Fara…UP Style Desi Momos-(Steamed Lentil Stuffed Dumpling)

I have been promising lot of my friends to share this interesting traditional desi recipe from Uttar Pradesh….Traditionally it belongs to the spiritual and cultural capital of UP-“Varanasi”

Cooking a traditional recipe is always a fascinating experience for me and my way of adding magic to it is to have my own little innovation or rather adding my style of cooking to make it more palatable and enjoyable to suit the contemporary liking.

I have to admit that I owe this one to my mother in law. Although she never cooked it herself before I started pestering her to find out the recipe from her sister in law. I often heard her talking about it and somewhere I was sure that this recipe will be good to taste as well as a very healthy food   compared to other traditional dishes. I almost forced her to take the recipe on phone and had the courage to make an attempt to cook it on my own without actually tasting it before ….However, I do admit that my way of cooking might not be the authentic way but it is surely very healthy way of cooking.

It is no doubt very labor intensive and a time consuming recipe but I totally enjoy doing this and I love when I see happy faces around me ......... as I always believe that food always succeeds in spreading happiness.

I have been promising to share the recipe of “fara” to a lot of my friend’s for a while now but finally got time now to pen it down… Cooking time including the preparations done for the recipe was about 6 hrs. ...........to soak n grind and then actually cook the fara.....it took about 2 hrs on the kitchen counter............and it was all worth doing it.

The first step to cook “fara” is to soak chana daal and urad daal for 4-5 hours and to ground it in the grinder with appropriate spices.....

Now see the ingredients for the filling...

For the Filling

1)   Equal quantity of chana and dhuli urad daal soaked for 4-5 hours.

2)   Green chillies 5 nos

3)   Garlic cloves 5-6 nos

4)   Ginger 2 inch piece

5)   Cumin seeds 2 tsp

6)   Black pepper corns 2 tsp

7)   salt to taste

Grind all the ingredients mentioned above together with no minimal water. The paste should be grainy in consistency and not a ketchup one which will  be difficult to use as a filling.

 Once the paste is prepared mix Asafoetida ,Aromatic garam masala and pinch of turmeric powder to it.

8)    Asafoetida 1 pinch

9)   Aromatic garam masala 1 tsp

    10) Pinch of Turmeric powder



Coarsely grounded filling for the dumpling



Ingredients for the outer shell..

1)Rice flour 2 cups and some more
2)Whole wheat flour 2 cups or as needed
3)salt to taste

To make the whole wheat dough you just mix whole wheat flour n rice flour in equal amounts , add salt to taste and make a medium soft dough by adding appropriate amount of water. Adding the rice flour to the wheat dough makes the fara have a nice bite , and it is more moist even when cold.

Now is the time to shape the faras, pull out small portions of the dough, roll small disks about 1 cm thick and place the dal mixture over it, fold and make a semi circle and seal the sides by pressing the corners with a fork to ensure that the filling doesn’t come out while steaming them.

Giving shape to the aromatic fara's

All the dumplings will submerge on top at once, but they will start coming up as soon as they start cooking .........let it cook for another 3-7 minutes after they float ........3 minutes for the smaller ones and 7 minutes for the bigger ones ...

Getting steamed

Take out one of them and prick with a pointed knife , if it comes out clean it's cooked .

Use a slipped spoon to fish them all out , you may need to boil them in two batches but this is the easiest step and you'd feel like popping one of them in your mouth as soon you fish them out.......

It will give you an enchanting experience of a wonderful bite full of aromatic spices inside .. The covering is a perfect wrap for a soft crumbly spicy filling ...........a bite into the doughy shell leads to aromatic spicy interiors.........a perfect alternative to regular daal -roti and it’s definitely a much healthier and exotic food option.

Another option is to slice them into half after steaming and pan frying them with mild spices to make them a perfect choice for an evening snack.

Ingredients for the Fried Fara’s

1) Black Mustard seeds

2) Pinch of Asafoetida

3) 1/2 tsp of red chilly powder

4) Salt to taste

5)2-3 Whole Dry Red Chilli

6) Pinch of turmeric powder

7) ½ tsp Roasted Cumin Powder

8) One Tsp Refine oil

9) 1 tsp amchoor powder

10) 4-5 Curry leaves

Take a pan and put 1 tsp refine oil and wait till it gets hot. Slip in the black mustard seed, curry leaves and Asafoetida powder. When the seed starts crackling lower the heat of the flame and add whole red chilly and the remaining dry masala into the oil. Stir all the ingredients nicely and ensure that it doesn’t get burn. Once the raw  aroma of the dry spices are gone, you can slip in the cut pieces of the steamed fara’s and fry tem or rather toss them well so that it gets quoted nicely with all the spices. You don’t need to cook/fry them for long as they are already steamed before. Just make sure that you are giving them nice light crispy brown color by tossing them gently over low flame.

Now to finally add some beauty and a ting of magic- green chutney or even a sonth chutney is a great accompaniment, but I prefer making the chutney with green garlic and tomatoes.

Ingredients for the Spicy Green Garlic Tomato Chutney

1)   2-3 sprigs of green garlic with the stem and leaves

2)   2 green chilies

3)   One big ripe Tomato

4)   Salt to taste

5)   Few sprigs of green coriander leaves

6)   1 tsp of whole cumin seeds

Place all the ingredients together in a mixing grinder to make a smooth paste.



Yummy Chutney



Some people have come back to me with little amusement because of its name. My take on it is-What's in a name when the end product is so yummy ............ You can make it for a week and store it in the fridge to savor it through the week........... Warm it with a sprinkling of water in microwave and enjoy it steamed for dinner with a soup.............. Or fry them for a snack.........

Now it’s time for you to try it out at home and rest assured you will simply love the experience and most importantly the taste…I am welcoming all your suggestion or feedback that you might have for the recipe. Hopefully my next blog will not take so much of time and I am able to get you some really tasty and simple food. A treat for your eyes…

Fried and Steamed Fara's with Geen Garlic Chutney

 While you are shaping the faras, boil water (with a little salt and a tbsp of oil) in a big wide pateela, when the water starts boiling, slip the faras into it taking care not to scald yourself.