Skip to content
LoginRegister
WhatToEat.Today
Minestrone soup
Featured recipe

Minestrone soup

A hearty Italian vegetable soup with cannellini beans, cabbage and a little spaghetti, finished with a bright basil and tomato pesto stirred in at the end. Don't let it boil hard once the vegetables are in: over-boiled soups lose their colour and body. Serve hot with crisp garlic toast.

Read more 1 views

What to eat today?

Around the world

Today's trip: Peruvian

A new country every day, from every cuisine on the site.

Peruvian

Tacacho

Mashed roasted green plantain balls 35 minMore from Peruvian (111) →

This week's collection

Kid-friendly dinners772 recipes · a new collection every Monday

New this week

See all new →

Coming up

All occasions →

Latest recipes

RolexOmelette chapati roll

The rolex is Uganda's most famous street food, its name a play on 'rolled eggs': at stalls all over Kampala, and now the whole country, a vendor beats eggs with shredded cabbage, tomato and onion, fries a thin omelette, lays a fresh chapati on top and rolls the two together. It is breakfast, lunch and late-night food. Unlike the Mombasa coast egg chapati, nothing is folded inside raw pastry: the omelette and a soft, ready-cooked chapati are rolled together. Chef's tip: cook the omelette thin and wide, the size of the chapati, so every bite has egg.

20 minEast AfricanBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sambal goreng kentangFried potatoes in sweet-hot sambal

Sambal goreng kentang turns up wherever there's a celebration in Java and Sumatra: on Lebaran tables next to ketupat and opor, in wedding buffets, and in boxes of nasi kotak handed out at gatherings. The potatoes are cut small, fried until crisp and golden, then tossed through a red chilli and shallot sambal sweetened with palm sugar and sharpened with tamarind, so each cube is coated and chewy at the edges. It keeps well and is eaten at room temperature with rice. Chef's tip: soak and dry the potato cubes thoroughly before frying; damp potatoes spit, steam and never crisp up.

35 minIndonesianSidesVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sambal matahRaw shallot and lemongrass relish

Matah means raw in Balinese, and this sambal is nothing more than finely sliced shallots, chillies, lemongrass and lime leaf, squeezed with lime and dressed with hot coconut oil. It is the fresh, sharp counterpart to grilled tempeh, tofu, corn fritters and plain rice in warungs across Bali. Village cooks rub in a little toasted shrimp paste; this vegetarian version gets its savoury edge from salt and a touch of sugar. Chef's tip: squeeze the salted shallots with your fingers before adding the oil; they soften and release juice that carries the flavour.

17 minIndonesianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sambal oelekFresh chilli paste

Every Indonesian kitchen has an ulekan, the flat stone mortar that gives sambal oelek its name, and this is the most basic thing ground in it: fresh red chillies and salt, pounded to a coarse, wet, fiery mash. It's the foundation many cooks start from, stirred into fried rice and soups, spooned beside every meal at warung tables nationwide, and the base for more complex cooked sambals. Making it fresh tastes brighter and fruitier than any jar. Chef's tip: wear gloves and pound rather than blitz if you can — crushing releases the oils and gives a juicier, more fragrant sambal than chopping blades.

10 minIndonesianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 1 views

Sambal terasiShrimp paste chilli sambal

Almost every Indonesian kitchen keeps a stone mortar, the cobek, and the sambal pounded in it most often is this one. Toasted shrimp paste gives it a deep, savoury funk, fried chillies and shallots add sweetness and heat, and a squeeze of lime at the end wakes everything up. Spoon it beside fried chicken, grilled fish, fried tempeh or a plate of raw lalapan vegetables, or stir a little into fried rice. Chef's tip: pound rather than blend if you can; a coarse, slightly juicy texture tastes fresher than a smooth purée.

15 minIndonesianChutneys & DipsGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sambal tumisFried chilli paste

Ask any Malaysian cook what lives in the fridge door and the answer is usually a jar of sambal tumis. 'Tumis' means to sauté, and the paste of soaked dried chillies, shallots, garlic and spices is fried slowly in plenty of oil until it turns dark and jammy. From Johor to Kedah it goes on nasi lemak, gets stirred through fried rice and noodles, and is spooned beside eggs, tofu or roti. Most versions lean on belacan (shrimp paste); here a little toasted nori brings back that savoury, faintly sea-like depth. Chef's tip: make a double batch; covered with a film of its own oil it keeps for two weeks in the fridge and months in the freezer.

40 minMalaysianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pisang raiBananas in rice-flour batter

Pisang rai is a Balinese market sweet, wrapped in banana leaf and sold alongside klepon and lak-lak in the early morning. Small ripe bananas are coated in a thick rice-flour batter and dropped into boiling water rather than oil, so they come out soft, chewy and pale, ready to be rolled in salted grated coconut and drizzled with palm-sugar syrup. Some cooks colour the batter green with pandan. Chef's tip: the bananas are done when they float and the batter turns translucent at the edges; another minute firms the coating without making it gluey.

30 minIndonesianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Moqueca baianaFish stew with coconut milk

Salvador's moqueca baiana is the richer, sunnier cousin of the capixaba one, and the contrast is worth knowing: where Espírito Santo uses only tomato, annatto and olive oil, Bahia adds coconut milk, sweet peppers and dendê, the orange-red palm oil that came to Bahia with enslaved West Africans and runs through its Afro-Brazilian cooking. The result is creamy, golden and fragrant with coriander. In Salvador it is a weekend lunch at the seafront restaurants and at home, served with white rice, a yellow farofa fried in dendê and pirão. Look for dendê (red palm oil) in Brazilian, African or Caribbean shops. Chef's tip: add the dendê near the end; its flavour is strong and fades with long cooking, so a little stirred in late goes much further.

