Mix ingredients to prepare the dough, if you need more water add very little one of the time, make dough firm. Manti dough needs to be quite hard; cover the dough with a cling film or kitchen towel and leave to rest in a cold place or in the fridge for 30 minutes.
While the dough is resting, make the filling. Grate or finely chop the onion and combine with the ground meat and parsley. Season with salt and ground black pepper and mix well.
Cut the dough into 4 balls. I can't stretch the dough very good, so I work with 4 balls, (my mom works with two balls), working one piece of dough at a time
As you see I stretch my dough with rolling pin back and forth, to large enough cut into a 1 1/2 or 2 cm wide squares(keep the other balls covered to keep them smooth)
Take your filling , place a small amount of on each square
Squeeze one side of the dumpling
Then the other side, to prevent the filling leaks when you cook them
Pinch to close tightly
Make sure no openings, Pinch the opposite corners to form a little a little pouch and press the seams together to seal firmly.
Like a star
Or you can close by cross edges first, then..
The other
Which ever is easy for you
Just make sure you close the dumplings tightly. Place finished dumplings into a floured tray. Shake the tray frequently to separate the dumplings from each other. They may stick .
If your squares stretch, and too long to work,
Simply cut the dough and make smaller
Boil water in a large pot, add 1 tablespoon of oil, and salt. Then add your dumplings . Cook until dough is cooked but still somehow firm. About 15-20 minutes. Do not wait too long. Dough will be too soft.
Sauce: chop fresh garlic, mash them add onto plain thick yogurt set aside. In a small pan melt butter, and 1 tbs oil, add red pepper flakes and paste, by stirring, add 1/2 or 1 tbs of manti boiling water until sauce gets thicker.
Place manti to a serving plate , add yogurt/ garlic and poor some paste sauce over.
I put finished uncooked dumplings in a tray, (didn't want them sticking to each other) kept in the freezer until they are frozen . Then transferred them into a freezer bag. Ready to cook whenever I want in the future(if you can't finish the dough, cover with stretch film, and keep in the freezer, you will work another time)
