What is Afghan cuisine? It consists of marinated kabobs, seasoned veggies, freshly baked bread and remarkably flavored rices. Hills of Herat, a brother-in-law owned and operated Afghan restaurant in Martinsville, gets it right. Every item on their menu is made from scratch with the freshest herbs and tastefully seasoned spices. All of their meat is Halal, non-GMO and grass-fed. Co-owners Wali Sidiqee, Mustafa Sidiqee and Abdul Saboor work hard to bring exposure to their cuisine. While Afghan food can seem intimidating to the unadventurous eater, once someone comes in and tries it, they come back time and time again.
One of the biggest sellers on their menu is Mantu, which is Afghan-style dumplings. Below is Hills of Herat's four-serving recipe. Warning: These are amazing, so you may want to double your recipe size!
Mantu Ingredients
—2 cups ground beef or lamb
—2/3 cup onions, chopped
—3 cloves garlic, minced
—1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
—1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
—1 teaspoon ground coriander
—Vegetable oil
—Salt to taste
—1 package egg roll or wonton wraps
Yogurt Sauce Ingredients
—1 cup Greek yogurt
—Oregano to taste
—1 clove garlic
—Dried mint to taste
Cooking Instructions
1. Heat pan over medium heat and add the garlic, ground beef or lamb, coriander and some salt. Cook until the meat is half-way cooked for about 15 to 20 minutes. Add a few dashes of black pepper to taste and then remove from heat.
2. Mix in the cup of raw chopped onions with the meat and let it cool down to room temperature.
3. Cut egg roll wraps into 4-inch diameter circles or squares. Place approximately one tablespoon of the cooled ground meat and onion mixture onto each wrap. To make the wraps stick together easily, wet the edges with water (you may use your fingers or a basting brush). Fold over first two opposite ends of the egg roll wrap, followed by other two ends to enclose dumplings. Press the edges tightly to seal together. Continue doing this with the remaining wraps.
4. Take the racks out of the steamer dish. Add water to the dish, cover and bring to boil. Grease the bottom of the steamer racks with oil to prevent sticking and place the dumplings on top, leaving some room in between each dumpling so they don't stick together. Once the water has come to a boil, place the racks filled with dumplings back on to the steamer dish. Cover lid and steam for approximately 40 minutes.
5. While the dumplings are steaming, prepare the topping. Mix yogurt sauce ingredients and set aside.
Serving Instructions
1. Now that the dumplings have cooked, add a thin layer of the yogurt mixture to a large serving plate.
2. Place the steamed dumplings on top.
3. Pour some more of the yogurt mixture on top of the dumplings and coat everything with the yogurt sauce.
4. Garnish with dried mint and a little bit of cayenne pepper.
Noshe-Jaan!