Mantu
Afghan steamed dumplings belonging to the Central Asian branch of the wider manti/mantu family, genuinely distinct from the site's existing Turkish manti in several real, documented ways: mantu is steamed rather than boiled, made noticeably larger per dumpling than the famously tiny Turkish version, and topped with both a spiced ground-meat-and-tomato sauce and a garlic-yogurt sauce at once — a double-topping presentation Turkish manti, dressed only in yogurt, garlic, and spiced butter, doesn't share. Keeping the filling minimal so the thin dough steams through properly, rather than overstuffing it into a gummy wrapper, is the real skill test.
⚠ Contains: Dairy, Egg, Gluten. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 400g flour
- 1 egg
- Water, as needed
- Salt
- 400g ground beef or lamb, divided
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- Black pepper, cumin, coriander
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 100g split peas or yellow lentils (optional)
- 300ml yogurt
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- Dried mint
Steps
- Make a simple egg-flour dough with water and salt, roll thin, and cut into squares.
- Fill each square with a small spoonful of spiced ground meat and onion, then fold and pinch into a closed dumpling.
- Steam for 20-30 minutes until the wrapper is translucent and the filling is cooked through.
- Meanwhile, brown the remaining meat with onion, tomato paste, and split peas if using, and simmer into a sauce.
- Whisk the yogurt with crushed garlic and salt.
- Plate the dumplings, ladle the tomato-meat sauce over, then the garlic-yogurt sauce, and finish with dried mint.