How to knead the dough on the cops, not every housewife knows. And in general, little is known about this dish in our country, since it relates more to Asian cuisine. Also about this dish as a national one is mentioned in the culinary of some Siberian nationalities. But no matter which of the peoples he ascribes to himself the appearance of such a delicious and original dish, the first mention of it is noted by the Uzbek people. Manti is often confused with khinkali or dumplings. And this is not accidental, since there are still some similarities between these three dishes, but, nevertheless, they are prepared in a slightly different way.
In the article, we will consider how to knead the dough on manti, what fillings go to them and with which sauces it is best to serve. We will also try to figure out how manti differs from dumplings and khinkali.
It would seem that it might be easier than kneading the dough, but, unfortunately, many novice cooks, preparing such a simple dish, make many mistakes precisely in the process of kneading the dough. Therefore, before you start cooking, it is best to learn more about how to knead the dough on manti.
What is the difference between manti and dumplings
Before kneading the dough for manti, we will try to figure out what their main differences from dumplings are. Then you will be able to prevent the most common mistakes and prepare the dish as much as possible similar to the original.
The meat filling for manti is not passed through a meat grinder, but is chopped with a knife. This allows her to stay more juicy.
Unlike dumplings, manti are steamed and in no case do not fall into boiling water. Cook them better in a double boiler. But if it is not, then at the bottom of the pan with water you need to put a special grate or sieve. And already on it are laid out bags of dough with filling. After all, manti in their form resemble precisely bags. Thanks to this dish, the device at the bottom of the pan in the form of a lattice acquired the name "mantle".
There are manti taken by hand, so that the juice from them does not leak when pierced with a fork, but gets directly into the mouth.
The difference between manti and khinkali
The main difference between the two dishes is noticeably with the naked eye - the shape. Mantas are wrapped with an ajar top. Khinkali, in turn, resemble small tight bags in shape.
Another difference is minced meat. For manti, lamb or beef is often used. In khinkali they put pork or beef. Also, in some cases, chicken fat can be added to the stuffing for manti . As already noted above, the stuffing for manti is chopped with a knife. For khinkali, he grinds into a meat grinder. If in the first case only coarsely chopped onions and salt are added to the filling so as not to interrupt the taste of meat, then in the second they put a large number of spices and herbs.
When answering the question of how to knead the dough for manti, you must remember that it should be tight and fresh. It is also customary to add an egg to it. In some regions, the dough is made with yeast. The khinkali dough is kneaded fresh, but not tight. And they don’t add an egg to it.
The cooking process of both dishes also has differences. As already noted, manti is usually steamed. Khinkali is cooked in a pan or in a deep frying pan.
Another difference is that khinkali is a dish of Caucasian cuisine, manti - Asian. They don’t eat the tail from the khinkali dough. It is necessary in order to make it more convenient to take them with your hands. Manti are eaten completely.
As we have already found out, manti is made from unleavened dough. Many housewives, to make it stick together better, add an egg to the dough. But the classic recipe includes only flour, salt and water. It is also important to remember that water should be cold. Then the dough will be tight.
Cooking dough
When answering the question of how to properly knead the dough for manti, remember that maintaining proportions is of great importance. Rather, it is the basis for success in making a good dough. In our case, the winning ratio is the ratio of water to flour 1: 2.
So we need:
- two cups sifted wheat flour;
- one glass of purified cold water;
- one chicken egg;
- half a teaspoon of salt.
Manty dough is rolled up to 2 mm thick.
How to knead the dough on manti with a photo
In order for the manti dough to turn out airy, it must be sieved through a fine sieve, thus saturating it with oxygen.
Pour flour onto the prepared surface. In order to prevent excess debris from falling into the dough, the surface must be covered with parchment paper. In flour, make a funnel with your palm and drive an egg into it and pour water, but not all.
In order to prevent the entire contents of the hole from spreading, knead the dough from the edges to the middle, gradually adding the remaining water. If necessary (if the dough turns out liquid) add more flour.
The dough should be tight, but elastic. Make a kind of ball out of dough and cover with a towel, leave for a while. This is done so that the dough “rested” a little.
Often, half an hour is enough for the proteins that make up the dough to swell, and it, in turn, will become more elastic, and will not break during cooking.