45 minBrazilianFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ZanMillet porridge with vegetables

Zan is the millet porridge of Arunachal Pradesh, eaten by the Monpa, Sherdukpen and other hill communities for breakfast or dinner on cold days. Finger millet (ragi) flour is stirred into boiling water with vegetables, ginger and chilli until thick and smooth, then served with a chilli chutney or butter. Some families cook it with meat; this is the vegetable version. It is warming, filling and earthy-tasting, a little like a savoury polenta. Chef's tip: sprinkle the millet flour in with one hand while whisking with the other, or it forms lumps that never cook out.

35 minIndianRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SambuusCrisp beef pastries

Sambuus are the triangles of crisp pastry Somali families fry by the hundred during Ramadan, filling them with minced beef, onion, green chilli, coriander and xawaash; trays of them sit on every iftar table from Hargeisa to Toronto. The filling must be dry, and the pastry thin. The mistake is a wet filling, which steams the pastry from the inside and makes it soggy; cook the mince until all the liquid has gone. Chef's tip: shop-bought spring roll pastry, cut into strips, makes good thin sambuus at home.

75 minSomaliSnacks & Starters
by KrazyBadal 0 views

NokedliSoft egg dumplings

Nokedli, also called galuska, are the small, soft, irregular egg dumplings that sit under almost every paprikás in Hungary, from Budapest lunch canteens to Sunday tables in the villages of the Great Plain. Unlike German Käsespätzle, they are not baked with cheese: they are a plain, buttery side whose job is to soak up a red, sour-cream sauce. Grandmothers scrape the batter off a wet board with a knife, but a nokedli grater (nokedliszaggató) or a colander with large holes is quicker at home. Serve them with gombapaprikás or lecsó, or toss them with fried egg for a quick supper. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes before cooking; the flour hydrates and the dumplings hold together instead of dissolving into the water.

25 minHungarianPasta & Noodles
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SamgyetangGinseng chicken soup

On the three hottest days of the Korean summer, called boknal, queues form outside samgyetang restaurants all over the country. The idea is to fight heat with heat: a small whole chicken is stuffed with glutinous rice, ginseng, jujubes and garlic, then simmered until the meat falls off the bone. Each person gets their own bird in its own bowl, with salt and pepper for dipping. Ginseng is not advised in pregnancy, so leave it out if unsure. Chef's tip: cut a small slit in the skin of one thigh and tuck the other leg through it, so the stuffing stays inside without string.

90 minKoreanChicken
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Samkeh harraBaked fish with spicy tahini

Samkeh harra, 'hot fish', is the pride of Tripoli and the fishing towns of northern Lebanon, where it is made with a whole sea bream or sea bass on Fridays and for summer lunches by the sea. The fish is baked, then covered with a fiery sauce of tahini, lemon, garlic, chilli and lots of coriander and returned to the oven until bubbling. Walnuts on top are a Tripoli touch. It is eaten warm or at room temperature with bread and a green salad. Chef's tip: loosen the tahini with lemon juice first, then water; it will seize and turn thick before it turns smooth, so keep whisking.

55 minLebaneseFishGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vegetable samlor korkoVegetable and green papaya soup

Samlor korko is called the national soup of Cambodia, cooked in villages from Battambang to Kampot and eaten at lunch with a bowl of rice. Its name means 'stirring soup', because the cook stands over the pot moving the vegetables as they go in one by one: green papaya, pumpkin, aubergine, long beans and leafy greens, all in a thin, herb-scented broth thickened with a spoonful of ground toasted rice. Prahok usually gives it its funk; fermented soybean paste and a little soy give depth here, and the soup stays light and full of vegetables. Chef's tip: toast the rice slowly until it is the colour of a hazelnut shell; that nutty smell is the backbone of the soup.

50 minCambodianSoupsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ZangiFried marinated chicken

Ask for fried chicken in Kushiro or Sapporo and you'll be handed zangi, which locals insist is not the same as karaage. A Kushiro restaurant says it coined the name around 1960, and today zangi shops, ski-lodge canteens and supermarket delis across Hokkaido sell it in big, bone-in pieces. The chicken soaks for hours in a punchy mix of soy, sake, garlic, ginger and oyster sauce with an egg beaten in, so the flavour runs right through the meat, and it often comes with a sharp dipping sauce of vinegar, soy and black pepper. The coating is a mix of flour and starch, so it fries darker and more savoury than karaage. Chef's tip: marinate it overnight in the fridge for the full Hokkaido flavour; 30 minutes works, but the difference is clear.

65 minJapaneseChicken
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kuru fasulyeWhite bean stew

Kuru fasulye is close to a national dish in Turkey: a pot of white beans stewed in a red, paprika-scented sauce, eaten with rice pilaf, pickles (turşu) and raw onion at home and in the bean restaurants of Istanbul's Süleymaniye district. Many versions start with lamb or sucuk; this one leans on good olive oil, sweet and hot pepper paste and slow cooking, so the beans become creamy inside and the sauce silky and rich. It is a winter Friday-night staple for lots of families and tastes even better reheated the next day. Serve with domatesli bulgur pilavı or plain rice, a wedge of onion and crusty bread. Chef's tip: add the salt only once the beans are almost tender; salting at the start keeps the skins tough however long you cook them.

90 minTurkishCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nom banh chok with green curry brothRice noodles in green curry broth

Before seven in the morning, women carrying baskets on shoulder poles sell nom banh chok across Cambodia; around Siem Reap there is even a lane of stalls near the temples known for it. Soft, slippery rice noodles are piled into a bowl, ladled with a pale green broth of kroeung and coconut milk, then buried under shredded banana blossom, cucumber, beansprouts, long beans and handfuls of herbs. The market version thickens the broth with pounded fish; here pumpkin and creamy white beans give it the same body. Chef's tip: be generous with the raw vegetables and herbs; the dish is meant to be more garden than noodle, and the cool crunch is what balances the warm broth.

