Tiny open-topped boats of thin dough filled with spiced minced meat, baked until deep golden and crisp, then doused in a garlicky tomato broth and topped with cool garlic yogurt. Unlike steamed Central Asian manti, the Armenian version is roasted to a crackle before being softened in broth.
The Armenian take on manti, a dumpling family spanning Anatolia, the Caucasus and Central Asia; the small baked boats (sini manti) with yogurt and broth are especially associated with Armenian and Cilician kitchens).
Each boat is shatteringly crisp on top, then turns soft and savory where the broth has soaked in. The meat is warmly spiced, the tomato broth tangy, and the cold garlic yogurt pulls it all together with a creamy, sharp coolness.
Baking the small dumplings dries and crisps the dough, intensifying flavor, while the later broth bath rehydrates only the bases, giving a contrast of crisp tops and tender bottoms. Yogurt's acidity balances the rich meat.
Variations
Beef or lamb fillings, sini manti baked in trays, deeper broth for softer manti, extra garlic in the yogurt, dried mint butter drizzle
On the Palate
Where Mante (Armenian Manti) sits in the Armenian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour
- 135 min
Knead a firm dough of flour, egg, water and salt and rest it 30 minutes.
- 210 min
Mix minced beef or lamb with grated onion, parsley, salt and pepper for the filling.
- 312 min
Roll the dough very thin and cut into small squares.
Watch outRoll the dough almost see-through thin — thick manti stay doughy and won't crisp up in the oven.
- 420 min
Place a little filling on each square and pinch two ends to form open-topped boats.
- 58 min
Arrange the boats snugly in a buttered baking dish.
- 630 min
Bake at 200C/400F until deep golden and crisp, about 25-30 minutes.
Watch outBake until the tops go deep golden and crunchy — you want crisp tops so they hold up when the hot broth soaks the bases.
- 73 min
Pour hot garlicky tomato-and-meat broth over the baked manti to soften slightly.
Watch outSpoon the hot broth over just to moisten the bases — pour too much and the whole thing goes soggy instead of crisp-and-tender.
- 83 min
Serve topped with garlic-spiked yogurt and a dusting of sumac or paprika.