So, having considered how to knead the dough for manti (a “classic” recipe), we can say that this is not so difficult, the main thing is to adhere to the kneading technology. With its full observance, the dough for manti will turn out to be elastic, and when rolled, it will not break.
Having rolled the dough thinly, it remains to cut it into squares of the same shape or familiar circles.
Cooking Manti
After the dough has "rested", roll it thinly to the shape we need. We start cooking minced meat. To do this, it is best to use lamb, but if you can not find it, then safely replace it with beef. In no case do not use pork, otherwise it will not be manti, but rather khinkali or dumplings.
Ingredients for Stuffing:
- one kilogram of meat;
- a pound of onion;
- a couple of teaspoons of salt.
We chop the meat with a knife into pieces of at least one centimeter. Onion finely chopped. Mix the ingredients well and add salt to them. To make the minced meat as juicy as possible, you can add one glass of cooked meat broth to it.
After the stuffing is ready, proceed to the formation of manti. Put about one tablespoon of minced meat on the prepared dough. Now it is important to properly fasten the dough so that it does not stick out during the cooking process. First you need to fasten the edges in such a way as to make envelopes. Next, the edges of the open segments must be leaned against each other. All meat envelopes are ready.
Next, they must be put in a double boiler or on the wire rack in a pan. In order to prevent manti, they must be lubricated with vegetable oil before cooking.
How to knead the dough for manti in a bread machine
Making dough for manti is not so simple. Despite the fact that its preparation requires a minimum set of products, not every housewife will be able to knead it, since this is a rather laborious process.
But in the age of technology, breadmaking can make it easier. The dough prepared with its help will turn out to be moderately firm and quite elastic. For his kneading, we need three glasses of sifted flour, one chicken egg, a glass of kefir, salt, vegetable oil.
A method of preparing dough in a bread machine
In this case, the main thing is to observe the proportions, and the machine will already do everything on its own. We drive an egg into a separate container and add kefir to it. Mix well. This can be done with a whisk. After this, pour the mass into the bowl of the bread machine. Add salt, vegetable oil and sprinkle flour.
Set the program you need and wait for the dough to knead. When the machine copes with the task, take out the finished dough and leave it covered for half an hour to "rest". After that, you can start cooking manti.
Features of the preparation of the filling for manti
Having figured out how to properly knead the dough for manti, consider the features of the preparation of minced meat. In the homeland of this dish, it is customary to cook minced meat from lamb, goat meat or horse meat, and in some cases camel meat. But since it is quite difficult to get such meat in our latitudes, you can use beef.
To make the minced meat juicy, fat tail fat or fat is added to it. For lack of both, a small piece of butter can be put in each mantle. Here's how to knead the dough with manti, the recipe contains butter and several ingredients that give the filling a juiciness.
Onions must be placed in the stuffing for manti. It gives it juiciness and also makes its taste more piquant. Most often it is mixed with meat in a ratio of 1: 2.
Manti sauces
If it is not recommended to put a large number of spices in the stuffing for manti, then there are no restrictions on the issue of sauces. It can be classic sauce based on mayonnaise, sour cream with garlic, it can also be ketchup or adjika. In addition to well-known sauces, you can add less well-known, but very tasty sauces.
Almaty Satan sauce
It is prepared on the basis of vegetable oil, which is heated in a pan until smoke appears. After that, add one tablespoon of tomato paste to it. Turn off the stove and add a little red pepper and garlic squeezed through the garlic press. Mix all contents, pour into a glass container and let the sauce infuse for 15 minutes.
Sour cream and garlic sauce
For its preparation, finely chop five cloves of garlic. This is important, you can not pass the garlic through the garlic press. Slices of garlic should be felt. Grind dill and green onions separately. Sprinkle herbs with your favorite spices. In this case, hops – suneli are good.
After all the ingredients are mixed and pour a glass of sour cream. The sauce should be infused for at least 15 minutes.
How to eat manti
Having studied how to properly knead the dough for manti according to the classic recipe, especially the preparation of minced meat and sauces, we will figure out how to eat this Asian dish.
If in the case of dumplings it’s enough to prick each one with a fork, dip the sauce and eat, and you can take khinkali with your hands and also dip it into the sauce, then the case with manti looks a little different.
In order for the juice not to flow out of the manti, and the sauce was felt inside each manta ray. They must first be bitten, then put the sauce in the mantle with a spoon and then eat it already, enjoying the fullness of the taste of the dish.