Uzbek Manti
Thin dough and an unusually juicy onion-rich meat filling meet steam—not boiling water—in Uzbekistan’s large manti dumplings.
About this dish
Uzbek manti are large steamed dumplings filled with finely chopped or minced meat and onion, often with lamb fat for succulence. Uzbekistan’s official tourism site emphasizes two technical rules: the dough should be very thin, around 2 millimeters, and the filling should stay juicy. The dumplings steam in a multi-tier mantovarka rather than boil.
Why this dish matters
Manti belong to a broad Central Asian and Turkic dumpling family with many local forms. Uzbekistan Travel documents meat, pumpkin, fried, broth-cooked and other variations and notes suzma or chakka as a common accompaniment. This page stays with the familiar steamed lamb-and-onion form while recognizing that Uzbek manti are not one immutable shape or filling.
Manti vary across Uzbekistan and neighboring Central Asian cultures. This recipe is specifically framed as an Uzbek steamed meat manti and does not collapse those neighboring traditions together.
Preparation notes
Onion supplies moisture to the filling; the ratio can look surprisingly high before cooking.
About 2 mm is the target—thin enough to be delicate, sturdy enough to hold broth.
A light film prevents the bottoms from welding themselves to the basket.
Ingredients & detailed method
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/4 cups water, approximately
- 1 lb ground or finely chopped lamb
- 2 large onions, very finely diced
- 3 oz lamb fat or 2 tbsp butter, finely diced, optional
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt for filling
- Plain yogurt or suzma, for serving
Method
- 1.Mix flour and salt. Add egg and water gradually and knead 8–10 minutes into a firm smooth dough. Cover and rest 30 minutes.
- 2.Mix lamb, onions, lamb fat if using, cumin, pepper and filling salt. Chill while rolling dough.
- 3.Roll dough to about 2 mm thick and cut into 4-inch squares.
- 4.Place a heaping tablespoon filling in the center of each square and seal by bringing opposite corners together, then pinching adjacent edges into the preferred manti shape.
- 5.Lightly oil steamer trays and arrange manti with space between them.
- 6.Steam over actively boiling water 35–40 minutes.
- 7.Checkpoint: wrappers should be tender and slightly translucent at thin edges, and filling must be fully cooked with hot juices inside.
- 8.Serve immediately with suzma, yogurt or butter and black pepper.
Worth finding before you cook
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