Manti with a Minted Tomato Sauce
Mantı
Manti (pronounced MAHN-TAH)are sort of like a chinese dumpling. Little dumplings filled with lightly spiced lamb, are prepared, boiled, then pulled steaming from the pot and tossed with yogurt. The manti are typically garnished with a drizzling of chilli-infused butter and sprinkled with dried mint. But in some parts of turkey, a tomato-mint sauce is used to finish the dish instead – a special treat.
I love the tomato-mint sauce so much, I make oodles of it at a time, freeze it in little bags, then simply defrost some whenever my man brings home unexpected guests. If you are really adventurous, you can make your own manti from scratch. But Turks generally buy theirs ready-made from their neighbourhood yufka lady or frozen at the shops.
Look for manti in Middle Eastern food stores in the freezer section.
450g frozen mantı (about 110g of manti per person)
2/3 cup plain yogurt
For the sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, very finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
½ tsp chilli flakes (pul biber)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp dried mint (kuru nane)
400ml tomato puree (domates püresi)
½ tsp salt
1. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan, and gently fry the onion and garlic until soft but not coloured.
2. Add the chilli powder, sugar, mint, tomato puree and salt. Stir well, then leave to simmer uncovered 15 min until thickened. Remove from heat and cover.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil, together with 1 tbsp salt. Add the manti, and cook 10min.
4. Drain the manti, then immediately stir through the yogurt. Divide between serving bowls, spoon tomato mint sauce over the tope, then serve.
SERVES: 4 (with leftovers)