Easy Manti
If you have ever made my Homemade Kayserili Manti recipe, you know it takes a long time and lots of hands to make. Honestly, it is worth every minute it takes to make and the time spent with family making Manti, is priceless. However, there are times when you really want Manti but are short on time or help or both. That is why I came up with this recipe for Easy Manti. Ordinarily, I would never use ready-made WonTon Wrappers. Breaking my own rule, I cut the WonTon Wrappers into tiny cubes then stuffed with my ground beef mixture. Hopefully, my Turkish readers will not disown me for even suggesting using the ready-made dough.
Daughter’s Approval Says It All!
When I told my daughter we were having Manti, she was so excited. She was surprised I got them all made by myself. I did not tell her my little secret until she had started on the second bowl. I had suggested trying this method before but she was indignant and said: “Don’t worry mom, I will roll out the dough when we want to have Manti.” Well, after eating these today, she said that there was not enough difference to spend all that extra time on the dough. So we will save the traditional Manti making for when we have lots of extra hands to help out. Hope you enjoy as much as we did! Afiyet olsun!
Easy Manti Recipe
- 12-ounce package WonTon Wrappers
- Bowl of water for sealing the Manti
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1 pound Ground Beef
- 2 Teaspoon Salt
- ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Can Tomato Paste
- 4-6 Cloves Garlic, crushed
- 1½ Cups Full Fat Plain Yogurt (I use Cabot Farms)
- To taste Crushed Dried Mint, Red Pepper Flakes, Sumac
- Grate onion into a bowl. Add salt, pepper and 1 pound of ground beef and mix well.
- Next, cut the WonTon Wrappers in half and then half again. They should now be 1-inch squares of dough.
- Then you can start stuffing the manti.
- Take a fingertip amount of the meat filling and place in the center of the square. Dampen the edges so you get a seal when you pinch the corners to the center. Place on another tray leaving space between the dumplings so they do not stick together.
- Put a large stockpot of salted water on the stove to boil. In the meantime, put a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan and heat. Add one can of tomato paste, salt, pepper and water to make a sauce.
- Next, make the garlic yogurt. Crush about 4-6 cloves of garlic with salt and mix in a bowl with 1½ cups full-fat plain yogurt. Stir well, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- When the water boils, carefully place some of the manti into the boiling water. Boil 6 – 8 minutes or until tender.
- Once the dumplings are cooked, ladle the dumplings into bowls and add some of the cooking broth to the bowl.
- Top with the sauce, a spoonful of the garlic yogurt, crushed dried mint, red pepper flakes and sumac (optional). Enjoy piping hot! Afiyet Olsun!
