My favourite food Manty – steamed dumplings

My favourite food

Manty – steamed dumplings

Manti or manty - a traditional meat dish of the peoples of Central Asia, consisting of finely chopped meat in a thin dough, cooked under steam.

Origin of the word “manti”

The word manti comes presumably from the Chinese "mantou" "stuffed head", or, as a homonym, "the head of a barbarian". And cooking of manti in Cninese symbolizes a ritual of human sacrifice to the spirits. This ritual was invented in ancient China by one of the Chinese military leaders.
It is surprising, but to the XX century, (in current interpretation) nobody in Uzbekistan heard about manti. Uighur and Dungan settlers brought manti with them. Uighurs inhabiting China cooked a dish called "mantou", which according to some sources literally meant - "steamed bread".
Gradually, manti recipe began to spread to the East, and then to the whole territory of Central Asia.

Uzbek manti

In Uzbekistan manti are very popular and common dish, steamed out of the delicate fine dough with juicy meat filling inside. As a rule, Uzbek steamed dumplings – manti are servedfor lunch or dinner. In Uzbekistan hot and still steaming manti are served on a large colorful lagan (platter), and one takes the right amount of it. Most of the dishes of Uzbek cuisine supposed to eat with your hands, manti are among them. By the way, it is quite difficult to eat manti with covers, so after a few minutes you will understand that eating manti with hands not only convenient, but also much more delicious - juicy stuffing does not fall out, but remains with the juice inside manti. Therefore, if you are invited to visit Uzbekistan and served Uzbek manti, safely eat it with hands - it does not violate the etiquette.
In Uzbekistan there is one of the oldest cities in the world - Bukhara, in which local chefs cook real Uzbek manti from lamb. Any self-respecting Bukharian chef makes the national dish of Uzbek cuisine exclusively with hands without the use of any modern gadgets.