It makes the manty juicy: as they cook, the water turns to steam inside each dumpling and the filling becomes juicy enough to run. Without it, manty come out dry.
Manty are large steamed dumplings filled with chopped meat and plenty of onion, a classic of Uzbek and Kazakh cooking. They are cooked in a manty steamer (kaskan in Uzbek), a stack of several tiers in which the manty steam over boiling water for 40–45 minutes. The dough is unleavened and thin; the filling is chopped, juicy and seasoned with a pinch of zira (cumin).
Method
- 1
Make the dough with the flour, water, egg and salt, and knead for 10 minutes until elastic. Cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
- 2
Chop the meat with a knife into 5 mm dice; do not put it through a mincer.
- 3
Finely dice the onions, and cut the fat into dice of the same size.
- 4
Mix the meat, onions, fat and spices, then add 150 ml cold water: this keeps the filling juicy.
- 5
Roll the dough out into a thin sheet (2 mm) and cut it into 10 × 10 cm squares.
- 6
Put a tablespoon of filling on each square.
- 7
Shape each manty into a "boat": join the opposite corners, then seal the side edges.
- 8
Brush the steamer trays with oil and lay the manty on them 1 cm apart.
- 9
Steam for 40–45 minutes, counting from when the water underneath comes to the boil.
- 10
Serve straight away with soured cream or kaymak and fresh herbs, and sprinkle black pepper over the top.
Cook's tips
- Always use equal weights of onion and meat, or the manty will be dry.
- The 150 ml cold water in the filling is what makes manty juicy, so do not skip it.
- Roll the dough as thin as you can; thick dough changes the whole dish.
- If you have no manty steamer, an ordinary steamer with small holes will do.
Arkan Bazar
Halal meat for this recipe
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FAQ
Steamed manty: common questions
Yes. Freeze them raw on a board, then tip them into a bag. Cook them from frozen, adding 5 minutes to the steaming time.
Vegetable oil, brushed on thinly. Without it, the dough will stick.
Soured cream, Uzbek kaymak, or a tomato sauce with fresh herbs. If you like, add hot pepper and onion pickled in vinegar.
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Get the ingredients at Arkan Bazar
You will find rice, spices, dried fruit, nuts, non flatbread and tea for most of these recipes on our counter at Riga Central Market, Nēģu iela 7, open daily from 09:00 to 17:00.