Manti with minced meat is a dish of Central Asian cuisine, but now it is often cooked in many families of different nationalities. Fragrant and juicy, they are the decoration of any table, perfect for every holiday, not without reason in Kazakh and Uzbek families manti was prepared for dear guests.
If you have never tried this amazing dish, then such an annoying misunderstanding should be corrected today, especially since the cooking process is quite simple.
To understand how to cook manti, it is worth remembering how to make dumplings. They also consist of dough, which is wrapped with stuffing from minced meat. However, manti are slightly larger in size, and they are steamed.
General principles of cooking
The dough is one of the main components, the taste of the dish depends on it in many respects. It is very important that the mass is thin and soft enough. Many housewives consciously refuse to cook this dish, fearing for how the dough will turn out. In fact, everything is much simpler - you just need to remember a few tricks.
- To give the dough the desired elasticity, eggs can be added to the basic composition. However, it is important not to overdo it, otherwise the manty will turn out “rubber”. One will be enough for 2-3 cups of flour.
- Long kneading is just what you need for a tight elastic dough. The hostess needs to spend at least 20 minutes on this process.
- After kneading the dough, you need to give time to rest. In general, 15–20 minutes will be enough, and it is better to put it in the refrigerator.
- How much to cook manti? It depends on the method of cooking, the duration varies from 30 to 45 minutes.
Cooking classic dough
The basis of the recipe is plain cold water, and it is such a preparation that is considered classic. The undoubted advantages are the simplicity of the process and profitability. The products necessary for kneading dough will certainly be found in every kitchen.
Before preparing manti according to the classic recipe, you must provide yourself with the following set of products:
- water - 1 cup;
- flour - about 2.5–3 cups (the amount is calculated based on the resulting consistency of the dough);
- egg - one will be enough;
- salt is a fairly important component, a pinch is enough.
The kneading process is quite simple. The dough for classic manti is prepared as follows.
- On a table, spread the flour with a slide and make a small depression in it.
- Water is poured into it, one chicken egg is broken and salt is added.
- Carefully combine all the ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Choux pastry
In taste and cooking speed, this dough for manti is in no way inferior to the classic one. At the same time, the custard option is ideal not only for meat fillings, but also for vegetarian ones. For example, a potato filling will be a great addition to the custard dough.
The list of ingredients for custard dough includes:
- hot (boiled) water - about 0.5 l;
- vegetable oil (it is better to use in this case not sunflower, but olive) - 100 ml;
- flour - about 2 glasses;
- salt - 1 teaspoon.
Salt and vegetable oil are added to boiling water, followed by half the volume of flour. Beat the batter until all the lumps are dissolved. For this, it is most convenient to use a mixer.
Once the dough has a uniform structure, you can add the rest of the flour and knead it thoroughly.
How to cook manti in milk
The dough kneaded in milk, according to the cooking technology, is not very different from the classic analogue on water, but it turns out much softer. To cook it, you need to stock up:
- milk - enough 1 cup;
- flour - 2.5–3 cups;
- salt - 1 pinch.
The milk is brought to a boil, after which they add salt and 2 cups of flour from the entire prepared volume. These ingredients should make a soft dough. During kneading from the third glass, a small amount of flour is gradually added until the mass becomes sufficiently elastic and tight. At this time, it should easily lag behind the hands and walls of the container.
Classic filling
How to cook manti according to the classic recipe? Kneading the dough has already been discussed above, so it's time to start preparing a juicy and incredibly tasty filling. In Asian manti, it consists of a minimum of ingredients:
- meat (lamb) - a piece of pulp weighing 1 kg is required;
- onions - 0.5-1.0 kg;
- fat tail fat - the volume should not exceed 200–250 g;
- salt, pepper - to your own taste;
- Zira - a pinch.
Important! The amount of onion in real manti should be approximately equal to the amount of meat. This will make the dish especially soft, mouth-watering and juicy.
For a classic Uzbek manti recipe, the meat is not passed through a meat grinder - it should be finely chopped. To do this, the pulp is separated from the bones (if any), as well as from the veins and veins, cut into pieces no larger than a pea. This work is quite painstaking, but it will be fully justified.
Fat tail fat is better cut even smaller. It will be much more convenient and easier to do this if you hold it a little in the freezer before starting work.
Cut the onion as small as possible. All the ingredients are combined together in a deep container, add salt and seasonings, mix thoroughly. Before sculpting manti, mincemeat should be allowed to stand a little.
