Manti
Small, pleated dumplings with spiced beef, steamed tender and served the Turkish way: under garlicky yogurt with a sizzling butter and pepper sauce poured over at the table.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Manti, in 5 ideas
- Manti are about smallness. Each dumpling is a thumbnail of dough with a chickpea of filling, folded into a little boat or purse.
- The dough is stiff and rested. Rolled thin enough to be supple but strong enough to hold its pleats through steaming.
- Raw onion grated into the beef keeps the filling juicy after cooking. A small trick with a big payoff.
- The yogurt is not cooked, just warmed by the dumplings. The hot butter sauce is what brings the heat.
- Aleppo pepper butter is traditional. But any chile butter works as long as it goes on sizzling and fragrant.
What you need
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup water
- 8 oz ground beef
- 1 small onion, grated
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups Greek yogurt
- 2 garlic cloves, grated
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp Aleppo pepper or sweet paprika with a pinch of chile flakes
How to make it
Method
Mix the flour, salt, egg and water into a firm dough. Knead 8 minutes, cover, and rest 30 minutes.
Stir the beef with the grated onion, pepper and a good pinch of salt until combined.
Roll the dough very thin, about 1/16 inch, and cut into 1 1/2 inch squares.
Place a small pea of filling in the center of each square. Pinch the four corners together over the filling and seal the edges into a little purse. Set on a floured tray.
Season the yogurt with the garlic and salt and spread it on a warm serving platter.
Steam the manti over boiling water, or boil gently, for 8 to 10 minutes, until tender and slightly translucent. Lift out with a slotted spoon onto the yogurt.
Melt the butter until foaming, stir in the pepper, and let it sizzle for 30 seconds. Pour the hot butter over the manti and serve at once.
Freeze raw manti on their tray, then bag them: they steam from frozen in 12 minutes for a near-instant feast.