Halloween : Squash Packets

In the Ferghana Valley of Uzbekistan, these sweet, onion-y dumplings are often served for breakfast, along with similar packets filled with diced potatoes. This being Central Asia, you also get a bottomless cup of green tea. The first time I ate them was in a town called Namangan, while watching “Caspar the Friendly Ghost,” dubbed in Russian, on TV.

You may not feel like steaming something 30 to 45 minutes just for breakfast, but manti can be eaten at any time. Anyway, they reheat easily in the microwave (two minutes on HIGH). In Uzbekistan they use not only pumpkin but any sort of winter squash for these.

The method of folding the packets sounds more complicated than it is. Basically, you make a loose square packet by folding the diagonally opposite corners of a square of dough over the filling and pinching them together (pinch flat, pressing one sheet onto the other). Then you twist adjoining corners of the packet sideways around your thumb, reinforcing and tightening the packet and giving it a distinctive Central Asian shape. In this last step, however, you have to be careful that you’re joining the ends of the packet that were created by the preceding fold. If you pick the wrong corners of the packet to join, you may tear it apart.

MANTI (Steamed Pumpkin Packets)

1 2/3 cups flour

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup water, almost

Pumpkin Stuffing

Mix flour, egg, salt and enough water in bowl to make stiff dough. Knead 10 minutes, cover with plastic wrap or damp towel 30 minutes.

Divide dough into 10 pieces. Roll out to make sheets at least 5 inches square. If necessary, trim slightly to make sheet more nearly square. Put 2 rounded tablespoons Pumpkin Stuffing in center of square. Fold 1 corner of dough halfway over filling. Then fold opposite corner diagonally over filling to overlap tip of first corner by about 3/4 inch and pinch together. Join other 2 diagonally opposite corners in same way over first 2, making square packet.

Place tip of thumb on board beside packet halfway between ends created by last fold (flap on top of packet will be pointing at 90 degrees to thumb). Grasp 1 corner of packet between index finger and thumb and twist 3/4 way around thumb. With fingers of other hand, tug packet corner on other side of thumb over this piece of dough. Pinch together. Repeat on other side of packet, making oval shape with thumb-sized hole at either end.

Place mantis on buttered steamer tray as they are finished. Steam 30 to 40 minutes. Makes 10 mantis.

Each serving contains about:

161 calories; 505 mg sodium; 27 mg cholesterol; 3 grams fat; 30 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams protein; 1.43 grams fiber.

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Pumpkin Stuffing

1 pound pumpkin

2 1/2 medium onions

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon melted butter

Peel pumpkin and slice in half. Remove seeds. Cut in 1/4-inch dice. Dice onions. In bowl add pumpkin, onions, sugar, salt and butter. Mix well.