregano, roughly chopped

For serving:

Buttered egg noodles or orzo

Grated kefalotyri cheese or Parmesan

Crushed red pepper, optional

Method

Season the chicken thighs well on both sides with salt, black pepper, cayenne and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon. Cut them into three or four pieces each.

In a large skillet, heat the butter and olive oil over medium flame. Working in batches to avoid overcrowding, cook the chicken until it is lightly browned on both sides. 

Remove to a plate as you cook each batch. The chicken will not be cooked through at this point but, worry not, it will finish cooking in the sauce. 

Slice the onion and garlic thinly. 

Add them to the skillet and cook until the onion is soft and translucent. 

Stir in the tomato puree, tomato paste and water equal to half of the tomato puree can. This also helps rinse the can so you are sure to use all of the puree. Stir well.

Add in the cinnamon sticks and leave to cook for a few minutes.

Return the chicken to the pan along with any juices that have collected on the plate, stir to coat with the sauce and bring to a simmer. 

Turn heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the flavors meld, stirring occasionally, 20-30 minutes. Add in the fresh oregano leaves, the spoon of sugar and crushed red pepper, if using, stir well. 

Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking, adding more salt and pepper, if necessary.

Serve the chicken over buttered egg noodles or orzo, spooning the tomato sauce on top. Top with the fresh herbs and grated cheese.

Enjoy!

Welcome to the 11th edition of Alphabet Challenge 2026, brought to you by the letter K. Many thanks to Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm for organizing and creating the challenge. Check out all the K recipes below:

• Baby Kale Salad with Steak and Citrus Vinaigrette from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Brown Sugar and Ketchup Pork Chops from Blogghetti
• Creamy Kohlrabi Pasta from Mildly Indian
• Easy Chicken Kapama from Food Lust People Love
• Individual No Bake Key Lime Pies from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Kabocha Methi Garlic Rolls from Magical Ingredients
• Kachhe Kele Ke Kofte from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Kahlua and Cream: Brown Cow Cocktail from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Kielbasa Pasta Medley (Sicilian Medley) from A Messy Kitchen
• Kondakadalai Sundal / Chickpeas Sundal from Sneha’s Recipe
• Spicy Cheddar Krispies Crackers (Rice Krispies) from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice

Here are my posts for the 2026 alphabet challenge, thus far:

A: Ají de Cerdo aka Peruvian Pork Stew

B: Baby Cos Peach Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing 

C. Traditional Cullen Skink 

D. Coconut Cream Date Caramel 

E. Edamame Summer Salad 

F. Lamb Feta Mint Patties 

G. Ricotta Gnocchi à la Poêle 

H. Hazelnut Vodka 

I. Italian Sausage Stuffed Mini Peppers - this post!

J. Jägersuppe - Hunter's Soup 

K. Easy Chicken Kapama - this post!

To check out the Alphabet Challenges for 2024 and 2025, click here.

Pin this Easy Chicken Kapama! 

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