All culinary historians agree on the version that it is precisely the Chinese who have the primacy right in the invention of manti. The version is very plausible - the Chinese chef art is admirable, and manti is truly that dish, the taste of which you never get tired of marveling at. It is distributed throughout Middle Asia and the Far East. Manti are also very popular in Russia. There is nothing surprising in this, in many respects we are also an Asian country. Deep into the popular consciousness, the tragic misconception is rooted that manti is just steamed dumplings. However, if you measure everything in well-known categories, you can agree to the point that chebureks are big fried dumplings.
There are dozens of answers to the question of how to make manti. Kazakh manti in many ways are not similar to Uzbek, and in Kazakhstan itself, each region makes them in its own way. Not to mention Turkish or Pakistani manti.
There has long been a debate about how to make manti dough, with or without an egg. Consider both options, without giving any of them preference.
How to make manti is not such an easy task. Traditional dumplings are traditionally served on Central Asian manti ; flour, salt, water and eggs will be needed for its preparation (you can limit yourself to flour, salt and water). Manty dough rolls out very thinly. Its thickness should not exceed one millimeter. At the same time, it is very elastic and does not tear at such a small thickness. To achieve this effect, mixing of two grades of flour, the highest and second grade in equal proportions will help. For one kilogram of flour mixture, half a liter of water, two eggs and a dessert spoon of salt are taken. Steep, elastic dough is mixed, which is allowed to stand for 30-40 minutes so that the flour is well saturated with water.
Then the dough is divided into several parts, each part is rolled into a bundle. The tourniquet is cut into identical pieces, which are rolled out with a rolling pin. According to another system, large layers of dough are rolled out, which are then cut into identical squares with dimensions of 12x12 cm plus or minus 2 cm. You can pinch manti in different ways - with an envelope, bag, tulip and so on. Geometric squares are plucked with an envelope, first opposite corners are blinded, and then nearby, more rounded blanks are paired with a tulip or a bag. Every housewife in Central Asia knows how to do manti, and each does it in her own way.
Usually, manti has meat filling. Lamb or beef will do. Meat for minced meat is finely chopped. You can’t use a meat grinder to prepare the minced meat, you will get another dish, maybe steam dumplings. Onions are also cut, salt and pepper are added to taste, any other spices are possible to anyone who likes. You can add pumpkin to minced meat if desired, it will give the dish a juiciness and aroma.
How to make manti without mantyshnitsa? Very simple, you can use double boiler. Before cooking, the manti should be slightly dipped in vegetable oil so that they do not stick to the base of the perforated dishes. Manty is prepared for about 20 minutes. Serve them with various sauces. The most popular is simple tomato sauce. To prepare it, take 3-4 large tomatoes, peel them and finely chop. Fry the bell peppers in vegetable oil with garlic, add tomatoes and spices. Continue frying for another five minutes. Remove from heat to infuse the sauce.
Sour cream sauce is very good with manti . Garlic and herbs, spring onions finely chopped, pepper, salted to taste. The mixture is poured with fat sour cream, all kinds of spices are added and everything is mixed. Chill the sauce in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes before serving with manta rays. Now you know how to make manti in an oriental way. Enjoy your meal.