[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":414},["ShallowReactive",2],{"recipe:uzbek-manti":3,"recipe:country:uzbekistan":197},{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"pronunciation":7,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"emoji":10,"summary":11,"intro":12,"story":13,"whyThis":14,"tips":19,"substitutions":26,"variations":43,"serveWith":53,"storage":56,"faq":57,"equipment":73,"baseServings":78,"prepMinutes":79,"cookMinutes":80,"restMinutes":81,"difficulty":82,"course":83,"diet":85,"mainIngredients":87,"ingredients":92,"instructions":150,"nutrition":179,"images":184,"keywords":188,"publishedAt":195,"updatedAt":195,"authorSlug":196},"uzbek-manti","Uzbek Manti (Steamed Lamb and Pumpkin Dumplings)","Manti","mahn-TEE","uzbekistan","Tashkent","🥟","Big square-folded dumplings of hand-chopped lamb, onion and sweet pumpkin, steamed in stacked trays until the wrappers turn translucent and pool with juice inside.","Uzbek manti are large steamed dumplings — a good one fills the palm — made from thin unleavened dough folded into a squat parcel around hand-chopped lamb, a great deal of raw onion, cubes of pumpkin and a knob of sheep fat. Nothing is pre-cooked. The filling releases its juices during 40 minutes in a stacked steamer, so each dumpling arrives holding a mouthful of sweet, peppery broth beneath a wrapper gone glossy and slightly translucent. They are eaten with the fingers, dipped in soured cream or suzma, dusted with far more black pepper than seems reasonable, and they are the dish most likely to be waiting when you arrive at an Uzbek house unannounced.","Manti travelled west along the Silk Road with Turkic and Mongol movement, and versions of the name and the dumpling now stretch from Xinjiang through Central Asia to Turkey, the Caucasus and the Balkans. They are not all the same thing: Turkish mantı are thumbnail-sized and drowned in garlic yogurt, Armenian manti are boat-shaped and baked, Korean-Uzbek families make their own hybrid, and the Central Asian version is the big steamed one described here. The common ancestor is real; the idea that one country owns the dish is not.\n\nWhat is distinctly Uzbek is the filling and the equipment. Meat is chopped by hand rather than minced, so the texture stays coarse and the juices stay in the pieces instead of being crushed out. Onion goes in raw and in roughly equal volume to the meat, because it is the onion that renders down and makes the broth inside. Pumpkin — qovoq — is added in autumn and winter, sometimes alongside the lamb and sometimes replacing it entirely for a vegetarian version that nobody treats as a compromise. And the dumplings are steamed in a mantovarka or kaskan, a tower of perforated trays stacked over a pot, which is standard equipment in Uzbek kitchens and rare almost everywhere else.\n\nManti belong to the informal end of the Uzbek table. Palov is for weddings and funerals and men cooking outdoors in a cauldron; manti are made indoors, usually by several people around one table, with one person rolling, one filling and one folding, which is why the batch sizes are always enormous. Extra trays go straight into the freezer raw, and a household with manti in the freezer is a household prepared for guests.\n\nThe folding looks harder than it is. The standard shape is a square of dough with the four corners brought to the centre and pinched, then the four resulting points pinched to their neighbours in pairs, giving a squat parcel with a flat base that sits upright in the steamer. It leaks if you overfill it or if the dough is too dry, and both problems are easy to avoid.",[15,16,17,18],"Hand-chopped lamb and a full weight of raw onion, which is what actually makes the juice inside the dumpling.","A thin, strong, well-rested dough that rolls to 1.5 mm without tearing or shrinking back.","Steamer instructions that work in an ordinary bamboo or metal steamer, not only in a Central Asian kaskan.","Pumpkin included the way Uzbek households actually use it — with the lamb, or instead of it.",[20,21,22,23,24,25],"Chop the lamb with a knife into 5 mm dice rather than mincing it. Minced meat compacts into a dense pellet and gives up its liquid to the tray instead of the dumpling.","Salt the filling only just before you fold, otherwise the