60 minCambodianPasta & NoodlesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MekitsiFried yogurt dough puffs

Mekitsi are the Sunday morning treat of Bulgarian childhoods: in towns like Veliko Tarnovo and Gabrovo they are fried at home or bought from stalls by the dozen, puffy, uneven rounds of yogurt dough that come out of the oil crisp outside and soft and airy inside. They are eaten hot, dusted with icing sugar or spread with jam, honey or sirene, with a cup of tea or ayran. Chef's tip: stretch the dough with oiled hands rather than flour, and keep the oil at a steady medium heat; oil that's too hot is the usual mistake and leaves them dark outside and doughy in the middle.

40 minBulgarianBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nom krokCoconut rice cakes

Nom krok are a street snack you hear before you see: the hiss of batter hitting a charcoal-heated cast-iron pan full of small round hollows, outside markets and schools across Phnom Penh in the late afternoon. Each little cake has a lacy, crunchy rice-flour shell and a molten top of salted coconut cream with spring onion, and two halves are pressed together to eat hot from a banana leaf. A Danish aebleskiver or Japanese takoyaki pan works perfectly at home. Chef's tip: let the pan get properly hot before the first batter goes in, about 4 minutes on a medium-high heat; a cool pan makes pale, sticky cakes that won't come out cleanly.

40 minCambodianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

PhagshapaPork with radish and chilli

High in the hills of Sikkim, where winters are long and cold, Bhutia and Lepcha households make phagshapa from fatty strips of pork, white radish and fiery dried red chillies. Traditionally it uses no oil at all: the pork renders its own fat, and the radish soaks it up and turns meltingly soft. It is everyday warming food in Gangtok kitchens, eaten with rice and a bowl of clear soup. Chef's tip: cut the radish thick, in batons, so it holds its shape through the long simmer.

80 minIndianMeatGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Samosa thokeSamosa salad

Samosa thoke is pure Yangon street food, born from the city's Indian-Burmese communities: vendors on Mahabandoola Road chop crisp samosas into a bowl with cabbage, onion and mint, ladle over a thin, spiced lentil broth (pe hin ye), and finish it with tamarind, chilli and a squeeze of lime. The samosas soften at the edges while the middle stays crunchy, and the whole bowl is hot, sour and savoury. Use vegan samosas made without ghee. Chef's tip: ladle the broth over at the very last moment and eat straight away; samosa thoke left to sit turns soggy fast.

45 minBurmeseSaladsVeganSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

AdjikaRed pepper and garlic paste

Adjika comes from Samegrelo and neighbouring Abkhazia in western Georgia, where it is a thick, fiery paste of dried red peppers, garlic and seeds, pounded in a stone mortar and stored in jars for the year. It is nothing like the tomato relishes sold as adjika in some shops: a little goes a very long way, stirred into beans, rubbed into vegetables before roasting, or spread thinly on mchadi with cheese. It needs no cooking, just patience while the peppers soak. A common mistake is skipping the soaking, which leaves the paste gritty with hard flakes of skin. Chef's tip: wear gloves while handling the peppers, and use a mix of mild and hot ones so you get colour and fruitiness, not just heat.

20 minGeorgianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Natilla colombianaPanela and cinnamon milk pudding

Natilla is the firm, sliceable Christmas pudding of Colombia, stirred on the night of the alumbrado (7 December) and through the novenas, and always shared with buñuelos. Milk is infused with cinnamon, sweetened with panela (unrefined cane sugar), thickened with cornflour and finished with grated coconut and raisins, then poured into a dish to set. It is dark gold, caramel-scented and soft, a bit like a firm flan. Chef's tip: stir without stopping once the cornflour goes in, scraping the corners of the pan, or lumps and a scorched bottom will form.

40 minColombianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sancocho de verdurasVegetable and plantain stew

Sancocho is the big Sunday soup Colombian families cook outdoors on riverbanks and fincas (country houses), with every region from Antioquia to the Valle having its own version. This vegetarian sancocho keeps the essentials: green plantain broken by hand, cassava, potatoes and corn on the cob simmered in a broth seasoned with spring onion, garlic, cumin and plenty of coriander, until the starches thicken it. Serve each bowl with white rice, avocado and lime on the side. Chef's tip: break the plantain into pieces with your hands rather than cutting it; the rough edges release starch and thicken the broth.

60 minColombianSoupsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sancocho panameñoChicken and yam soup

Sancocho is Panama's national dish, a golden chicken soup thickened with ñame (white yam), seasoned with culantro (a strong, saw-edged cousin of coriander), oregano and onion; families make it on Sundays, after a long night out and whenever someone is unwell, and the soup from the town of Chitré in the Azuero peninsula is said to be the best. It is served with white rice on the side, which people spoon into the bowl. The mistake is adding the yam too early; it dissolves and the broth turns gluey, so add it after the chicken has simmered. Chef's tip: some of the yam should break down to thicken the broth, so let it cook until the edges soften.

90 minCentral AmericanSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SandeshSoft fresh cheese sweets

Sandesh is the most delicate of Bengal's sweets, made in Kolkata's sweet shops every morning from chhena, fresh milk curds. The chhena is kneaded until silky, cooked briefly with sugar and pressed into little rounds or moulds. It's soft, fine-textured and milky, sweet but light, often scented with cardamom or saffron. This is the soft 'norom pak' style. Serve at room temperature as a sweet with tea or after a meal. Chef's tip: hang the chhena only until it stops dripping; if it's too dry, the sandesh turn crumbly, and if too wet they won't hold a shape.

