Momo, a Tibetan Gyoza

choi

Julia Moskin, Tibetans’ (Forbidden) Special Treat; A paradox for some Buddhists: respecting life, loving meat. New York Times, Feb 22, 2012 (in the weekly session "Food").
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/2 ... -special-treat.html

Quote:

"Back in Tibet, wheat was even scarcer than meat, so momos were treats for special occasions like Losar, the Tibetan New Year celebration that begins on Wednesday.

"The Dalai Lama himself has struggled with adopting a vegetarian diet, which is expected of Buddhist spiritual leaders; many Tibetans will tell you that doctors have advised him to eat meat for health reasons. (The official position is that the kitchens in his residence in Dharamsala, in northern India, are vegetarian, but that the Dalai Lama does eat meat elsewhere.)

"yak meat is raised in Colorado and Wyoming and now served at some restaurants in New York

"At first, most [Tibetans in exile] remained in India, but the draw of the United States is powerful, especially for women. 'Life here is hard, but in India the competition for jobs is impossible,' said Norbu L Lama, a community leader who lives in Woodside, Queens. 'One woman can support a whole family here [US],' she added.

"Butter, though, is Tibetans’ favorite food, Mrs Dolma said: 'As long as there is butter and tea we can live anywhere.'

"The New York area is home to the largest Tibetan community in the country, at least 7,000 people, according to the Office of Tibet, in New York. (The office represents the Central Tibetan Administration, the self-proclaimed government in exile based in Dharamsala.)

Note:
(a) The "gyoza" in my title is Japanese pronunciation for Mandarin "jiaozi."
(b) The "sha" in "sha momo" (singular form) is Tibetan for "meat, flesh, fish."
(c) dowel  Mandarin gan-mian-zhan
(d) Losar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Losar
(the Tibetan word for "new year"--lo: "year, age", sar: "new, fresh"; Losar is celebrated for 15 days, with the main celebrations on the first three days; often falls on the same day as the Chinese New Year (sometimes with one day or occasionally with one lunar month difference); The festival is said to have begun when an old woman named Belma introduced the measurement of time based on the phases of the moon)
(e) barley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barley
(Hordeum vulgare; domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, the same time as einkorn and emmer wheat; Barley beer was probably the first drink developed by Neolithic humans; Alongside emmer wheat, Barley was a staple cereal of ancient Egypt, where it was used to make bread and beer)

Quote: "Tibetan barley has been a staple food in Tibet since the 5th century AD. This grain, along with a cool climate that permitted storage, produced a civilization that was able to raise great armies. It is made into a flour product called tsampa that is still a staple in Tibet. The flour is roasted and mixed with butter and butter tea to form a stiff dough that is eaten in small balls.

(f) khapse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khapse

You can find photos in images.google.com--there seems to be different sizes and shapes.
(g) Qilian Mountains
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilian_Mountains
(a northern [or eastern] outlier of the Kunlun Mountains, forming the border between Qinghai and the Gansu provinces of northern China)

For a map, see Spanish version of Wiki:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilian_Shan
(h) garam masala
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garam_masala
(garam ("hot") and masala ("mixture"); a blend of ground spices; Garam masala is pungent, but not hot in the same way as a chili pepper; The composition of garam masala differs regionally, with wide variety across India)
(i) For "po cha," see butter tea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter_tea
(also known as po cha (Tibetan for"Tibetan tea"); Mandarin Chinese: sūyóu chá; made from tea leaves, yak butter, and salt)

Recall:
Tibet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibet
(The Tibetan name for their land, Bod)
(j) An image of dresil in
yowangdu, Your Insider’s Guide to Losar Eating — Part 2. Feb 17, 2012  
http://www.yowangdu.com/tibetan-food/losar-2.html
(k) regarding tingmo.
* Tibetan cuisine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_cuisine
(Tingmo (food) - a type of steamed bun, a heavier version of the Chinese baozi)
* Timgmo-Tibetan Steamed Buns. Vancouver Tibet Kitchen, Nov 5, 2010.
http://www.yelp.ca/biz_photos/jc ... SN6Gmy0fCvXTG3nM5fg