onion weeps and the mixture turns to soup while you work.","Roll the dough to about 1.5 mm — thin enough to see the shadow of your hand through it. Thick manti steam into doughy lumps.","Oil the steamer trays properly, base and all, or the dumplings will weld on and tear open when you lift them.","Leave a finger of space between dumplings. They swell in the steam and any that touch will fuse and rip apart at the join.","Freeze spare manti raw on a floured tray until solid, then bag them and steam from frozen with 10 extra minutes.",[27,31,35,39],{"original":28,"swap":29,"note":30},"Hand-chopped lamb shoulder","Coarsely minced lamb or beef, asked for at the butcher on the widest plate","Workable if you are short on time, and common in city kitchens. The texture is noticeably softer and the dumplings hold slightly less juice.",{"original":32,"swap":33,"note":34},"Sheep tail fat (dumba)","Fat trimmed from the lamb shoulder, or 60 g cold butter in small cubes","Fat is not optional in manti — it is what keeps the filling moist through 40 minutes of steam. Butter is not traditional but works better than lean filling.",{"original":36,"swap":37,"note":38},"Suzma (strained yogurt)","Sour cream, or thick Greek yogurt whisked with a pinch of salt","Suzma is tangier and thicker than sour cream. Draining full-fat yogurt in a cloth for a few hours gets you very close.",{"original":40,"swap":41,"note":42},"Pumpkin","Butternut squash, or extra onion and a diced potato","Butternut is sweeter and softer, so cut it a little larger. Potato gives body without sweetness if pumpkin is out of season.",[44,47,50],{"name":45,"description":46},"Qovoq manti","The all-pumpkin version: pumpkin, onion, a little oil, salt and plenty of black pepper, with no meat at all. Made through autumn and eaten in its own right, not as a substitute.",{"name":48,"description":49},"Qovurma manti","Steamed manti, cooled, then shallow-fried until the flat bases go crisp and golden. A standard way to use yesterday's leftovers.",{"name":51,"description":52},"Manti with kaymak and chilli","Served under thick clotted kaymak instead of suzma and finished with hot oil bloomed with chilli flakes — richer, and popular in the colder north.",[54,55],"A bowl of suzma or sour cream for dipping, and a pepper mill on the table — manti are peppered heavily at the plate, not in the pan.","Achichuk or a sharp tomato-and-chilli sauce, and hot green tea to cut the fat.","Steamed manti keep 2 days refrigerated. Reheat them in the steamer for 6–8 minutes rather than the microwave, which toughens the wrapper, or shallow-fry them base-down for a crisp version. Raw manti freeze excellently: open-freeze on a floured tray until firm, bag them, and steam straight from frozen for 50 minutes. Do not thaw them first — the wrappers go slack and split as they warm.",[58,61,64,67,70],{"question":59,"answer":60},"Why did my manti burst open in the steamer?","Usually overfilling, a poorly sealed seam, or dough that dried out before folding. Keep the rolled squares under a cloth while you work, pinch the seams firmly with slightly damp fingers, and use a level tablespoon of filling rather than a heaped one. Dumplings touching each other in the tray also tear apart at the point where they fuse.",{"question":62,"answer":63},"Can I boil manti instead of steaming them?","Not really. Manti wrappers are rolled thin and the filling is raw and juicy, so boiling floods them and the seams give way, leaving you with a pot of loose meat. Steaming cooks the filling in its own liquid and keeps the broth inside. If you have no steamer, a colander or metal sieve over a pot with a tight lid works for one tray at a time.",{"question":65,"answer":66},"What is the difference between Uzbek manti and Turkish mantı?","Size and sauce. Uzbek manti are large, palm-sized, steamed dumplings of hand-chopped lamb, onion and often pumpkin, eaten with soured cream and black pepper. Turkish mantı, especially the Kayseri style, are tiny — dozens to a plate — boiled rather than steamed, and served under garlic yogurt with melted butter and chilli or mint. They share an ancestor, not a recipe.",{"question":68,"answer":69},"Do I have to hand-chop the meat?","It makes a real difference but it is not a rule. Knife-chopped lamb stays in distinct pieces