40 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

TlayudasLarge crisp tortilla with beans and cheese

The tlayuda is the late-night street food of Oaxaca City: a huge, thin, slightly leathery corn tortilla spread with black bean paste and asiento (unrefined pork lard), scattered with quesillo (Oaxaca string cheese) and cabbage, folded and toasted over charcoal until crisp and smoky. This vegetarian version swaps the asiento for browned butter, which gives the same toasty richness, and is topped with avocado, tomato and salsa. Real tlayudas are about 30 cm across and hard to find outside Oaxaca; use the largest corn tortillas you can get, or flour tortillas of 25 cm (then they are not gluten free). Quesillo is made with animal rennet in Oaxaca; for a vegetarian dish use low-moisture mozzarella or a string cheese made with vegetarian rennet. Chef's tip: spread the beans thinly; a thick layer makes the tortilla soggy and stops it crisping.

30 minMexicanSnacks & Starters
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nasi lemakCoconut rice with sambal

All over Malaysia, nasi lemak is what people grab before work: a pyramid of banana leaf or brown paper from a roadside stall, opened at a desk or on a car bonnet, with fragrant rice steamed in coconut milk, a dab of sticky red sambal, crunchy peanuts and cool cucumber. Stalls usually add fried anchovies and boiled egg; our meat-free plate keeps the morning ritual but swaps the anchovies for thin batons of tempeh fried until they shatter, and the sambal is cooked without belacan, so the depth comes from slow-fried chillies, tamarind and palm sugar. Eat it for breakfast, brunch or a lazy supper. Chef's tip: give the sambal the full time on a low flame; it is ready only when a shiny red oil floats free around the edge.

50 minMalaysianRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mee hokkien PhuketThick yellow noodle stir-fry

In the Sino-Portuguese shophouses of Phuket Town, descendants of Hokkien tin miners still begin the day with this: fat, chewy yellow egg noodles fried with pork, prawns and squid, then simmered in a little stock until the sauce becomes a savoury gravy that coats every strand, with an egg stirred through at the end. It is the island's signature noodle, ordered in old coffee shops with a glass of strong local coffee or a bowl of clear pork soup. The texture is slippery and thick, the flavour mellow and peppery rather than hot, so chilli vinegar goes on the table. Chef's tip: loosen the fresh noodles under hot water before they go in the wok; cold, stuck-together noodles snap into short pieces when tossed.

27 minThaiPasta & Noodles
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pumpkin tortelliPumpkin-filled pasta

Tortelli di zucca are the Christmas Eve dish of Mantua, in Lombardy, where the dense orange pumpkins of the Po plain are roasted and mashed with crushed amaretti biscuits, spicy fruit mostarda and hard cheese. The filling is sweet, salty and a little hot all at once, a taste that goes back to the Renaissance Gonzaga court. They are served simply, with melted butter, sage and more cheese. Chef's tip: roast the pumpkin rather than boil it, and make the filling the day before; a dry, rested filling is easy to pipe and the flavours blend.

120 minItalianPasta & Noodles
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mee goreng mamakFried yellow noodles

Mamak stalls, the round-the-clock cafés run by Malaysia's Tamil Muslim families, are where friends meet after a football match or a late film, and mee goreng mamak is the plate everyone orders with a glass of pulled tea. It's yellow noodles tossed hard in a wok with tomato sauce, chilli, soy, a pinch of curry powder, soft potato that breaks into the sauce, tofu, egg and bean sprouts, finished with a squeeze of lime. Stalls often add squid or prawns; here the tofu does that job. It's sweet, smoky, tangy and a little messy, as it should be. Chef's tip: get the wok really hot and let the noodles sit untouched for 20 seconds between tosses so they char in spots.

25 minMalaysianPasta & NoodlesSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SangaCorn and greens in palm cream

Sanga is a home dish of the Beti people around Yaoundé in the Centre region of Cameroon, made in the maize season: young corn is grated off the cob and cooked with finely shredded njama njama (huckleberry leaves) and the orange pulp pressed from palm nuts. It is eaten warm from a bowl, sometimes with a little sugar stirred in. Spinach and tinned palm nut concentrate make a good version abroad. Chef's tip: grate the kernels off the cob rather than slicing them; the milky pulp is what thickens sanga.

60 minCameroonianVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sangkhya lapovCustard-filled steamed pumpkin

Sangkhya lapov is the showpiece of a Cambodian dessert stall: a squat green pumpkin, hollowed out, filled with an egg, coconut and palm sugar custard and steamed whole, then cut into wedges so every slice shows a band of orange flesh around a creamy caramel-coloured centre. In Phnom Penh it is sold by the slice at night markets and made at home for weddings and Pchum Ben. A small kabocha of about 1 kg is ideal. Chef's tip: cool it completely, ideally overnight in the fridge, before slicing; warm custard is soft and slumps out of the pumpkin.

75 minCambodianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Medu vadaUrad dal doughnuts

Medu vada are the ring-shaped lentil fritters eaten all over Tamil Nadu and the rest of the south for breakfast, with idli, sambar and coconut chutney. A good one has a thin, crisp, golden shell and an inside as light and airy as a cloud, flecked with black pepper, ginger, green chilli and curry leaves. The secret is a very thick batter ground with as little water as possible and then whipped full of air. Serve them hot, dunked in sambar, or soaked in rasam as 'rasa vada'. Chef's tip: drop a little batter into a bowl of water before you shape them; if it floats, it's airy enough, and if it sinks, beat it by hand for another few minutes.

40 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MedovikHoney layer cake

Medovik, the honey cake, is the birthday and name-day cake of countless Ukrainian homes, from Dnipro to Zaporizhzhia, and is shared with kitchens across the former Soviet Union. Eight thin layers of honey-caramel dough are baked like biscuits, then stacked with a tangy sour-cream frosting and left overnight, when they soften into a tender, moist cake. The crumbs from trimming coat the outside. Because it is made with honey and eggs, it is vegetarian but not vegan. Chef's tip: cook the honey, sugar and butter until it turns a deep amber before the bicarbonate goes in; that caramel is the whole flavour of the cake. Common mistake: cutting it the same day, before the layers have soaked up the cream, when it is still dry and hard.

