We spent a fascinating afternoon in Istanbul with Turkish food journalist Engin Akin, who showed us how to make the silky, soft dough that’s used to make mantı, a sort of Turkish ravioli. We watched, fascinated, as Engin and her helpers made the tiny dumplings. ‘The smaller the better,’ Engin said. ‘Although, really, it’s a sort of snob thing to make them so tiny!’ We enjoyed the results for lunch in a traditional garlic-laden yoghurt sauce drizzled with sizzling butter.
While Turkish women deftly roll the dough into paper-thin fineness, if you have a pasta machine at home feel free to use it. Just work the dough through each setting until you reach the finest one. When made correctly, mantı dumplings are around the size of a grape, and it takes great patience and dexterity to shape and seal them with the traditional finish – but it’s worth having a go!