Afghan Mantu Steamed Dumplings in Yogurt Sauce

About This Recipe

Mantu are small, steamed dumplings filled with well-seasoned ground beef and onion, closely related to similar dumplings found across Central Asia but distinguished in Afghan cooking by the way they're served: topped with a layer of garlicky yogurt sauce and a separate, spiced tomato and yellow split-pea sauce, giving each bite a combination of textures and flavors rather than relying on the dumpling alone. Steaming, rather than boiling, keeps the delicate wrappers intact and prevents the filling's juices from leaching out into water, concentrating flavor inside each dumpling. Shaping mantu properly takes some practice — the dough is cut into squares, filled, and folded with the corners pinched together in a distinctive shape that helps them stand upright in the steamer basket rather than lying flat. The yogurt sauce, simply garlic blended into plain yogurt with a pinch of salt, and the split-pea sauce, simmered with tomato, turmeric and dried mint until thick, are both spooned generously over the steamed dumplings just before serving. Mantu is festive, labor-intensive food, often made in large batches for guests and gatherings, and it's widely considered one of Afghanistan's signature dishes.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 3 cupsall-purpose flour
• 1 cupwater
• 1egg
• 0.5 tspfine sea salt
• 400 gground beef
• 2onions(one finely diced for the filling, one for the sauce)
• 1 tspground coriander
• 1 tspfine sea salt(for the filling)
• 0.5 cupyellow split peas(soaked 1 hour)
• 1 cupcrushed tomatoes
• 0.5 tspturmeric
• 2 cupsplain yogurt
• 3 clovesgarlic(minced, for the yogurt sauce)
• 1 tspdried mint

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Mix flour, water, egg and salt into a firm, smooth dough. Knead 8 minutes, cover, and rest 30 minutes.

2. 2

   Mix the filling

   Combine ground beef, one diced onion, ground coriander and salt into a well-seasoned filling.

3. 3

   Shape the dumplings

   Roll the dough thin and cut into squares. Place a spoonful of filling in the center of each, gather the four corners up to the middle and pinch to seal, forming a shape that can stand upright.

   Shape the dumplings so they can stand upright with the top pinched closed — this is what lets them steam evenly without their juices leaking into the water below.

4. 4

   Steam the dumplings

   Arrange the dumplings standing upright in a lined steamer basket, without touching. Steam over simmering water for 25 to 30 minutes until the dough is tender and the filling is cooked through.

5. 5

   Make the split-pea sauce

   Cook the second onion until soft, then add soaked split peas, crushed tomatoes and turmeric. Simmer 20 minutes until the split peas are tender and the sauce has thickened.

6. 6

   Make the yogurt sauce

   Stir garlic into plain yogurt with a pinch of salt.

7. 7

   Assemble and serve

   Arrange the steamed dumplings on a platter, spoon the garlic yogurt over the top, followed by the split-pea sauce, and finish with a scatter of dried mint.

Variations

• •

  Add a small amount of dried dill to the beef filling for extra fragrance, a variation found in some households.

• •

  Make a vegetarian version filled with mashed pumpkin and onion instead of beef.

• •

  Serve the split-pea sauce with extra dried chile for those who want more heat.

Storage

Store uncooked, shaped dumplings in the freezer for up to a month; steam directly from frozen, adding about 10 extra minutes. The sauces keep refrigerated separately for up to 3 days.

Frequently Asked Questions