120 minUkrainianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SantulaMildly spiced mixed vegetables

Santula is everyday Odia comfort food, the dish cooks in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack make when someone is unwell or when the family wants something light after festival meals. Papaya, potato, aubergine, pumpkin and raw banana are boiled with turmeric, then given a quick tempering of panch phoron, garlic and dried chilli in a little oil, and finished, in many homes, with a spoon of milk. It is soft, mild and slightly soupy, and eaten with rice and dal. Chef's tip: boil the vegetables only until just tender; santula should look like separate pieces, not a mash.

35 minIndianSidesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ukadiche modakSteamed coconut and jaggery dumplings

On the first day of Ganesh Chaturthi, kitchens all along the Konkan coast and in Pune and Mumbai fill with steam as families shape ukadiche modak, the pleated dumplings said to be Ganpati's favourite sweet. A soft, translucent shell of rice flour cooked in water (the ukad) wraps a filling of fresh coconut and jaggery scented with cardamom and nutmeg. Twenty-one modak are offered to the deity, and the rest are eaten warm with a spoon of ghee poured into a little hole poked in the top. The pleating takes practice, so make a few extra and don't worry if the first ones are lumpy. Chef's tip: knead the ukad while it is still hot, with your palm oiled and dipped in cold water; a dough left to cool turns crumbly and cracks when you pleat it.

80 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KürtőskalácsChimney cake

Kürtőskalács, or chimney cake, comes from the Székely Hungarian villages of Transylvania and is now sold at every Budapest Christmas market and summer festival, turning on spits over glowing coals. A strip of sweet yeast dough is wound around a wooden roller, rolled in sugar and baked until the sugar caramelises into a thin, crackling shell; you unwind the soft, steaming spiral as you eat it. At home you can bake it in the oven on foil-wrapped rolling pins or tins. Chef's tip: press the dough spiral firmly into the sugar before baking; loose sugar falls off, but pressed sugar melts into the glassy crust. A common mistake is leaving gaps between the strips, which makes the cake tear apart when you slide it off.

75 minHungarianDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Xoi xeoSticky rice with mung bean

Xôi xéo is a Hanoi breakfast sold before dawn from baskets on the pavement, wrapped in a lotus or banana leaf for people to eat on the way to work. Turmeric-tinted glutinous rice is steamed until chewy, then topped with thin shavings cut from a firm ball of cooked mung bean (the 'xéo' is the slanting cut) and a spoonful of crunchy fried shallots with their fragrant oil. Street sellers often use pork fat for the shallots; frying them in vegetable oil keeps it vegan and still rich. Chef's tip: squeeze the mung bean paste into a tight ball while it is warm and let it cool before shaving; a loose ball crumbles instead of slicing into ribbons.

80 minVietnameseBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nasi kuningTurmeric coconut rice

Yellow rice is Indonesia's rice for good news: shaped into a tall cone called tumpeng, it's the centrepiece at birthdays, housewarmings and thanksgiving gatherings across Java, Bali and Sulawesi, and in Manado and Banjarmasin it's also a weekday breakfast wrapped in banana leaf. The grains are cooked in coconut milk with turmeric, lemongrass, salam and lime leaf, so they come out fluffy, golden and gently fragrant, rich without being heavy. Serve it with tempe orek, perkedel, sambal and cucumber for a festive platter. Chef's tip: steam the rice after its first absorption, Javanese style, or rest it covered off the heat for 10 minutes — skipping this gives sticky, uneven grains.

40 minIndonesianRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sara udonCrispy noodles with seafood sauce

Nagasaki's second famous noodle dish uses the same toppings as champon but turns them into a thick sauce poured over a plate of crunchy fried noodles. The name means plate udon, though the classic noodles are very thin and fried crisp. In Nagasaki homes it is a quick weekend lunch and a standard dish at family gatherings, and supermarkets there sell the fried noodle nests ready to use. People splash it with Worcestershire sauce at the table, and a dab of hot mustard is common too. Chef's tip: pour the sauce over at the very last moment and let the noodles soften slowly as you eat, so you get crisp and soft in every mouthful.

30 minJapanesePasta & Noodles
by KrazyBadal 0 views

LaugenbrezelSoft pretzels

The Brezel is the emblem of German bakeries in Bavaria and Swabia: deep chestnut-brown and shiny outside, soft and chewy inside, with a fat 'belly' and thin crisp arms, studded with coarse salt. In Munich it's eaten with sweet mustard and Obatzda in beer gardens; in Stuttgart it's split and buttered for breakfast. Bakeries dip them in a lye solution, which is too caustic for most home kitchens; a bath of baked baking soda gets close in colour and flavour and is safe to handle. Chef's tip: chill the shaped pretzels uncovered for 30 minutes before the bath; a slightly dry skin holds its shape and turns darker and shinier.

120 minGermanBakingVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lasary voatabiaTomato and spring onion relish

Lasary voatabia is the fresh tomato relish served beside the rice at almost every Malagasy meal, from Antananarivo's highland homes to the coast. Tomatoes and spring onion are chopped very small, sharpened with lime or vinegar and a little sakay (chilli), and spooned onto the rice to wake up broths like romazava. It is juicier and finer than a salad. Chef's tip: chop the tomatoes very small, almost to a pulp at the edges; the juice is meant to soak into the rice.

