Mantı

Tiny Lamb Dumplings with Yoghurt and Butter

Mantı are Turkey's tiny dumplings: a square of egg dough pinched round a spoonful of spiced lamb, served under garlic yoghurt with a red-pepper butter. They are small and fiddly, and the recipe below is a chef's version in which the dumplings are baked before they are boiled.

The chef's recipe makes a dough with four eggs and 600 g of flour, fills 7.5 cm squares with 2 tsp of lamb and onion filling spiced with baharat, bakes them for 12 to 14 minutes, boils them in batches for 6 to 8 minutes, and serves them under garlic yoghurt and a tomato sauce of browned butter, maraş pepper, mint and sumac.

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 4 medium eggs, beaten
  • 600 g plain flour, plus extra to dust
  • 240 ml water
  • 20 ml (4 tsp) olive oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp fine sea salt

For the filling

  • 450 g lamb mince
  • 100 g white onion, grated
  • 2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 tsp baharat spice mix
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper

For the yoghurt sauce

  • 450 g thick Greek yoghurt
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • Salt

For the tomato sauce

  • 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes, drained
  • 115 g unsalted butter
  • 2 tbsp maraş pepper or other mild chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp dried spearmint
  • 1 tbsp ground sumac
  • Salt

Method

  1. Make the dough Beat all the dough ingredients together in a stand mixer on low for 6 minutes and then on medium for 5 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Wrap and rest for 1 hour.
  2. Mix the filling Mix the lamb, onion, salt, baharat and pepper until combined and chill.
  3. Shape Heat the oven to 220°C (200°C fan). Roll the dough out thinly in batches and cut into 7.5 cm squares. Put 2 tsp of filling in the middle of each, pull the corners up to the centre and pinch the seams together. Arrange on lined trays.
  4. Bake Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until lightly toasted. They will not be cooked through yet.
  5. Make the sauces For the yoghurt sauce, mix the garlic with the lemon juice, leave for 5 minutes, then stir into the yoghurt with salt. For the tomato sauce, melt the butter over a medium heat for about 8 minutes until the milk solids brown, add the tomatoes, maraş pepper, mint and sumac, and simmer for 15 minutes until jammy. Season.
  6. Boil and serve Boil the dumplings in batches of about 15 in salted water for 6 to 8 minutes, until the lamb is cooked right through and piping hot. Spoon the yoghurt sauce into bowls, put the dumplings on top and spoon over the tomato sauce.

Food safety

Minced lamb must be cooked right through. Cut one dumpling open to check there is no pink, and wash hands and boards after handling raw meat.

Keep the dough covered while you roll. It dries quickly.

The dumplings freeze well after baking.

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