Name: Kadayif Manti
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients: For Manti:; 250 gr fresh kadayif (you can buy it from a Turkish market or order online. Alternatively, It is possible to wrap the manti mixture in phyllo pastry as well); 200 gr ground beef (mushroom +bread crumbs for the vegetarian version); 1 teaspoon cumin; 1/4 nutmeg, freshly grated; 1/2 teaspoon allspice; 6 sprigs of parsley, finely chopped; 2 tablespoons olive oil; Salt &black pepper; For yogurt:; 1 clove of garlic, crushed; 5 heaped tablespoons of yogurt; Salt & black pepper; For sauce:; 1 tablespoon butter; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 heaped teaspoon pepper paste (you can skip this if you don’t have any); 125 ml (1/2 cup) tomato puree (or pasata); A pinch of red pepper flakes; 3 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked; Salt & black pepper; To garnish:; Cumin; Sumac; Fresh thyme leaves; Fresh mint leaves

Kadayif Manti is on the menu in Book recipe, and we are going to teach you how to make this delicious recipe from scratch!

First off, we wanna start by explaining why is it that we did not release this Halloween Special last week. As some of you might have heard, there has been a devastating earthquake in the city of Izmir last week.

As a result, we did not think that it would be appropriate to release a video in the wake of such a horrible event, so we decided to hold onto it and thought that appropriating the income from this month’s videos to earthquake release funds and raising awareness to such horrible acts of nature would be something we could do to help ease the pain of many families that have suffered from it.

Our only wish is that you share today’s video with as many people as you can so that you too have a contribution to helping the city of Izmir.

Today we have a spooky recipe that be nicely served as a main dish in a dinner with hors d’oeuvres and it is one of our favorite inventions. I can proudly tell you that virtually everyone asked for a second serving after the first one!
So what’s the story behind this spooky special.

Well, when I was a kid, I did not like manti, same way I did not like many other dishes. Once in a while, when my grandmother came over, we would all gather at my uncle’s, and “hard-to-make” dishes would be cooked. These “hard-to-make dishes” included meals like meatball soup and manti.

On a manti day, a coin would be stuffed in one of the mantis and whoever stumbled upon it during the meal, no matter their age, would get the money put on the table by the elders of the family.

This was one of the Anatolia traditions, which prepared the children for life. Indeed, one had to know how to lose as well as how to win, even as a child. And if there were any privileges conceded due to someone’s age, it would be done with subtlety.

I remember it pretty well. I was on my mother’s lap, and I was turning my clove from one side to the other with precise 180-degree angles, saying “I’m not gonna eat it” with no regard to that bag of bones body of mine. And my mother, telling me “Eat just this spoonful for my sake,” thrusted a spoonful of manti into my mouth.

As I just started to chew, a metallic sound came out. Apparently, I had found the lucky coin. My mother still says that she did not do it on purpose; nevertheless, it was the moment I really tasted manti and said to myself “um, it’s not bad at all.” Then, I fell in love with the Turkish cuisine with each passing day, and our tradition of manti days always held a special place in my heart.
I hope you too like this dish, which is among my favorite recipes. Moreover, this is proof that the magnificent kadayif – usually an ingredient for desserts – can well be used in dishes that are not sweet. It makes me happy to see and hear about kadayif wrapped around prawns or cheese-filled fried kadayif.

Follow along with the 📝 recipes below👇🏾👇🏾

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Kadayif Manti

Rating: 5.0/5
( 1 voted )

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 30 Minutes Cooking Time: 10 Minutes 10 Minutes Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

For Manti:

250 gr fresh kadayif (you can buy it from a Turkish market or order online. Alternatively, It is possible to wrap the manti mixture in phyllo pastry as well)
200 gr ground beef (mushroom +bread crumbs for the vegetarian version)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 nutmeg, freshly grated
1/2 teaspoon allspice
6 sprigs of parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt &black pepper

For yogurt:

1 clove of garlic, crushed
5 heaped tablespoons of yogurt
Salt & black pepper

For sauce:

1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 heaped teaspoon pepper paste (you can skip this if you don’t have any)
125 ml (1/2 cup) tomato puree (or pasata)
A pinch of red pepper flakes
3 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
Salt & black pepper

To garnish:

Cumin
Sumac
Fresh thyme leaves
Fresh mint leaves

Instructions

Combine the ground beef, cumin, nutmeg, allspice, parsley, and olive oil. Add salt &black pepper to taste and knead it well to meatball consistency.
Squeeze the mixture to the size of a hazelnut, then, wrap a long kadayif piece around it, covering every part (each kadayif ball should have a diameter of 2 cm). While doing this, have a plate of olive oil or, if you prefer, melted butter. Oil your palm with this, so that when you are making the small kadayif balls, the kadayif will automatically be oiled (and still be a very light meal).
For a quicker way to make the manti, place the kadayif strings (or phyllo pastry) on your counter as a layer. Sprinkle some salt on kadayif at this stage. Put the meat mixture like a sausage and wrap the kadayif around it. Cut the excess kadayif and slice it into walnut-sized bites (around 2 cm).
Oil an oven tray and your hand. Round the kadayif balls using your palm and align them on the tray. You can add a chickpea to one of the balls at this stage for a surprise. Set your oven to 230 C (445 F) on grill mode without a fan. Position your rack at the top shelf of your oven (or second if it is browning too fast). Your meal will be cooked in 8-10 minutes. Flip the kadayif balls after 4-5 minutes to make sure that they are browned all over.
To make the yogurt sauce, scramble the yogurt till it reaches the consistency of cream; then, add the garlic, salt, and black pepper. Give it a mix and let it sit at room temperature.
To make the sauce, add the olive oil and butter to a small saucepan on medium heat. Add the pepper paste, tomato puree, red pepper flakes, thyme, salt, and black pepper. Stir it till the ingredients boil and mingle with each other. Then, take the saucepan off the heat.
The mushrooms and stir again. Then, spread the mushrooms.
Now, put the kadayif manti on a plate and add the yogurt and the sauce on top. To garnish, sprinkle some cumin, sumac, thyme, and mint. Enjoy!

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