Minced meat
In fact, many people like manti with meat passed through a meat grinder. This dish is not only very tasty and fragrant, but also requires significantly less time and effort when cooking. Unlike the classic version of the filling (chopped), here the meat is passed through a meat grinder. Onions are also twisted or finely chopped. For the preparation of manti with minced meat, the recipe may contain types of meat that are preferred in the family.
1. Ground beef. For its manufacture take:
- 0.5 kg of meat;
- about 0.2 kg of fat;
- 0.5 kg of onions;
- salt, black and red pepper, a small pinch of coriander and zira.
The meat and fat are passed through a meat grinder, finely chopped onions, spices are added, in accordance with the recipe.
2. Stuffing for manti from several types of meat. Some people do not like the taste and smell of lamb, so they can safely use its analogues.
Among the options:
- beef + pork;
- lamb + beef;
- chicken meat + fat tail fat or lard.
Meat filling with vegetables
Manti with vegetables will certainly find their admirers, because the dish turns out to be very tasty and fragrant, and the filling thanks to this composition acquires a juiciness and literally melts in the mouth.
One of the most common options are manti steamed with pumpkin. To prepare minced meat for them, you need:
- lamb, beef, pork or a mixture of meat - 0.5-0.6 kg;
- fresh pumpkin, peeled from seeds and peel - about 0.5 kg;
- medium-sized onions - 3-4 heads;
- fat tail fat (you can refuse it if fatty meat is present, for example, pork) - 150-200 g;
- some water;
- pepper and salt according to one’s own preferences.
The meat is passed through a meat grinder or finely chopped according to the example of a classic recipe, pumpkin and onions are cut as finely as possible. If there is lard or fat among the ingredients, it is also ground, everything is mixed, seasoning and water are added (the latter is needed if the meat is passed through a meat grinder).
Instead of pumpkin, you can use the following vegetables:
- zucchini;
- cabbage;
- raw potatoes.
As a basis, you can use the recipe for manti from pumpkin.
How to sculpt manti
After the dough is a little "rested", you can begin to sculpt. There are many options here.
Classic. The dough is thinly rolled into a layer, circles are cut out, the filling is laid out in the middle of each. They begin to pinch from the center, while they do not reach the edges. The remaining gaps are fixed so that the result is 4 ears. They are fastened in pairs from opposite sides. With this version of sculpting, manti is obtained in Uzbek.
In the form of flowers. For this option, the dough is rolled into a thin large cake, cut into squares with sides of about 10 cm. The filling is placed in the center. The corners of the square are diagonally connected to each other in the center. The remaining corners are fixed in the same way. The resulting holes are formed in the form of petals.
Manty roses. Thinly rolled dough is cut into strips of 25-30 cm, each 5-6 cm wide. The minced meat is laid out in the center with a thin even layer along the entire length. The strip is folded in half lengthwise so that the stuffing is inside. The resulting flagellum is rolled up and placed with an open cut up.
Cooking process
Traditionally, the dish is steamed, so you can use a double boiler, slow cooker or an ordinary pan. How much you choose to cook manti depends on which option is chosen .
Cooking in a double boiler. Manty dipped in the bottom edge of the vegetable oil and spread on the tiers of a double boiler. The distance between the products should be about 2 cm, otherwise they will stick to each other. Set the timer for a double boiler for 45 minutes. After that, they are removed, laid on a flat dish and served at the table.
Cooking in a slow cooker. 6 glasses of water are poured into the device’s bowl (use the glass that comes with the multicooker). From above, set the steaming grate, grease it with vegetable oil and spread the manti (you need to make sure that they do not touch each other). Set the steaming mode and start the timer for 30 minutes.
Cooking in a pan. If there is no special technique for steaming, you can do with a conventional pan and colander. Pour a little water into the pan, let it boil. The colander is fixed so that it does not touch the water, lubricated with oil and placed at a short distance from the workpiece. Manty steamed under cover for about 30 minutes.
What to serve
Finely chopped greens (parsley + dill), mayonnaise, mustard, and any sauce are perfect for such a meat dish. In Asia, manti is often served as a first course. In this case, it is appropriate to submit to them a rich hot broth.
In fact, the above recipes for making manti are just a small part of all that exist today. Any hostess will be able in practice to choose the recipe that the family will like best.