Day 11 R&R in Namche Bazar

Our first full day back in Namche was indeed relaxing.  We spent most of the afternoon at the Khumbu Lodge dining room hanging out with our American trekking friends, Ted and Peter, and our Australian friend, Bridget.  A great deal of time was spent rehashing the gory details of our trek to Kala Patthur.  Thanks to Ted and Peter, most of the rehashing was done in an English accent, in diary form, as if we were old English explorers: “22nd March: Dear Diary, I fear my men will revolt if forced to carry my parquet floor any further… But I cannot bear the thought of leaving it behind.  What would I do if gripped by a spontaneous urge to dance a jig and had not my parquet floor on which to dance?”  (Apologies to Ted and Peter for my lousy paraphrasing of their hilarious banter.)  A good time was had by all until we thoroughly annoyed the other guests and lodge staff with our rowdy carrying on and slunk out to our respective lodges.

Gideon and I headed back to the Shangri La in the late afternoon for a nap.  Just as I was nodding off, Buddha Raj came knocking.  “Miss, would you like to make momos?” he asked.  I had been asking to join in on the momo-making since we had arrived to the Solukumbu area.  Momos are the Nepali form of dumplings, pot-stickers, perogies, empanadas, etc.—a basic dough pocket containing whatever yummy goodness you can think to put inside.  In Nepal, they are mainly stuffed with spicy meat mixtures, vegetable mixtures, or potato mixtures.  “I’ll be right down!” I shouted, and slapped myself awake before heading to the kitchen. 

You might think momo-making would be a low-key activity for the evening, but you’d be wrong.  It was a spectacle—the evening entertainment for everyone in the family, as well as the lodge staff.  Chindi’s wife and lodge matron, Ang Chhiki was my first teacher, showing me the basics for making the meat and vegetable filling, as well as the dough.  Gideon was the note-taker, jotting down the recipes as I observed.  Once the filling and dough was prepared, it was time to make momos.  Rounds of thinly rolled-out dough were cut with the lid of a peanut butter jar.  Each round received a dollop of filling and was pinched into the proper momo shape.  Easy, right?  Not really.  The technique was a bit tricky.  I watched carefully but the details were eluding me. 

 Ang Chhiki showing me how it's done

 Gideon and Chindi enjoying the show

That’s when Dhowa (?) stepped in.  He had been Chindi’s first mate for years in expedition cook tents and is a talented momo-maker indeed.  He also happens to be deaf, which means he is quite proficient at non-verbal communication.  He got my attention and had me following his lead slowly and carefully until I was churning out momos that met his approval.  Eventually Gideon joined in the momo making and showed us all his interpretation of the technique. 

 

Lots of laughter and many, many momos later, we all sat down to enjoy the fruits of our labor.  We ate and ate until we thought we would burst.  Ang Chhiki continued to bring out steamed momos insisting we have just a few more.  “Shee, shee!” she would chide when we put up our hands in resistance—“More, more!”  Once she was satisfied that everyone in the room was sufficiently stuffed with momos, she let up and we hobbled up the stairs to bed.