How to cook Yoğurtlu mantı ?

The recipe for Turkish ravioli (Yoğurtlu mantı)

Here is a very special recipe on the list of my favourite dishes, which mom rarely made, so when she made Yoğurtlu mantı, it was a real celebration. As a girl, it was difficult to explain to my friends how to eat dumplings with yogurt. In France, this delicacy was a bit bizarre, as everyone was familiar with Italian ravioli served with meat sauce. In fact, this typical Turkish dish is similar to Italian ravioli, but is prepared with the indissociable yogurt.

Ingredients for preparation of Yoğurtlu mantı

Ingredients for the filling:

300 gr of minced veal or beef

1/2 chopped onion

parsley

salt, pepper and garlic

Ingredients for the sauce:

abundant plain yogurt (homemade if possible)

garlic

salt

butter

tomato concentrate

Ingredients for the dough:

450 gr flour

3 medium eggs

10 gr of salt

150 ml of water at room temperature

How to prepare the mantı

Whether you have a mixer or not, you start by mixing the flour and salt. Add the eggs and a little water and knead. As soon as the preparation begins to blend well, slowly begin adding the rest of the water. Obviously, if the dough is too sticky, add a little flour. We remove the dough from the mixer to continue by hand and obtain a nice homogeneous and light dough.

Our mantı dough is ready. Let’s cover it up and put it aside for now.

As for the filling, you simply have to mix all the ingredients, since the mantı will be stuffed raw.

Now comes the part of the most laborious and delicate part, that is the actual preparation of the mantı. We divide the dough into 3 parts to work it better and to prevent it from drying out. Then we take a first part, which we must roll out as finely as possible (about 2 mm thick), flouring it on both sides.

At this point, spread a thin thread of egg white on the dough and cut it first into strips, then each strip into squares. We place a little filling in the centre of each square and close by returning each corner to the centre. This operation must be repeated until the dough is all used up.

But I will also give you a simpler and faster method.

We spread each part as much as possible to have a regular and symmetrical shape (then we will have to fold it …). On half of this form we spread the egg white (which will allow the mantı to remain tightly closed). On the half with the egg white, we place the same small amounts of filling with regular spacing, as to create a chess board. Once the filling has been placed, fold the empty part over the stuffed one. With the fingers we make to adhere the parts without filling and the edges. With the help of a cutter with a wavy blade, we cut all the squares and proceed in the same way with the other two parts of the dough.

Once all the mantı are ready, we boil them in a pot with plenty of salted water for about 10 min.

While cooking our beautiful mantı, we will prepare the yogurt sauce.

We beat the yogurt to obtain a cream, adding crushed garlic and salt. I recommend that you add garlic at your discretion. We Turks love the taste of garlic. The taste must be strong and intense. Now, tthe sauce is ready.

Prepare the sauce by melting the butter in a pan with a little concentrate and a pinch of salt. It takes about two minutes of cooking.

As soon as the mantı are cooked, we drain them and place them in a deep serving dish. We pour the yogurt over the entire surface. As a final step, we add the freshly made butter sauce, pouring it evenly.

Bon Appetit!