that hold their juice, giving the coarse, brothy filling manti are known for. Machine-minced meat compresses into a smoother, denser filling that loses more liquid into the tray. If you buy mince, ask for it coarse and do not pack it tightly into the wrappers.",{"question":71,"answer":72},"How much filling goes in each dumpling?","About a level tablespoon for a 12 cm square of dough, which sounds mean but is correct. The onion and pumpkin release liquid and the filling expands as it steams, so a generously filled dumpling is a dumpling that will split. If your first few burst, reduce the filling before you change anything else.",[74,75,76,77],"Stacked steamer (mantovarka, kaskan or bamboo baskets)","Rolling pin","Heavy sharp knife for chopping the lamb","Pastry brush for oiling the trays",4,50,45,40,"medium",[84],"main",[86],"halal-friendly",[88,89,90,91],"lamb","pumpkin","onion","flour",[93,98,103,107,110,113,116,119,122,125,129,130,134,138,143,146],{"ref":91,"qty":94,"unit":95,"name":96,"group":97},450,"g","plain flour, plus extra for rolling","Dough",{"ref":99,"qty":100,"unit":101,"name":102,"group":97},"eggs",1,"piece","egg",{"qty":104,"unit":105,"name":106,"group":97},200,"ml","warm water",{"qty":100,"unit":108,"name":109,"group":97},"tsp","fine salt",{"ref":88,"qty":94,"unit":95,"name":111,"group":112},"lamb shoulder, hand-chopped into 5 mm dice","Filling",{"qty":114,"unit":95,"name":115,"group":112},80,"lamb or sheep tail fat, finely diced",{"ref":90,"qty":117,"unit":95,"name":118,"group":112},400,"onions, very finely diced",{"ref":89,"qty":120,"unit":95,"name":121,"group":112},250,"pumpkin, peeled and cut into 5 mm dice",{"ref":123,"qty":100,"unit":108,"name":124,"group":112},"cumin","whole cumin seed, crushed",{"ref":126,"qty":127,"unit":108,"name":128,"group":112},"black-pepper",1.5,"coarsely ground black pepper",{"qty":127,"unit":108,"name":109,"group":112},{"qty":131,"unit":132,"name":133,"group":112},2,"tbsp","sunflower oil, for the steamer trays",{"ref":135,"qty":104,"unit":95,"name":136,"group":137},"sour-cream","suzma or sour cream","To serve",{"ref":139,"qty":140,"unit":95,"name":141,"optional":142,"group":137},"butter",30,"butter, melted",true,{"ref":144,"qty":100,"unit":108,"name":145,"optional":142,"group":137},"chili-flakes","chilli flakes",{"ref":147,"qty":148,"unit":132,"name":149,"group":137},"dill",3,"dill, chopped",[151,156,159,163,166,169,172,176],{"title":152,"text":153,"timerSeconds":154,"tip":155},"Make the dough","Beat the egg with the warm water and salt, pour into the flour and mix to a stiff dough. Knead firmly for 8–10 minutes until smooth and only slightly springy — this dough should be tighter than bread dough. Wrap and rest 40 minutes at room temperature.",2400,"A tight dough that has rested properly is what lets you roll to 1.5 mm without it pulling back.",{"title":157,"text":158},"Chop the filling","Cut the lamb into 5 mm dice with a heavy knife, then chop the fat the same size. Combine with the onion, pumpkin, cumin and black pepper in a bowl and mix with your hands until evenly speckled. Leave the salt out for now.",{"title":160,"text":161,"tip":162},"Roll the dough thin","Divide the dough in four, keeping three pieces covered. Roll one piece on a lightly floured surface into a sheet about 1.5 mm thick — thin enough to see the shadow of your hand through it — then cut it into 12 cm squares.","Stack the squares with a dusting of flour between them and cover with a cloth so the edges do not dry.",{"title":164,"text":165},"Season and fill","Stir the salt through the filling now. Place a level tablespoon in the centre of each square, keeping the pumpkin distributed rather than clumped, and work quickly before the onion starts to weep.",{"title":167,"text":168},"Fold the parcels","Lift two opposite corners over the filling and pinch them together, then the other two, so you have a sealed cross-shaped seam. Now pinch each pair of adjacent points together underneath, turning the parcel into a squat bundle with a flat base.",{"title":170,"text":171},"Load the steamer","Brush every tray generously with oil, including the mesh. Sit the manti on the trays base-down with a finger of space between them — they swell and any that touch will fuse and tear when you lift them