Steamed surprise from the street

Delicious dumplings

When it comes to street food, Bangalore has always seen a wide variety. Be it masala dosa, idli-vada, chaats or even Chinese fast-food and rolls. 

But of late, there is a new entrant to the street food menu –– momos. Popular in the north-eastern part of the country, momos are considered far healthier than any other street food.  And with more and more people selling it on the streets, their demand is only increasing. Areas like Koramangala, Ejipura, Kammanahalli, Marathahalli are filled with people from the North-East selling fresh momos in small carts at a reasonable rate. 
Most of these people had gone back home during the exodus that happened sometime back. They returned to the City later and started this business. Susan Lama, who runs a momo stall at Koramangala, says that the business has given his life a new meaning. “I used to work in a restaurant before. But when I came back to the City with no job in hand, I didn’t know what to do. That’s when I thought of selling steamed momos and four months later, here I am,” says Susan, who hails from Darjeeling. 

Their menu has only steamed vegetarian and chicken momos. On an average, most of them sell momos at seven pieces per plate. A plate of vegetarian momos is priced at Rs 30 while chicken momos is priced at Rs 40. “We make the stuffing and the dough at home during the day. It’s all made fresh and we come to our spot around four in the evening and steam them fresh,” says Devraj, who has a stall at Kammanahalli. Close to 300 momos are sold each day and Sangeetha, from Darjeeling, who has a stall at Koramangala, says that its not the same everyday. 
“Each day is a struggle. You have to handle the cops as they don’t let us sell on the street, bear the weather and the rising prices of items. But since we have a family to feed and we are not getting jobs elsewhere, we have no choice but to start something of our own,” she adds. 

People too find this a rather interesting street food. Karthik and Kaushal, both professionals, love to experiment with food. And momos are one of their favourites. “Since they are steamed, the momos are hygienic and healthy. Moreover, it’s reasonable as well,” says Karthik. 
And Kaushal quickly adds, “It may not be something I would eat everyday but it surely is a change from the samosas or kachoris.”

Pradeep, another professional, is happy to see more momo stalls on street food. 

“I am from the North-East and momos are my favourite. 

And now that it is so easily available, it provides that home-away-from-home feeling,” he sums up.