Manti is comfort food, a food that reminds us of home, a steaming bowl on a cold night in kitchens throughout Central Asia, the Caucasus and Anatolia. Where was it born? That’s a huge debate. This amazing dish has a shared culinary heritage across Central Asia, and was brought to Turkey by nomadic Turkish tribes during their travel from Central Asia towards Anatolia, today’s Turkey, during the 13th century. These delicious tiny treasures, manti or mantu dumplings with spiced ground meat and onion, is one of the all time favorite dishes in Turkey. Especially in Anatolia, families get together to prepare the dough and fill the tiny dough squares with the filling together. A dish that truly is a labor of love, this delicacy is great for bringing people together. So what is manti? Manti, basically is a tiny ball of spiced ground beef folded into small triangles or squares of fresh dough. While in some countries manti is lightly fried in butter and then boiled, in Turkey this dish is directly boiled and served topped with garlic yogurt and red pepper infused melted butter. Additional toppings may include dry sumac, dry mint, and walnuts which add another layer of deliciousness that works greatly with garlic yoghurt as the sauce for manti. The word manti derives from mantu which literally means dumplings. Ravioli, wontons, and pierogis probably form part of the manti’s immediate Eurasian genealogy, since these delicious dumplings are popular in most Turkic cuisines, as well as in Armenian, Caucasian, Central Asian, Afgan and Chinese Islamic cuisines. Although its definite origins remain uncertain, the manti is believed to have originated in the Mongol Empire during 13th-14th centuries. Our version of the classic manti features a deliciously chewy pasta dough that’s rolled out and filled with the highest quality minced meat and spices, then folded and cooked. Our Pek Food frozen manti features the thinnest dough possible! Identical to home cooked, our manti is filled with raw minced meat, which is an important quality that differentiates us from other frozen mantis in the market. Although traditionally, the dough is created with wheat flour, we also have alternatives that are prepared with chickpeas and lentil flour which are great options to try out too! We suggest you dig into our Pekfood frozen mantis to get a taste of nostalgia that dates back to ancient times…
Fun Fact : “Turkic and Mongol horsemen on the move were supposed to have carried frozen or dried manti, which could be quickly boiled over a camp”
