Delhi’s love for momos is well-known and well-documented. No street market is complete without a stall of piping hot momos, surrounded by people of all ages and walks of life gorging on this city’s favourite street delicacy. And this Vocal for Local list would be incomplete without Delhi’s Queen of Momos – Dolma Aunty.
Dolma Aunty started Delhi’s love affair with momos when she set up the city’s first ever momo stall in Lajpat Nagar in 1994. Now, that stall is well-known establishment, often easy to spot as it is always the most crowded spot in the market. Locals and visitors alike head to Lajpat Nagar specially to have these famous momos.
Hailing from Tibet, when Dolma Tsering moved to Delhi in the 1990s she decided to set on a brave venture to introduce a new street-side dish to Delhi’s thriving food culture. However, it was not an easy journey. Used to friend food, people were skeptical about the steamed momos and often deemed them inedible. She also suffered from a language barrier and found it hard to sell the dish to an already tough audience. Moreover, she faced even more ridicule and mistrust for being a woman running a street thela, a sight that was rare in Delhi in the 90s. But Dolma Aunty and her sister were determined to make it work and after months of low sales, the momo stall finally took off and the rest is history.
Due to the lockdown and the shuttered shops, Dolma Aunty’s stall was out of business for months. Now, even as the markets are slowly reopening, the footfall is less than half of what it used to be, and even regular customers are giving it a miss to avoid eating out.
Lets get Vocal for Local and not just support Dolma Aunty’s pioneering shop to get back on its feet, but also indulge our taste-buds with these delicious momos, available with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian stuffing.
Delhi’s love for momos is well-known and well-documented. No street market is complete without a stall of piping hot momos, surrounded by people of all ages and walks of life gorging on this city’s favourite street delicacy. And this Vocal for Local list would be incomplete without Delhi’s Queen of Momos – Dolma Aunty.
Dolma Aunty started Delhi’s love affair with momos when she set up the city’s first ever momo stall in Lajpat Nagar in 1994. Now, that stall is well-known establishment, often easy to spot as it is always the most crowded spot in the market. Locals and visitors alike head to Lajpat Nagar specially to have these famous momos.
Hailing from Tibet, when Dolma Tsering moved to Delhi in the 1990s she decided to set on a brave venture to introduce a new street-side dish to Delhi’s thriving food culture. However, it was not an easy journey. Used to friend food, people were skeptical about the steamed momos and often deemed them inedible. She also suffered from a language barrier and found it hard to sell the dish to an already tough audience. Moreover, she faced even more ridicule and mistrust for being a woman running a street thela, a sight that was rare in Delhi in the 90s. But Dolma Aunty and her sister were determined to make it work and after months of low sales, the momo stall finally took off and the rest is history.
Due to the lockdown and the shuttered shops, Dolma Aunty’s stall was out of business for months. Now, even as the markets are slowly reopening, the footfall is less than half of what it used to be, and even regular customers are giving it a miss to avoid eating out.
Lets get Vocal for Local and not just support Dolma Aunty’s pioneering shop to get back on its feet, but also indulge our taste-buds with these delicious momos, available with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian stuffing.
