Turkish Mantı

Ingredients

• 300g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 1 egg
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 120ml water, approximately
• 250g minced lamb or beef
• 1 small onion, grated and squeezed dry
• 1 tsp salt for the filling
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 0.5 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• 500g thick strained yogurt
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste with a pinch of salt
• 80g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1.5 tsp Turkish red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp dried mint
• 1 tsp sumac to finish

Before you cook

• Mix the flour and salt in a bowl, make a well, and add the egg and most of the water.
• Bring the dough together and knead for 10 minutes into a firm, smooth, quite stiff dough, adding the remaining water only if it will not come together.
• Wrap the dough and rest it at room temperature for 45 minutes.
• Grate the onion, squeeze out the juice in your hands, and mix the dry pulp with the mince, salt, pepper, cumin and parsley.
• Beat the crushed garlic into the yogurt with a pinch of salt and leave it out of the fridge so it is not fridge-cold at the table.

Steps

1. Cut the rested dough into four pieces and keep three covered.
2. Roll one piece out on a well-floured surface into a large sheet about 1mm thick.
3. Cut the sheet into 2.5cm squares with a knife or pastry wheel.
4. Place a pea-sized nugget of filling in the centre of each square, using no more or the dumpling will burst.
5. Bring the four corners of a square up to meet over the filling and pinch the seams firmly closed into a little parcel.
6. Set the finished mantı on a floured tray and repeat until all the dough and filling are used.
7. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil.
8. Drop in half the mantı, stir once, and boil for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is tender and they float.
9. Lift them out with a slotted spoon into a warm bowl and cook the second batch.
10. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat.
11. Stir in the tomato paste and red pepper flakes and cook for one minute until the butter turns deep red and smells sweet.
12. Take the pan off the heat and crumble in the dried mint.
13. Spoon the garlic yogurt generously over the hot mantı in warm bowls.
14. Pour the red pepper butter over the yogurt and dust with sumac before serving.