Name: Manty
Yield: about 36 dumplings, 6 servings
Cuisine: Turkmenistan
Ingredients: 500 g all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling; 1 large egg; 200 ml lukewarm water; 6 g fine salt; 800 g peeled winter squash or pumpkin, in ¼-inch (5 mm) dice; 300 g onions (about 2 medium), finely diced; 80 g butter, cut into small pieces; 9 g fine salt; ¾ tsp ground black pepper; 4 g sugar, if the squash is not sweet (optional); ½ tsp ground cumin (optional); 450 g lamb shoulder or beef chuck, chopped by hand into small dice, or coarsely ground; 450 g peeled winter squash or pumpkin, in ¼-inch (5 mm) dice; 300 g onions (about 2 medium), finely diced; 9 g fine salt; ¾ tsp ground black pepper; ½ tsp ground cumin; 900 g spinach, washed, dried well and chopped; 300 g onions (about 2 medium), finely diced; 1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced; 80 g butter, cut into small pieces; 9 g fine salt; ¾ tsp ground black pepper; neutral oil, for the steamer; melted butter; thick plain yogurt or sour cream; ground black pepper

Method

Dough

Mix the flour (500 g4 cups) and salt (6 g1 tsp). Beat the egg (1) into the water (200 ml¾ cup + 1 tbsp), add it to the flour and mix to a firm dough. Knead 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. It should be stiffer than bread dough.
Wrap the dough and rest it at room temperature for 30 to 40 minutes.

Filling

Make one of the three fillings. Squash: mix the squash, onions, salt and pepper, with the sugar and cumin if using. Keep the butter separate; a piece goes into each dumpling. Squash and meat: mix the meat, squash, onions, salt, pepper and cumin, working it briefly with your hand so it holds together. Spinach: toss the spinach with 1 tsp of the salt, leave it 10 minutes, then squeeze out the liquid by the handful. Mix it with the onions, scallions, pepper and the rest of the salt. Keep the butter separate.

Shape

Roll the dough out on a floured surface, half at a time, until very thin, about 1.5 mm (1/16 inch). Cut it into 4-inch (10 cm) squares. Keep the dough you are not working with covered.
Put a heaped tablespoon of filling in the middle of a square, with a piece of butter on top for the squash or spinach filling. Bring two opposite corners up over the filling and pinch them together, then bring up the other two and pinch all four at the top. Pinch the four open seams closed. For the traditional shape, join the two points at each end to each other.

Steam

Bring water to a boil in the base of a tiered steamer. Oil the tiers, or dip the base of each dumpling in oil, and set the dumplings in without letting them touch.
Steam, covered, over steadily boiling water: 40 to 45 minutes for the squash and the squash and meat fillings, 25 to 30 minutes for spinach.
Serve hot, with melted butter poured over, black pepper, and yogurt or sour cream.

Notes

Squash. Butternut, kabocha or a dense cooking pumpkin all work. Cut it small so it cooks through.
Meat. Hand-chopped meat stays juicier than finely ground. Fatty lamb is traditional. With lean meat, add a piece of butter to each dumpling.
Dough. It dries quickly, so keep it covered. If it springs back as you roll, rest it 10 minutes more.
Steamer. A tiered metal manty steamer is the usual pot. A bamboo steamer over a wok works too. Top it up with boiling water if it runs low.
Freezing. Freeze the shaped, uncooked dumplings on a floured tray, then bag them. Steam from frozen, adding about 10 minutes.
The same fillings go into Somsa.

Manty

Ingredients

Dough

Filling, option A: squash

Filling, option B: squash and meat

Filling, option C: spinach

To cook and serve

Method

Dough

Filling

Shape

Steam

Notes

Ingredients

Dough

Filling, option A: squash

Filling, option B: squash and meat

Filling, option C: spinach

To cook and serve