out.",{"title":173,"text":174,"timerSeconds":154,"tip":175},"Steam","Set the trays over hard-boiling water, cover and steam for 40 minutes. They are done when the wrappers look glossy and slightly translucent over the filling, feel taut rather than soft, and a skewer into one releases clear juice rather than pink.","Top up the boiling water halfway if your pot is shallow — running dry cracks the pan and stops the cooking.",{"title":177,"text":178},"Rest and serve","Lift the manti out with an oiled spatula, working under the base so the seam does not tear, and let them stand 3 minutes so the juice settles. Brush with melted butter, dust heavily with black pepper, scatter with dill and serve with suzma and chilli flakes alongside.",{"calories":180,"protein":140,"carbs":181,"fat":140,"fiber":78,"sugar":182,"sodium":183,"estimated":142},640,62,6,890,[185],{"src":186,"alt":187},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fuzbek-manti\u002Fhero.svg","Large Uzbek manti dumplings on a steamer tray, translucent wrappers over lamb and pumpkin filling with a bowl of soured cream",[189,190,191,192,193,194,8],"uzbek manti","steamed dumplings","lamb dumplings","pumpkin manti","kaskan","central asian","2026-08-21","dishroute-kitchen",{"items":198,"total":206,"page":100,"limit":412,"hasMore":413},[199,229,252,274,295,321,341,361,385,392],{"slug":200,"title":201,"nativeName":202,"countrySlug":8,"region":203,"baseServings":78,"prepMinutes":204,"cookMinutes":205,"restMinutes":206,"difficulty":207,"course":208,"diet":210,"mainIngredients":216,"images":219,"keywords":223,"publishedAt":195,"updatedAt":195,"authorSlug":196},"achichuk","Achichuk (Uzbek Tomato and Onion Salad)","Achichuk","Fergana Valley and Samarkand",15,0,10,"easy",[209],"side",[211,212,213,214,215],"vegetarian","vegan","gluten-free","dairy-free","nut-free",[217,90,218],"tomato","basil",[220],{"src":221,"alt":222},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fachichuk\u002Fhero.svg","Shallow dish of sliced ripe tomatoes with paper-thin onion rings, green chilli and purple basil leaves",[200,224,225,226,227,228],"uzbek salad","tomato onion salad","shakarob","plov side dish","no-oil salad",{"slug":230,"title":231,"nativeName":232,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"baseServings":78,"prepMinutes":233,"cookMinutes":234,"restMinutes":140,"difficulty":82,"course":235,"diet":237,"mainIngredients":238,"images":242,"keywords":246,"publishedAt":195,"updatedAt":195,"authorSlug":196},"chuchvara","Chuchvara (Tiny Uzbek Dumplings in Broth)","Chuchvara",60,25,[236,84],"soup",[86],[91,239,90,240,241],"ground-beef","yogurt","stock",[243],{"src":244,"alt":245},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fchuchvara\u002Fhero.svg","Deep bowl of tiny Uzbek chuchvara dumplings in clear broth with a spoonful of thick yogurt, black pepper and chopped herbs",[230,247,248,249,194,250,251],"uzbek dumplings","dumpling soup","suzma","beef dumplings","tashkent",{"slug":253,"title":254,"nativeName":255,"countrySlug":8,"region":256,"baseServings":182,"prepMinutes":234,"cookMinutes":257,"restMinutes":206,"difficulty":207,"course":258,"diet":259,"mainIngredients":260,"images":264,"keywords":268,"publishedAt":195,"updatedAt":195,"authorSlug":196},"dimlama","Dimlama (Uzbek Layered Meat and Vegetable Braise)","Dimlama","Tashkent and the Fergana Valley",95,[84],[214,213,86],[88,261,262,263,217],"potato","carrot","cabbage",[265],{"src":266,"alt":267},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fdimlama\u002Fhero.svg","Uzbek dimlama tipped onto a platter: chunks of lamb over whole potatoes, carrots, peppers and collapsed cabbage in dark broth",[253,269,270,271,272,273,194],"damlama","uzbek stew","layered braise","kazan cooking","lamb and potato",{"slug":275,"title":276,"nativeName":277,"countrySlug":8,"region":278,"baseServings":78,"prepMinutes":81,"cookMinutes":140,"restMinutes":279,"difficulty":82,"course":280,"diet":281,"mainIngredients":282,"images":285,"keywords":289,"publishedAt":195,"updatedAt":195,"authorSlug":196},"uzbek-lagman","Lagman (Uzbek Hand-Pulled Noodles with Meat Sauce)","Lagʻmon","Fergana Valley",70,[84],[214,86],[88,91,283,217,284],"bell-pepper","daikon",[286],{"src":287,"alt":288},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fuzbek-lagman\u002Fhero.svg","Deep bowl of Uzbek