Manti [Turkish Specialty]

DELICIOUS MANTI

Turkish Recipe

Out of all the famous Turkish recipes, MANTI is my favorite turkish dish. The turkish cuisine is incredibly tasty and worth trying if you haven't yet already. Whenever we went to a turkish restaurant in Vienna, I used to order this delicious Manti. When we moved to Dubai I really had cravings for Manti and we looked for all turkish restaurants in that area. Finally we found one traditional turkish restaurant but unfortunately they didn't have my favorite
dish. At last I gave up looking for more restaurants and tried making Manti myself. Luckily it turned out to be an easy recipe but little time consuming. The small meat pockets definitely need some patience to make. But believe me, it's worth it. I didn't have red pepper flakes at home so I used chilli powder instead which tasted great as well. Hope you give this dish a try.

So here is the recipe:

{Serves 4 People}

Ingredients:

• 3,5 Cups of flour
• 2 Eggs 
• 2 tsp Salt 
• 1/2 Cup Of water 

Sauce Ingredients:

• 2 Cups of Yogurt 
• 2 Cloves Garlic
• Salt to taste 
• 1 tsp Butter 
• Red Pepper Flakes (to taste) or 
• 1 tsp of Red chili powder  (optional)

For filling:

• 250g Ground Meat 
• 1 Chopped Onion 
• 1 tsp Salt 
• 1/2 tsp of Black Pepper 

Method:

1. In a bowl beat together egg and salt 
2. Add water and gradually add the flour in 3 parts while kneading the dough nicely. 
3. Cover the dough for 15-20mins (for the yeasting process)
4. In the meantime mix together the ground meat with the finally chopped onions, salt and black Pepper. 
5. Now cut the dough into 3 parts and work with one part at a time.
6. Roll out one part of the dough as thin as possible. 
7. Cut small squares (approx.  2,5cm) with a sharp knife.
   
8. Then fill the meat mixture into each square (approx. Chickpea sized meat) 
9. Fold the ends of each square first then pinch together the corners to create small pyramid shaped pockets. 
10. Boil water in a pot and add the filled pockets inside.  Cook for approx. 10 mins or till the pockets start swimming on the top of the water. 
11. Drain out the water and place into a serving dish.
12. For the sauce: Mix together yogurt with finally chopped Garlic with a pinch of salt. 
13. In a pan heat the butter till melted and add the red pepper flakes. Mix well.
14. Presentation: In a dish place the meat pockets and add the yogurt on top. Drizzle the melted pepper mixture on top.
15. Serve hot

Hope you enjoy making this recipe

Happy cooking