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Manti
Serves 4 Prep 1 hr 15 min Cook 15 min Total 1 hr 30 min Type Meal Origin Turkish

Manti

Turkish handmade dumplings - tiny squares of fresh pasta filled with seasoned minced lamb, boiled briefly, then drowned in garlicky yogurt and a hot melted-butter-and-paprika sauce. The dumplings are small (35 to a tablespoon, traditionally) and the work is the meal; weekends or family gatherings only.

Serves 4 Prep 1 ¼ hours Cook 15 minutes Units Rate

Overview

A simple egg-pasta dough rolls thin. Minced lamb, finely-chopped onion, parsley and spices form the filling, uncooked. Each dumpling is 1 ½ cm square: a teaspoon of filling, four corners pinched up to form a star/parcel. They boil briefly. Yogurt-garlic sauce ladles into bowls; dumplings pile in; melted butter with sumac and paprika pours over hot.

Ingredients

Dough

  • 400 g plain flour (or "00" flour)
  • 2 eggs (large)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 100 ml water (approx)

Filling

  • 300 g minced lamb (or beef, 15-20% fat)
  • 1 onion (small, very finely chopped)
  • 2 garlic cloves (crushed)
  • A small bunch of flat-leaf parsley (chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Yogurt sauce

  • 400 g plain yogurt (Greek or full-fat)
  • 4 garlic cloves (crushed to paste with salt)
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Butter sauce

  • 80 g unsalted butter
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 teaspoon sumac
  • ½ teaspoon chilli flakes

To serve

  • Dried mint
  • A small bunch of parsley (chopped)

Method

Stage 1 - Dough

  1. Mound the flour on a board; make a well; add eggs and salt.
  2. Mix; add water gradually; knead 8-10 minutes until smooth and firm (drier than pasta dough).
  3. Wrap and rest 30 minutes.

Stage 2 - Filling

  1. Combine all the filling ingredients; mix thoroughly.
  2. Refrigerate while you roll.

Stage 3 - Roll

  1. Cut the dough into 4 pieces; keep covered.
  2. Roll one piece very thin (about 1 ½ mm) on a floured surface; aim for paper-thin.
  3. Cut into 2 ½ cm squares with a sharp knife or pastry wheel.

Stage 4 - Fill and shape

  1. Place a small pinch of filling (smaller than a pea) in the centre of each square.
  2. Bring the four corners up to meet at the top; pinch tightly to seal in a small parcel.
  3. Lay finished manti on a floured tray, not touching.
  4. Repeat with all the dough.

Stage 5 - Sauces

  1. Whisk the yogurt with the crushed garlic and salt; rest 15 minutes for the garlic to mellow.
  2. Have the butter, paprika, sumac and Aleppo pepper ready.

Stage 6 - Boil

  1. Bring a wide pan of salted water to a steady boil.
  2. Drop manti in batches; cook 6-8 minutes until they rise to the surface and the pasta is tender.
  3. Lift out with a slotted spoon.

Stage 7 - Plate

  1. Spread a generous spoonful of yogurt across each plate.
  2. Pile manti on top.
  3. Spoon another dollop of yogurt over.

Stage 8 - Butter sauce

  1. Melt the butter in a small pan until just sizzling.
  2. Off the heat, stir in the paprika, sumac and Aleppo pepper.
  3. Pour the hot spice butter generously over each plate.

Stage 9 - Serve

  1. Top with dried mint and parsley.
  2. Eat immediately.

Notes

  • Smaller is better: Traditional Kayseri manti are tiny - 30+ to a tablespoon. Domestic-sized manti (1 ½-2 cm) are perfectly fine; just keep the filling sparse.
  • Yogurt at room temperature: Cold yogurt clashes with hot dumplings. Bring it out of the fridge well before serving.
  • Butter sauce off heat: Paprika burns instantly in hot butter. Always pull the pan off the heat before adding spices.

Storage

  • Cooked manti refrigerate 2 days. Frozen raw manti keep 3 months - boil from frozen, adding 2-3 minutes.

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