5 Nepali mo:mo achar recipes featuring different ways to make tomato achar (dipping sauce). I am sharing 5 ideas with plenty of suggestions using ingredients that you may already have on hand to create a perfect tomato achar that is full of flavor. All the achar recipes are naturally vegan and gluten-free!

If you have been following this space for a while (or follow me on instagram), you know I love my mo:mo. Mo:mo is a type of dumpling from Nepal and they are almost always served with tomato-based achar (dipping) sauce on the side. Mo:mo achar is not just a dipping sauce; I think it really makes or breaks your whole mo:mo eating experience. There is no fixed mo:mo achar because everyone does it little differently and you can customize mo:mo achar to your liking.

I am sharing 5 Nepali Mo:Mo Achar Recipes with plenty of suggestions to use ingredients you may already have on hand. Mo:mo achar should be well balanced with heat, salt, and acidity so use your taste buds as a guide during the cooking process. Also, depending on the type of tomatoes you use, when they are picked, how ripe or under ripe tomatoes are will make a difference in the taste so use the recipes provided loosely as a guide and don’t be afraid to add your own twist and personality to the mo:mo achar.

Ingredient list:

• Roma tomatoes (I used 2 medium sized tomatoes in each recipe but feel free to use a mix of tomatoes)

• Acidity : Lemon, limes (fresh is better but in a pinch you can use bottled kind), tamarind concentrate, lapsi ko dhulo (hog plum powder)

• Heat: Fresh green chile such as serrano or Bird’s eye, dried red chile, red chile powder

• Garlic and ginger, fresh preferred

• Texture/flavor: Sesame seed, soybean seed, peanuts

• Spices: Cumin seed, cumin powder, turmeric, salt, pepper

• Cilantro

• Neutral oil, salt, pepper

Tools:

• Heavy bottom pan

• Good blender

Tomato Achar with Tamarind

I have been making this tomato achar with tamarind for almost 7-8 years now (see my post on jhol mo:mo from 2013). Tamarind is not a traditional ingredient in mo:mo achar but the boyfriend and I really love it – it’s tangy and we think it goes really well with the mo:mo. Also, hog plum powder is hard to get by in the US so for me, it’s the closest thing I can always keep in my fridge. This is quick and dirty mo:mo achar that comes together in 15-20 minutes with 3-4 ingredients and if you like to drown your mo:mo is achar, this is a MUST try. We love this achar so much I use leftover as a poaching liquid for fish.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
2 Roma tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
3-4 Bird’s eye chile or dried red chile
3 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
2 tablespoon cilantro
pinch of timur powder (Nepali Sichuan pepper powder), optional
salt, to taste

Directions
– Place tomatoes, chiles, and garlic in a pressure cooker or a small pot with just enough water to cover. Cook until tomatoes softens (2-3 whistle in the pressure cooker) and maybe 6-8 minutes on a stove top.

– Once cooled, transfer tomatoes, garlic and chiles to a blender. Reserve water and keep aside. Season the tomato mix with tamarind concentrate, salt, pepper, and cilantro, and timur if using. Slowly add reserved water as needed and balance the flavors with more tamarind, chiles, and salt.

Classic Mo:Mo Achar

I am calling this a “classic” mo:mo achar because this is what I grew up with and a lot of restaurants in Kathmandu serves this type of achar. Classic mo:mo achar is cooked with all the ingredients and it gets that yellow/orange color from turmeric and chili pepper. It is blended with toasted seeds for added texture and flavor, timur powder for heat, and hog plum or lemon or lime juice for acidity. I usually make this type of achar when I am introducing mo:mo to someone new and want a little taste of home!

serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 tablespoon neutral oil such as canola oil, avocado oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1/2 cup chopped onion
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
2 Roma tomato, chopped
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon red chile powder
2 Bird’s eye chile, chopped
salt, to taste
2-3 tablespoon toasted white sesame seed (may use roasted peanuts or cashews)
2-3 tablespoon hog plum powder or 1 large lemon, juiced
pinch or two of timur, optional
small handful of chopped cilantro, optional

Directions
– In a medium size pan, heat oil and add cumin seed. Once it starts to splutter, add chopped onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until translucent. Add garlic, ginger to the pan and gently stir. Once they become fragrant, add chopped Roma tomatoes, followed by turmeric powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, chopped, Bird’s eye chili and salt to taste.
– Lower the heat if needed and stir everything and cook for 15-20 minutes until tomatoes break down and starts to look jammy. Remove from heat and set aside to cool down.
– In the meantime, toast white sesame seed in a small pan and set aside. It burns really quickly so keep an eye on the pan and remove immediately from heat once you see color starts to change from white to brown. Use a spice grinder to grind toasted sesame seeds into a fine powder.
– Add the cooled tomato mixture, sesame seed powder, hog plum powder, cilantro, timur and blend for 2-3 minutes until it becomes creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

ps: hog plum powder makes the sauce more “brown” rather than orange/yellow in color

