Have you ever had Homemade Manti before? Manti has to be one of my favorite meals ever. My stepmom, Hande, is originally from Istanbul and the entire family LOVES whenever it is Manti night. I remember my first time having Manti in Istanbul several years ago and I was blown away by the simplicity, warmth and flavors of this filling dish. If you are not familiar with Manti, it is similar to a meat-filled tortellini or ravioli. Manti is a traditional dumpling eaten in Turkey as well as other countries in the region served with a garlic-tomato sauce, yogurt sauce, spicy butter sauce and garnished with mint and sumak.
My stepmom and I have been meaning to make Vegan Homemade Manti together ever since I moved back to Toronto in September. We made a mushroom-meat filled vegan version last weekend and everyone was blown away by our Vegan Manti – nobody could tell the difference between our Manti and the typical meat-filled version.
Making Homemade Manti at home involves several steps that are quite labor intensive (in terms of cooking recipes go). My Stepmom says that in Turkey, women has “Manti parties” where they make giant batches of Manti and share the work with one another. There were three of us making this recipe and I would definitively recommend having at least one other person to help you stuff the Mantis. Plus, it makes the whole Manti making experience more fun (and authentic!). Here goes…
First combine your flour, salt and water. Knead and press the dough for 8 – 10 minutes until you have a firm and soft ball like the one pictured above. If you have ever made pasta, the dough ball should be a similar consistency. If you press the dough in with your finger it should slowly pop back out.
Roll out the dough as thin as you can. My Stepmom says that in Turkey they say, your dough should be a similar consistency to your earlobe. Sounds weird, I know, but if you feel the dough and your earlobe they should kinda feel the same (and if you do, do this “test” you’ll see that they do!).
Cut the dough into rectangles and…
Get ready to stuff! Place a teaspoon of the mushroom-meat into each rectangle.
And fold the manti into a triangle, pressing the edges together so none of the filling spills out when you are cooking them!
Press the two sides of the Homemade Manti together in the middle and you’ll have a dumpling that looks something similar to this. Repeat until you have used up all of your dough. At the end of this, you’ll be happy you had a second (or third) pair of hands to help you!
Toss the Homemade Manti in flour. And either proceed to boil the Manti or you can freeze them at this step for later. Each person eats about 2 cups of uncooked manti. If you are serving a smaller crowd, measure out this amount and you can keep the rest of the Manti for later in the freezer.
Boil the Manti until cooked and serve with garlic-tomato sauce, yogurt sauce and the spicy “butter” sauce. You can omit the butter sauce if you want this dish to be oil-free. Garnish with mint, hot pepper flakes and sumak. Sumak is a lovely spice used in cuisine from this region. You can find it online here or at Middle Eastern or Turkish grocery stores.
Is Manti traditionally eaten where you are from? I would LOVE to know YOUR “tips and tricks” and any variations you have on this dish in the comments below! Share your feedback below or snap a photo, share it on instagram and tag #CearasKitchen.
- 2 cups white mushrooms, roughly chopped (227 grams, measured after chopping)
- 1 white onions, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, diced
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 4 cups flour + extra for rolling dough
- 2½ - 3 cups water
- 1 heaping tsp salt
- 2 x 398 ml or 1¾ cups x 2 Tomato sauce can
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups Vegan Yogurt*
- 1 clove fresh garlic, minced (optional)
- ½ cup oil (avocado or light olive oil)*
- ½ heaping tsp hot pepper flakes
- Mint (fresh or dried)
- Sumak
- Hot Pepper Flakes
- Pulse the mushrooms, onions, garlic, sea salt and pepper until finely chopped.
- Over medium-high heat, saute the vegetable mixture for 5 - 7 minutes until the water from the mushrooms has completely dissolved (See stuffing photo for texture and consistency). Taste test for additional salt and pepper.
- Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add 1 cup of water to the flour. Knead the dough and slowly add more water, by the ¼ cup, until the dough is smooth (We used 2½ cups total). Press and knead the dough with your hands for 8 -10 minutes until it is firm and smooth dough.
- Divide the dough into two round portions and lightly flour the counter. Cover half the dough with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Roll out the dough into a rectangle, rolling the dough as thin as you can. Tip: In Turkish, they say your should knead the dough and roll it out until the dough is the texture of your ear lobe.
- Cut the rectangle into 2-inch rectangles with a pastry roller or knife. Place about 1 teaspoons of the mushroom-meat filling in the center of each rectangle. Seal the dumplings by gathering the edges of the dough and pinching the ends together at the top to form a little "manti package". See photos for reference.
- Transfer the manta to a floured baking pan. Toss the manta noodles in flour to prevent sticking. At this step, you can freeze the manti, in sealed plastic bags if you are going to serve the manti later.
- Add tomato sauce and garlic to a pan. Over medium-high heat, bring to a light boil and simmer for ½ an hour while cooking the manta.
- Combine the optional garlic and yogurt in a small bowl.
- Over low heat, bring oil to a light simmer with hot pepper flakes. Leave to simmer, on low heat, until the red pepper flakes have started to color the oil.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Throw manta noodles into rapidly boiling water and cook for 5 - 7 minutes until the manti is cooked (make sure to not over cook). Strain the manti and serve warm. Layer a scoop of tomato sauce and yogurt on top of the manta. Drizzle with the "butter" sauce" on top of the manta noodles (in that particular order). Garnish with mint, sumak and hot pepper flakes.
2) To Freeze, you can either freeze the balls of dough in two portions OR the individual mantis in sealed plastic bags if you are going to serve the manti later.
3) The tomato sauce already is quite "garlic-y" so you can choose to leave out the additional garlic in the yogurt sauce to suit your personal tastes
4) Use ONLY unsweetened vegan yogurt in this recipe. Most store bought version have sugar added to them which will not work with this savory dish. My homemade vegan yogurt works perfectly in this recipe!
3 comments
Manteh not Manti is Armenian! Not turkish
I’ve never had this before (or even heard of it actually!) but just from the ingredients I know I would love it! Tortellini is exactly what I was thinking of and then you even said it, very reminiscent, and I used to love tortellini. Plus that mushroom filling sounds really, really easy! The three sauces on one dish part is probably the most unusual part to me, but I can see where all the different texture and flavors would be fantastic together. And I lol-ed at the earlobe thing! So weird, but it makes sense hahaha 😀
I have never heard of manti before, but I love tortellini/ravioli and these look delicious! The mushroom filling sounds perfect!! I can see why it would be handy to have a second (or third) pair of hands for this job! I love recipes that pass on traditions like this…so fun!