“If We Don’t Have It, There’s Hell To Pay”: How Maha’s Turkish Beef Dumplings Became a Cult Dish

“I was travelling through Turkey for my TV show Spice Journey, and I just fell in love with this dish,” says chef Shane Delia of the Turkish dumpling known as manti. “We were in Anatolia, central Turkey, filming with an old lady who made these things by hand. It was the most exquisite skill. I couldn’t believe that the human hand could produce something so small and refined.”

There’s a story told in Turkey about this dish, which they call the “mother-in-law test”. “They would say that a young potential bride, when meeting her future in-laws, would cook this dish and if 40 fit on a spoon then she was going to make a good wife,” says Delia. While the delicate size didn’t quite remain at Maha (his “big fat fingers” didn’t allow for it, though the dumplings are still miniscule), Delia’s interpretation owes much to the version he encountered in Anatolia.

The manti at Maha is a dish where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If you haven’t tried it, the classic version consists of tiny, doughy dumplings filled with beef, cooked with burnt butter and dressed with yoghurt, mint and sumac. Delia likens it to an Italian filled pasta, with some unexpected additions. “It’s quite unique when you think about what it’s served with, but the core of the dish is familiar because everyone has had pasta,” Delia says. “That’s the big appeal to it – it feels familiar but it’s exotic at the same time.”

There are plenty of reasons why Maha’s manti has become its signature dish, but for Delia, it’s hard to go past simply the moreish quantity of those tiny pillows of beef-filled dough. “It’s the amount of dumplings you get; because they’re so small you get this abundance on the plate,” he says. “It’s not like you’re eating other things and the dumplings are little surprises along the way – you’re getting a mouthful of dumplings every time. It’s almost luxurious.”

Delia also thinks that the balance of ingredients – tart yoghurt, savoury beef, herby mint – creates the perfect blend of flavours.

“It’s got what I look for in a great Japanese dish, it’s got that umami,” says Delia. “It’s got sweet, sour, savoury, spice and heat as well. I think it’s really balanced, and generally, dishes that have stood the test of time for generations have something special about them … I think manti is one of those dishes.”

At any long-running establishment (Maha opened in 2008) diners have an expectation that their favourite dishes – like Delia’s manti – will always be there. “If we don’t have it on the menu in one of our restaurants there’s hell to pay,” Delia says. Ultimately, though, the passion of the Maha faithful is a badge of honour. “It’s a blessing because you’ve achieved your job, you’ve connected with somebody, you’ve given them a great food experience,” says Delia. “When you remove the ego and look at it through the eyes of achieving what you’re supposed to achieve in hospitality, which is creating great experiences, it’s quite rewarding.”

The manti is also available on Delia’s home delivery platform, Providoor. And while it’s taken Delia years of refining his cuisine to get it right, he cracked the formula for helping people recreate the dish at home pretty quickly.

“I was talking about it with Andrew [McConnell, owner of Supernormal] regarding his lobster rolls, [with] people saying, ‘I went into the restaurant and I reckon my one at home was just as good,’” says Delia. “It’s really nice because you’ve achieved what you want to achieve. You put things on Providoor to set people up for success – so if they’re producing something at home that’s pretty bloody close, we’ve done a good job.”

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Providoor.