Azerbaijan
Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan
Kyrgyzstan
Turkmenistan
Northern Cyprus
Tatarstan
Bashkortostan
Sakha (Yakutia)
Gagauzia
North Macedonia
Bulgaria
Türkiye · Dough and pastry
Kayseri Manti
Local name: Kayseri Mantısı
Tiny meat-filled Turkish dumplings from Kayseri, baked until golden, softened in hot water and served with garlic yogurt and a spiced butter-tomato sauce.
- Servings4
- Prep1 h 30 min
- Cooking35 min
- Total time2 h 5 min
- DifficultyMedium
Contains glutenContains dairyContains egg
About this dish
Manti are dumplings made from thinly rolled dough wrapped around a spiced minced-meat filling. In Kayseri, a city in central Anatolia, they are one of the best-known dishes of the home kitchen and appear both as an everyday meal and as food for guests. The dumpling tradition travelled from Central Asia to Anatolia and took its own form here.
The defining feature of Kayseri manti is their tiny size: the dough is cut into squares of about two centimetres, filled with a small amount of meat and pinched closed. They are first baked until lightly golden, then softened in hot water, and finally topped with garlic yogurt, a butter and tomato paste sauce, mint and sumac.
Ingredients
Tick the ingredients off like a shopping list.
Dough
Filling
Cooking
Garlic yogurt
Sauce and toppings
Method
Put the flour in a large bowl, make a well in the centre, and add the egg, water and salt. Knead for about 8 minutes into a stiff, smooth dough that feels like an earlobe.
Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp cloth and rest it at room temperature for 30 minutes.
While it rests, mix the ground beef with the grated onion, salt and black pepper until well combined. Set aside.
Divide the dough in two. Roll each half out on a floured surface as thinly as you can, about 1-2 mm thick.
Cut the dough into squares of about 2 cm. Place a very small amount of filling (less than half a teaspoon) in the centre of each square, then bring opposite corners together and pinch the edges tightly closed.
Heat the oven to 200 °C. Arrange the manti close together on a greased tray and bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden.
While they bake, whisk the yogurt with the crushed garlic and a pinch of salt, and keep it in a cool place.
Bring 1.5 litres of salted water to the boil in a pot.
Transfer the golden manti to the boiling water and simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring gently, until soft and the water is partly absorbed.
Melt the butter in a small pan, add the tomato paste and red pepper flakes, and fry for 2 minutes until fragrant.
Divide the manti and their broth among bowls, spoon over the garlic yogurt, drizzle with the hot butter sauce, and finish with mint and sumac.
💡 Tips
- Roll the dough as thin as possible; thick dough makes the manti heavy and chewy.
- Use very little filling; the tiny size is the point, and too much makes them hard to seal.
- Squeeze the juice out of the grated onion, otherwise the filling gets wet and soaks the dough.
- Do not over-bake the manti; they only need to be lightly golden or they will not soften in the water.
- Use room-temperature yogurt, because cold yogurt on hot manti dulls the flavour and texture.
🛒 Can't find it abroad?
- Ground beef — Use ground lamb in the same amount for a richer, more traditional flavour.
- Sumac — If you cannot find it, sprinkle on a few drops of lemon juice for a similar sourness.
- Dried mint — Use finely chopped fresh mint in the same amount.
This recipe was prepared with the help of AI, following the traditional home-style method; quantities, times and steps were checked automatically for consistency. Ovens and stoves differ, so check doneness by eye.
