Manti are tiny little dumplings, filled with ground meat, similar to ravioli. Sheets of dough are rolled thinly and cut into small squares, then a small amount of filling is added and the sides pinched together, to form little dumpling parcels. The manti is then boiled and served covered in garlic yogurt with a spicy sauce, made from oil or butter and chili flakes.
Making it from scratch is a lot of effort, so when they decide to make it, women in Turkish villages invite each other around and they’ll sit in a group forming a little production line, gossiping whilst making hundreds of manti for their families.
I like it, as long as it’s not too soggy, but I still struggle with the concept of yogurt on dinner foods!
Kunefe is a popular, authentic Turkish dessert. It’s made from kadayıf (dried shredded dough which looks like shredded wheat) and cheese. It is covered in syrup and eaten straight out of the oven when hot, so the cheese is stringy and gooey but the pastry is crispy. It’s sometimes served with crushed pistachios, like the photo above.
Zeytinyağlı taze fasulye is one of my favourite, simple Turkish dishes and it’s quite versatile. It can be eaten warm like a stew, eaten as a side dish with meat, served over rice or eaten cold along with other dishes as a meze.
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