10 minMalagasyChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nasi kerabuBlue rice with herbs

Nasi kerabu comes from Kelantan on the north-east coast, and in Kota Bharu it is a breakfast and lunch staple, sold in the morning markets in mounds of startlingly blue rice. The colour comes from butterfly pea flowers. Around the rice sit 'ulam', raw herbs and vegetables sliced as fine as thread: lime leaves, lemongrass, long beans, bean sprouts, cucumber, mint and basil, with nutty toasted coconut on top. Kelantanese stalls dress it with budu, a fermented fish sauce, so this version uses a sharp tamarind, lime and chilli dressing instead. It's light, crunchy and full of perfume. Chef's tip: slice the herbs as thinly as you can with a sharp knife; the finer the shreds, the more they scent every mouthful of rice.

50 minMalaysianRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sarawak laksaSpicy coconut noodle soup

Kuching wakes up to laksa Sarawak, ordered at coffee shops before work and reaching its peak on a lazy Sunday morning. It looks nothing like curry laksa: the broth is a russet, gently creamy soup built on a complex paste of chillies, shallots, galangal, toasted sesame, peanuts and warm whole spices, cooked into a chicken and prawn-shell stock with tamarind and a little coconut milk. Thin rice vermicelli is topped with shredded chicken, whole prawns, ribbons of omelette and bean sprouts, and every bowl comes with lime and a dab of sambal belacan. The work is in the paste, which keeps well and makes several batches. Chef's tip: toast the spices, sesame seeds and peanuts separately in a dry pan before grinding; it gives the broth its deep, roasted aroma.

90 minMalaysianSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Umibudo saladSea grapes salad

Umibudo, 'sea grapes', is a seaweed farmed in the warm, clear waters around Okinawa and Miyako island. Its tiny green beads burst in the mouth with a salty, oceanic pop, which is why Okinawans also call it green caviar. It's served as a starter in island izakaya, often next to a cold Orion beer, either plain with a dish of citrus soy or piled on a simple salad. Look for it vacuum-packed in salt at Japanese grocers; it keeps for weeks unopened. Chef's tip: dress the salad, not the sea grapes. Pour the dressing on the greens and dip the sea grapes as you eat, because vinegar and soy make the beads shrivel within minutes.

15 minJapaneseSaladsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

LebkuchenSpiced gingerbread cookies

Nuremberg has been the German capital of Lebkuchen since the Middle Ages, when the city sat on the spice trade routes, and at its Christkindlesmarkt the stalls are piled with them every Advent. The finest kind, Elisenlebkuchen, contain almost no flour: they're made mostly of ground nuts, candied peel, eggs, sugar and a warm spice mix, baked on thin Oblaten wafers so they stay soft and chewy inside, then glazed with chocolate or sugar. They keep for weeks in a tin and get better as they rest. Chef's tip: bake them only until just set; a common mistake is baking until firm, which makes them dry and hard by the next day.

50 minGermanBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vegetarian pastel de chocloMushroom and corn bake

In Chile pastel de choclo is the taste of January and February, when choclo (big-kernelled starchy corn) is in every market from Santiago to Talca and families bake it in individual clay dishes called pailas. Underneath is the pino, a slow-cooked onion filling with olives, raisins and hard-boiled egg; on top, fresh corn blended with basil and a little milk, scattered with sugar so it browns into a crackly crust. This version makes the pino with mushrooms instead of beef. Chef's tip: cook the corn topping on the hob until it thickens like polenta before it goes in the oven, or it will stay runny.

100 minChileanVegetarianGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SatsiviChicken in cold walnut sauce

Satsivi is a dish of the Georgian New Year table, prepared in homes across western Georgia, Imereti and Samegrelo, a day ahead so it can be served cold at the long supra feast on 1 January. Poached chicken is covered in a thick, ivory walnut sauce scented with garlic, fenugreek, coriander and marigold petals and sharpened with vinegar. It is rich and fragrant, eaten with cornbread (mchadi) or fresh bread. Chef's tip: blend the walnuts with a little warm stock until they release their oil; this gives the sauce its silky texture.

105 minGeorgianChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sardinhas assadasGrilled sardines

In June the steep lanes of Alfama and Mouraria fill with smoke during the Santos Populares, Lisbon's street festivals for Saint Anthony, and almost every grill is loaded with sardines. They are salted, grilled whole over charcoal until the skin blisters, and laid on a thick slice of country bread that soaks up their juices. Add roasted green peppers and a salad of tomato and onion, and that is the whole feast. Chef's tip: salt the sardines with coarse salt 30 minutes before grilling and keep them chilled; the salt firms the skin so it doesn't stick to the grill.

20 minPortugueseFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lasary legiomaTurmeric pickled vegetables

Lasary legioma, vegetable lasary, is a tangy, turmeric-yellow pickle of carrot, green beans and cabbage that sits on the table in Malagasy homes and hotelys (small canteens) to brighten rice and plain dishes. It is close to the achards of Réunion and Mauritius and is made in large jars to last the week. Chef's tip: blanch the vegetables for only a minute and cool them fast; they should stay crunchy, not cooked.

33 minMalagasyChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sarva pindiRice flour and peanut flatbread

Sarva pindi, also called ginne appa or tapala chekka, is a thick, crisp rice-flour bread from rural Telangana, pressed by hand into a heavy pan, studded with holes and baked slowly in oil until the base is golden and crunchy. The dough is full of soaked chana dal, peanuts, sesame, green chilli, curry leaves and coriander, so every bite is savoury and nutty. It is the snack that waits on the stove when children come home from school, and a favourite for Sankranti and long train journeys because it keeps well. Chef's tip: press the dough into a cold pan, not a hot one; it spreads evenly and the holes stay open as it heats.

