Mantu are the steamed dumplings Afghans make when there are people to feed: a wedding, an Eid visit, a weekend when the cousins come. They belong to a dumpling family carried across Central Asia by Turkic and Mongol peoples, the same one that gives Turkey its mantı and Uzbekistan its manti, and a dietary manual written for the Mongol court in 1330 already names it. In Afghanistan mantu are counted among the most characteristic dishes of the Uzbek community, who often serve them as a first course before a pilau. What makes the Afghan plate its own is the dressing. The dumplings are filled with raw minced lamb or beef, onion, cumin and coriander, steamed until the meat sets inside the dough, then laid on a thin garlic yoghurt sharpened with lemon and scented with dill and mint, and dotted with a vinegar-sharp tomato sauce. Some households stir split peas or kidney beans into that sauce. Be generous with the yoghurt and sparing with the tomato, which is there to dot the dish, not cover it. Folding takes longer than anything else here, so make mantu on a day you have help, and keep the rolled sheets under a cloth while you work: thin dough dries at the edges within minutes and will not seal.
INGREDIENTS
- 375 g plain flour
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil (for the dough)
- 2 tsp salt (for the dough)
- 280-300 ml water
- 450 g lamb mince (or beef mince)
- 2 medium onions (very finely diced)
- 1 green chilli (finely chopped)
- 2 tsp salt (for the filling)
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp black pepper (for the filling)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil (for the sauce)
- 1 small onion (finely diced)
- 225 g passata
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper (for the sauce)
- 480 g strained Greek yoghurt
- 60 ml lemon juice
- 4 garlic cloves (finely grated)
- 1 tbsp dried dill
- 1 tbsp dried mint
- pinch of salt (for the yoghurt)
- cold water (to loosen the yoghurt)
- small handful of fresh coriander (chopped)
- oil (for the steamer)
METHOD
- Mix the flour and salt, add the oil, then work in the water a little at a time and knead for 6 to 7 minutes to a smooth, firm dough. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
- Mix the lamb, onion, chilli, salt, coriander, cumin and black pepper by hand until the filling holds together. Keep it raw.
- Cut the dough into four. Roll each piece as thin as you can manage, close to see-through, and cut into 8cm squares.
- Put a heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre of each square.
- Bring two opposite corners up over the filling and pinch them together, then bring up the other two corners and pinch all four seams closed, leaving a small gap at each top corner for steam.
- Oil the steamer tiers and set the dumplings in them without touching. Steam, covered, over boiling water for 30 to 35 minutes, until the wrappers are translucent and the filling is firm.
- While they steam, soften the small onion in the oil for 2 minutes, add the passata, garlic powder, pepper and a pinch of salt, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and cook 2 minutes more.
- Stir the yoghurt, lemon juice, garlic, dill, mint and salt together, then add cold water a spoonful at a time until the sauce pours in a thick ribbon.
- Spread most of the yoghurt over a warm platter and lay the mantu on top. Dot the tomato sauce over them sparingly, drizzle with the rest of the yoghurt and scatter with coriander.
