Whenever I think about the spicy & super tasty sauce, two sauces come in my mind. One is momos chutney and another one is schezwan. Both are my favorite due to its spicy and strong flavor. Momos chutney is unbeatable with any kind of momos (vegetable, paneer or chicken momos) and without this chutney, momos are never so delicious. If you have ever tasted momos with that yummy chili garlic sauce or chutney then you can not oppose my comment. Right?
I have tasted momos in multiple cities and also from various corners of those cities. I was so fascinated and addicted to this soft and healthy food, that I often have momos as my dinner too. In Delhi, momos were so cheap ( I am talking about years 2009-11) that you can have a full plate of momos for just Rs 30 and that was sufficient for my dinner. But when I shifted from Delhi, I never found similar taste anywhere though momos were almost same. It was just because of that spicy chili & garlic sauce.
Momos chutney is not similar in taste across the every corner of the city too. So you will definitely find variations in taste from shop to shop. Some food vendors offer tomato based chili & garlic sauce as a momos chutney whereas some offer dark chili garlic (soy sauce added) momos chutney. Each one has its own flavor and unique taste. Some street food vendor also offers an additional yellow colored saucy item with traditional garlic chili sauce. But I never tried that. I always prefer tomato based chili garlic sauce over without tomato momos chutney. That is why I try to make that at home and often have that with momos or some other food too. If you add vinegar to that sauce then you can store it in the refrigerator for at-least 2 weeks and enjoy it very often.
I also tried this sauce without tomato but it was tasted like schezwan sauce, so I generally do not prefer its taste without tomato. This chutney is a Nepali, Tibetan or North Eastern India food but it very much popular across the India.
Most interesting thing that you can use this tasty & spicy sauce with any pakodas & fries and it is also very easy to make. You can add this to many Chinese or Indian dishes too. Okay, I discussed a lot about momos chutney and feeling hungry too. Now let me share the recipe what I followed to make this few days back ( a Little bit with Indian flavor too) and still enjoying my good karma. 😉
- Red chilies – 12-15
- Tomatoes – 2 medium size
- Garlic – 10 cloves
- Cumin powder – 1 tsp
- Coriander powder – 1.5 tsp
- Soy sauce – 1.5 tsp
- Green chilies – 2-3
- Vinegar – 1.5 tsp
- Oil – ½ tbsp
- Salt - as needed
- Soak red chilies in water for 30 minutes and remove seeds
- Add chopped tomatoes, chopped garlic cloves, red chilies & green chilies in grinder and blend it to make smooth puree
- Heat oil in a cooking pan and add cumin & coriander powder and then add that puree too
- Cook that puree in oil for 10 minutes, add salt to taste, also add water if needed
- Add soy sauce and stir
- Now add vinegar and mix well and switch off flame
- Keep this momos chutney in a bowl or container
Tomato based chili garlic sauce (momos chutney recipe)
Ingredients
- Red chilies / lal mirch- 12-15
- Tomatoes / tamatar – 2 medium size
- Garlic / lahsun – 10 cloves
- Cumin / jeera powder – 1 tsp
- Coriander / dhania powder – 1.5 tsp
- Soy sauce – 1.5 tsp
- Green chilies / hara mirch – 2-3
- Vinegar – 1.5 tsp
- Oil – 1/2 tbsp
- Salt – as needed


Instructions
- Soak red chilies in water for 30 minutes and then remove seeds from those chilies. You need to do this step little fast. I mean do not waste time when you are doing this task because if you spend too much time with chilies then you may feel burning pain in your hand due to effect of chilies. So if you can do this then do this task otherwise leave seeds within those chilies.
- Chopped tomatoes into small pieces. Please choose properly ripe tomatoes for making momos chutney, otherwise, it will not taste good. You do not need to boil tomatoes for this. You can use raw tomatoes to make the puree. So keep finely chopped tomatoes aside for further use.
- Now take red chilies & chopped tomatoes in grinder’s jar and also add some garlic cloves & chopped green chilies into it. Blend all ingredients to make a smooth puree. Check your puree for smoothness, if it is not smooth then blend it again. You can add some water if needed.
- Now you have tomato, garlic & chili puree ready for the further process. Heat oil in a cooking pan and add spices (cumin powder and coriander powder). You can add roasted cumin & coriander powder too. Then you can skip this step and directly add those spices in that puree for further processing.
- Now add that tomato, garlic & chili puree in cooking pan and mix it with fried spices. This cumin & coriander powder will give a fantastic Indian touch to your momos chutney. Now cook that puree well and make that thicker. Also, add salt to taste.
- Now you have to add soy sauce. It will make that puree dark and add slightly different flavor. Mix all ingredients very well and let a magical aroma cover atmosphere. Hello !!! One more thing, if you will find that it becomes very much thick then add little more water too.
- Now you have almost done. Just add vinegar to this momos chutney and switch off the flame. Vinegar will allow you to store this sauce for a longer period, not only that it will add extra sour taste to this tomato based chili garlic sauce. But do not add too much vinegar as you are already using tomatoes in it and it has a sour taste too, so if you add too much vinegar then it will taste bad.
- Now keep it in a bowl or container to store longer period.
You can make this momos chutney within few minutes (by following this easy recipe) once you soaked red chilies in water. If you do not have time to soak chilies in water then simply skip this step and directly add chilies in grinder’s jar. You can add sugar to this sauce but as you have added ripe tomatoes, so I do not think you need sugar to add.
If you are looking for something spicy food recipe then try these dishes – special tadka dal, shahi paneer, kadai paneer, tasty aloo jeera, paneer masala etc.
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