45 minIndianBreads & ParathasVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sata andagiOkinawan doughnuts

In the Okinawan language, sata andagi simply means 'sugar deep-fried'. These round doughnuts came from Chinese sweets brought to the old Ryukyu kingdom and have been a family treat on the islands for centuries, made for celebrations and sold warm in paper bags at Naha's Makishi market. They are dense and cakey inside with a thick, crunchy crust, and as they fry they split open into a shape Okinawans call a smile, a sign of good luck. Okinawa's dark kokuto sugar gives them a caramel flavour; brown sugar works too. Chef's tip: fry in oil that is only warm, about 150°C. Slow frying lets the balls cook through and crack open, while hot oil seals them shut and leaves the middle raw.

40 minJapaneseDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Satay (Kajang)Chicken satay

The town of Kajang, just south of Kuala Lumpur, built its name on satay, and evenings there still smell of lemongrass smoke drifting from long charcoal troughs. Kajang skewers are cut in larger chunks than most, soaked in a yellow marinade of turmeric, lemongrass, cumin and fennel, and grilled while being basted with oil brushed on through a lemongrass stalk. They come with a chunky, sweet-spicy peanut sauce, cubes of compressed rice (nasi impit), raw onion and cucumber. Order them by the dozen with friends as a starter or a whole supper. Chef's tip: thread a small piece of chicken skin or fat between the meat on each skewer; it melts over the coals and keeps the satay juicy.

60 minMalaysianSnacks & StartersGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sate lilitMinced fish skewers

When a Balinese village gets ready for a temple festival, the men gather the night before to chop, pound and mix sate lilit, while the women prepare the offerings. 'Lilit' means to wrap: instead of threaded chunks, a soft mixture of minced fish, grated coconut and base genep spice paste is moulded around lemongrass stalks or flat bamboo sticks and grilled over coconut-husk embers. The result is tender and lightly springy inside, browned and smoky outside, with the lemongrass perfuming every bite. Eat them hot with rice, sambal matah and a wedge of lime. Chef's tip: knead the mixture firmly until it feels sticky and chill it before shaping, or it will slide off the sticks on the grill.

50 minIndonesianFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sate PadangBeef skewers in spiced sauce

Night-time in Padang and Bukittinggi brings out the sate carts, fanning charcoal under skewers of beef that were already simmered tender in spices before they ever met the grill. That two-stage cooking is what sets West Sumatra's satay apart, and so is the sauce: no peanuts at all, but the spiced cooking broth thickened with rice flour into a smooth, glossy, turmeric-yellow gravy with plenty of chilli and ginger. It is ladled generously over the skewers and over slices of ketupat rice cake on a banana leaf, then finished with fried shallots and a crisp cracker. Chef's tip: keep the cooking broth; it's the base of the sauce, and the deeper it tastes, the better your sate.

90 minIndonesianMeatSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Zanzibar mixMango and gram flour soup with fritters

Zanzibar's famous street bowl (urojo): a thin, tangy, golden soup of gram flour, raw mango, coconut and chilli, filled with little lentil fritters and potato balls and topped with crushed cassava crisps and coconut, green and red chutneys. It's sour, spicy and crunchy all at once. Make the fritters, potato balls and chutney ahead, then assemble the bowls at the table.

75 minAfricanSnacks & StartersSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MchadiPan-fried cornbread cakes

Mchadi are the everyday cornbread of western Georgia, from Samegrelo and Guria down to the Black Sea coast, where maize has been grown since the 1700s. They are nothing more than cornmeal, water and salt, shaped by hand into thick ovals and fried or baked on a clay disc until crusty outside and soft and steaming inside. Families eat them hot with a wedge of cheese, a bowl of lobio, pickled vegetables or a spoon of adjika, and they are naturally gluten-free and vegan. The common mistake is using a dough that is too dry, so the cakes crack and crumble in the pan: it should feel like soft, wet clay. Chef's tip: wet your hands in a bowl of water between every cake; the cornmeal will not stick and the surface comes out smooth and crisp.

30 minGeorgianBreads & ParathasVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SattiChicken skewers in spicy sauce

Satti is how Zamboanga City starts the day: small skewers of grilled chicken or beef, smoky from charcoal, drowned in a thin, spicy, slightly sweet red sauce and eaten with ta'mu, little rice cakes cooked in woven palm-leaf pouches. Satti houses near the port open before sunrise and are busiest on weekend mornings. It is a cousin of Malaysian and Indonesian satay, but the sauce is runnier and spiced with chilli and a little peanut. Pressed rice cubes or plain rice stand in well for ta'mu at home. Chef's tip: thread the chicken in small, flat pieces and close together; they cook fast and stay juicy before the outside dries.

60 minFilipinoChickenSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sattu parathaRoasted gram stuffed flatbread

Sattu paratha is a Bihari breakfast that keeps farmers going until lunch. Sattu, roasted bengal gram ground to a fine flour, is mixed with onion, garlic, green chilli, carom seeds and a dash of pickle masala, then rolled into wholemeal dough and cooked on a hot tawa until blistered. The filling is savoury, punchy and high in protein, and the bread stays soft for hours, which is why it's packed for long journeys. Serve with curd or chokha and a pickle. Chef's tip: moisten the filling just enough to clump; a dry sattu filling bursts through the dough and burns on the tawa.

40 minIndianBreads & ParathasVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sattu sharbatRoasted gram flour drink

On scorching May afternoons in Patna, handcarts with steel pots and heaps of lemons sell sattu sharbat by the glass: roasted gram flour whisked into cold water with black salt, roasted cumin, lemon and a bit of raw onion and chilli. It is filling enough to stand in for lunch and is the drink rickshaw pullers and farm workers swear by to beat the loo, the hot summer wind. It tastes savoury, nutty and sharp all at once. Chef's tip: whisk the sattu into a little water first to a smooth paste, then dilute it; tipping it straight into a full glass leaves dry lumps.

