Manti

Manti is a dumpling of spiced ground lamb or beef wrapped in a thin sheet of dough and then boiled or steamed, with its size and exact shape varying by region; small versions are common in Turkey while other regions make larger dumplings. The dish is eaten across a wide swath of Eurasia, including Uyghur and other Central Asian cuisines, Turkish, Afghan, Armenian and Balkan cooking, and it remains widely eaten across the former Soviet republics of Central Asia today. Scholars generally trace the word manti to the Chinese mantou, and believe the recipe was carried west along the Silk Road to Anatolia by Turkic and Mongol horsemen, who are said to have carried frozen or dried manti that could be boiled quickly over a campfire. The earliest known Ottoman recipe for manti appears in a fifteenth century cookbook, describing a steamed dumpling filled with minced lamb and crushed chickpeas, spiced with cinnamon and flavored with vinegar; in Turkey today it is typically served with a garlic yogurt sauce and melted butter, and its long journey across Central Asia means its history is shared among many peoples rather than any single national origin.