lagman, hand-pulled noodles under lamb and pepper sauce with coriander and a slick of chilli oil",[290,291,292,293,294,194,8],"lagman","hand-pulled noodles","uzbek noodles","lamb noodle sauce","dungan",{"slug":296,"title":297,"nativeName":298,"countrySlug":8,"region":299,"baseServings":300,"prepMinutes":140,"cookMinutes":301,"restMinutes":302,"difficulty":82,"course":303,"diet":305,"mainIngredients":306,"images":310,"keywords":314,"publishedAt":195,"updatedAt":195,"authorSlug":196},"obi-non","Obi Non (Uzbek Round Tandoor Bread)","Obi non","Samarkand and Tashkent",8,20,120,[304],"bread",[211,215],[91,307,308,309],"yeast","milk","sesame-seeds",[311],{"src":312,"alt":313},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fobi-non\u002Fhero.svg","Round Uzbek obi non bread with a stamped seed-covered flat centre and a high golden puffed rim",[315,316,317,318,319,320],"obi non","uzbek bread","tandir bread","chekich","central asian flatbread","samarkand bread",{"slug":322,"title":323,"nativeName":324,"countrySlug":8,"region":278,"baseServings":182,"prepMinutes":81,"cookMinutes":325,"restMinutes":204,"difficulty":82,"course":326,"diet":327,"mainIngredients":328,"images":330,"keywords":334,"publishedAt":195,"updatedAt":195,"authorSlug":196},"uzbek-plov","Osh Palov (Uzbek Lamb and Carrot Rice Pilaf)","Osh \u002F Palov",90,[84],[214,213,86],[88,329,262,90,123],"rice",[331],{"src":332,"alt":333},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fuzbek-plov\u002Fhero.svg","Uzbek palov heaped on a wide platter, orange carrot batons folded through glossy rice with lamb chunks and a whole garlic head on top",[335,336,337,338,339,340,8],"uzbek plov","palov","osh","lamb pilaf","zirvak","central asian rice",{"slug":342,"title":343,"nativeName":344,"countrySlug":8,"region":256,"baseServings":78,"prepMinutes":80,"cookMinutes":345,"restMinutes":233,"difficulty":82,"course":346,"diet":348,"mainIngredients":349,"images":350,"keywords":354,"publishedAt":195,"updatedAt":195,"authorSlug":196},"uzbek-samsa","Somsa (Uzbek Tandoor-Baked Meat Pastry)","Somsa",35,[347],"street-food",[86,215],[88,90,91,123],[351],{"src":352,"alt":353},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fuzbek-samsa\u002Fhero.svg","Triangular Uzbek somsa pastries with flaky browned tops and sesame seeds, one broken open to show chopped lamb and onion",[355,356,357,358,359,360],"somsa","uzbek samsa","lamb pastry","tandir","central asian street food","baked pastry",{"slug":362,"title":363,"nativeName":364,"countrySlug":8,"region":365,"baseServings":206,"prepMinutes":325,"cookMinutes":366,"restMinutes":367,"difficulty":368,"course":369,"diet":371,"mainIngredients":372,"images":374,"keywords":378,"publishedAt":195,"updatedAt":195,"authorSlug":196},"sumalak","Sumalak (Uzbek Sprouted Wheat Navruz Pudding)","Sumalak","Nationwide, made for Navruz",600,4320,"hard",[370],"dessert",[211,212,214],[91,373],"walnuts",[375],{"src":376,"alt":377},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fsumalak\u002Fhero.svg","Small bowls of dark glossy sumalak, a thick brown sprouted-wheat pudding, dusted with flour for Navruz",[362,379,380,381,382,383,384],"samanu","navruz","nowruz","sprouted wheat pudding","uzbek dessert","no sugar added",{"slug":4,"title":5,"nativeName":6,"countrySlug":8,"region":9,"baseServings":78,"prepMinutes":79,"cookMinutes":80,"restMinutes":81,"difficulty":82,"course":386,"diet":387,"mainIngredients":388,"images":389,"keywords":391,"publishedAt":195,"updatedAt":195,"authorSlug":196},[84],[86],[88,89,90,91],[390],{"src":186,"alt":187},[189,190,191,192,193,194,8],{"slug":393,"title":394,"nativeName":395,"countrySlug":8,"region":396,"baseServings":182,"prepMinutes":301,"cookMinutes":397,"difficulty":207,"course":398,"diet":399,"mainIngredients":400,"images":402,"keywords":406,"publishedAt":195,"updatedAt":195,"authorSlug":196},"uzbek-shurpa","Uzbek Shurpa (Clear Lamb and Vegetable Soup)","Shoʻrva","Samarkand and Bukhara",145,[236],[214,213,86],[88,262,261,401,90],"chickpeas",[403],{"src":404,"alt":405},"\u002Fimages\u002Frecipes\u002Fuzbek-shurpa\u002Fhero.svg","Bowl of clear Uzbek lamb shurpa with a whole potato, thick carrot pieces, chickpeas and chopped dill on top",[407,408,409,410,411,194,401],"shurpa","shorva","uzbek soup","lamb broth","clear soup",24,false,1787360065971]