Tomato and Cilantro Achar

We love our salsa in Texas and this tomato and cilantro achar reminds of salsa that pairs well not only with mo:mo but quesadilla, taco, burrito bowl, and a marinade for chicken or shrimp. It’s fresh, vibrant, and really versatile. This is a good achar to make when you are little low on tomatoes and have an abundant of fresh cilantro. The cooking process and ingredients are pretty similar to Classic Mo:Mo Achar except that it is heavy on cilantro and I don’t use sesame powder, ginger, and timur on this one.

serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 tablespoon neutral oil such as canola oil, avocado oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 Roma tomato, chopped
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon red chile powder
2 Bird’s eye chile, chopped
salt, to taste
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped (plus 1/4 cup fresh for later)
1 large lemon, juiced

Directions
– In a medium size pan, add chopped onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until translucent. Add garlic to the pan and gently stir. Once they become fragrant, add chopped Roma tomatoes, followed by turmeric powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, chopped, Bird’s eye chili and salt to taste. Add 1/2 cup chopped cilantro to the pan and stir everything.
– Lower the heat if needed and stir everything and cook for 15-20 minutes until tomatoes and cilantro looks cooked. Remove from heat and set aside to cool down.
– Add the cooled tomato cilantro mixture to the blender and blend for 2-3 minutes until it becomes creamy. Squeeze ~ 1 large lemon and adjust the seasoning as needed. Add another 1/4 cup of fresh cilantro at the end if you’d like and blend everything one more time.

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Achar

If you have a gas cook top or a grill pan, I highly suggest making this roasted tomato and garlic achar immediately. The smoky and charred taste of tomato with garlic and dried red chili is such a lovely treat for your palate. Just like the tomato achar with tamarind from above, it’s a quick one and goes well with plain rice, mo:mo, and over roasted meats and vegetables. Instead of a blender, use mortar and pestle if you have one for this recipe. I personally like this type of achar with a bit of texture but if you want to blend it into a smooth consistency, you certainly can.

serves 2-3
Ingredients
2 Roma tomato
3-4 dried red chili
4 garlic cloves
good pinch of timur
Salt, to taste

Directions
– Place a wire rack over gas stove and place tomato over it until the skin gets charred on the outside and soft. Alternatively, you can use a grill pan and place tomatoes directly over it.
– In a separate pan, toast red chili and garlic for few minutes and set side.
– Use a mortar pestle or use the pulse function in your food processor to roughly crush tomatoes, garlic, red chili pepper, timur, and salt. Taste and adjust seasoning and pulse/grind the achar to your desire consistency.

* For this achar, I like the charred taste with a bit of heat from spices and I normally don’t add any lemon/lime juice to it. If you feel it needs acidity, please do so. My mom adds cilantro to this type of achar but I prefer it without cilantro.

Tomato Achar with Soybean and Sesame

Let me start by saying that this achar is a bit fussy but if you are in the mood for “jhol achar” – thin, brothy achar to drown your mo:mo in , you will appreciate few extra steps to make tomato achar with soybean and sesame seeds. This achar is pretty close to classic mo:mo achar except that it is brothy and has roasted soybean seeds as an additional ingredient. Shelling soybean seeds is the “fussy” part but it’s really important to remove the skin otherwise the achar gets grainy and unpleasant. I make this achar only on special occasions but when I do, I always make a large batch and end up eating twice the amount of mo:mo than I normally do.

serves: 4-6
Ingredients
1 tablespoon neutral oil such as canola oil, avocado oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 Bird’s eye chile or dried red chile, roughly chopped
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
salt, to taste
1/4 cup soybean seed (I used white soybean seeds with skin)
1/4 cup white sesame seed
2-3 tablespoon hog plum powder or 1 large lemon, juiced
2 cups water

Directions
– In a medium pan, heat oil over medium heat and fry cumin seeds. Once fragrant, add tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and chile to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes.
– Add turmeric powder, cumin powder, and salt and cook the mixture for 8-10 minutes or until tomatoes softens. Remove from heat and set aside.
– Meanwhile, toast soybean seeds until it changes the color from white to brown. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate. Use the same pan to toast sesame seeds and remove from heat immediately once you notice the color change.
– Take small handful of roasted soybeans in between your hands and gently grind to loosen the skin. Repeat until all the skin falls off.
– Add shelled soybeans and toasted sesame seeds to the blender and make into a fine powder. To that, add cooked tomato mixture and blend along with 1 cup of water at a time along with 2 tablespoon of hog plum powder or juice of half lemon.
– This achar is meant to be brothy and flavorful so I suggest you taste the achar after adding 1 cup of water and see if you need to add more water and/or seasonings because you don’t want to dilute the flavors.

I want to give a quick shoutout to my friend Kyikyi from Himalayan Dumplings and her famous Tibetan Sepen. It’s an extra spicy garlic chili hot sauce made with only few ingredients (no tomatoes in this one) and it’s a perfect accompaniment for your mo:mo. Make a large batch and use it with mo:mo, rice, noodles, soups!