5 minIndianDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MtewemGarlic meatballs in chickpea sauce

Mtewem, from the word for garlic (thoum), is an old dish of the Casbah of Algiers: chunks of lamb and garlicky beef meatballs simmered together in a peppery white sauce with chickpeas, and finished with whole cloves of garlic that turn soft and sweet. It is cooked for Ramadan and for guests, and eaten with bread. Some families add a little tomato; this is the white version. The mistake is letting the sauce boil hard after the meatballs go in, which makes them tough and break; keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: wet your hands when rolling the meatballs so they come out smooth and hold together.

105 minAlgerianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MbejúCassava starch cheese cake

Mbejú (say 'mbeh-JOO') is a Guaraní breakfast and merienda: cassava starch rubbed with butter, cheese and a little milk into damp crumbs, then pressed into a hot pan where it fuses into a thick, chewy, crisp-edged cake. It's eaten in the countryside with cocido (sweet toasted yerba tea with milk) on cool mornings, cut into wedges. It's naturally gluten free and very quick. Chef's tip: the mix should look like damp sand, not a dough; if you can squeeze a handful and it just holds, it's right.

25 minParaguayanBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sauce graine with chicken and smoked fishPalm nut sauce with chicken

Sauce graine, palm-nut sauce, is the Sunday stew of southern Côte d'Ivoire, made in villages from freshly pounded palm fruit and in Abidjan from tins of palm-nut cream. It is deep orange-red, rich and slightly smoky from the smoked fish that goes in with the chicken, and is eaten with foutou banane, rice or attiéké. The mistake to avoid is boiling it hard at the end; palm-nut sauce should simmer gently until the oil rises to the top, which is how you know it is done. Chef's tip: use bone-in chicken; the bones give the sauce body.

100 minIvorianChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Num ansom chekBanana sticky rice parcels

Num ansom chek are wrapped by the dozen in April for Khmer New Year and again in autumn for Pchum Ben, when families carry them to the pagoda as offerings. A ripe banana is hidden inside a jacket of glutinous rice that has been seasoned with coconut milk and dotted with black beans, then the whole thing is rolled tightly in banana leaf and boiled until the rice turns sticky and the banana goes jammy and blush-pink. Unwrapped, they're eaten at room temperature or sliced and grilled the next morning. Chef's tip: use bananas that are fully yellow with a few brown freckles; green ones stay chalky and the pink colour never comes.

90 minCambodianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Oromo with pumpkinSteamed pumpkin roll

Oromo, or orama, is a big rolled dumpling: a thin sheet of dough spread with filling, rolled into a long coil and steamed in a multi-tiered mantovarka. It's a home dish across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, quicker than shaping dozens of manti. In autumn, when Kyrgyz gardens in the Chüy Valley are full of squash, it's filled with grated pumpkin and onion, which turn sweet and juicy. Serve in thick slices with sour cream or a garlicky tomato sauce. Chef's tip: grate the pumpkin coarsely and salt it only just before rolling; salted too early it weeps and makes the dough soggy.

80 minKazakhVegetarian
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kurthi dalHorse gram dal

Kurthi, as horse gram is called in Jharkhand, grows on poor, dry upland soil where little else will, and it has fed the plateau's Adivasi and farming families for centuries. Cooked slowly into dal, it is dark, earthy and filling, with a slightly smoky taste, and it is eaten through the cold months with rice and a dry vegetable, as it is believed to warm the body. The tempering of garlic, dried chilli and smoking mustard oil is what makes it Jharkhandi. Chef's tip: mash a ladle of the cooked gram against the side of the pot; it thickens the dal without any flour.

70 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SauerbratenMarinated pot roast

Sauerbraten is the Rhineland's Sunday roast, from Cologne to Düsseldorf, and in the old days it was a way to keep beef for a week. A joint of topside sits for three days in a spiced vinegar marinade, then is braised slowly and served with a sweet-sour gravy thickened with crumbled gingerbread (Printen or Lebkuchen) and raisins. Red cabbage and potato dumplings are the classic plate. Many families put red wine in the marinade; this version uses red wine vinegar and stock, so it is alcohol-free, and you can swap 250 ml of the water for red wine if you like. A common mistake is serving it too soon: give the meat the full three days in the fridge so the vinegar reaches the middle. Chef's tip: dry the beef very well before browning, or it will steam and stay grey.

210 minGermanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Labneh with za'atarStrained yogurt with za'atar

Labneh is the thick, tangy strained yogurt that Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian families spread on a plate every morning, swirl with olive oil and scatter with za'atar, the wild-thyme, sumac and toasted sesame mix of the Levant. It sits beside olives, cucumber, tomato and warm khubz at breakfast in Beirut and on the mezze table at night, and the firmer version is rolled into small balls and kept in jars of olive oil for weeks. Here salted yogurt hangs for a full day until it is as thick as cream cheese, then goes out two ways: spread in a dish, and rolled into balls. A common mistake is using low-fat or set yogurt with gelatine; it gives a thin, chalky labneh, so choose full-fat plain yogurt with only milk and cultures. Chef's tip: stir the salt in before straining, not after, because it draws out more whey and seasons the yogurt all the way through.

15 minLebaneseChutneys & DipsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vegetable tagine (khodra)Steamed vegetable tagine

Across Morocco, from village kitchens in the Atlas to family tables in Marrakech, a tagine of khodra (vegetables) is the everyday midweek pot, cooked on a low flame while bread bakes and set in the middle of the table for everyone to scoop up with khobz. The vegetables are stacked like a tent over a bed of onion and tomato, so they steam in their own juices rather than boil; the sauce left at the bottom is short, golden with saffron and turmeric and sharpened with preserved lemon and green olives. Serve it straight from the pot with warm bread and a bowl of carrot or tomato salad on the side. Chef's tip: lay the hardest vegetables (carrots, potatoes) closest to the heat at the bottom and the soft courgettes on top, or the courgettes collapse before the carrots are tender.

65 minMoroccanCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

UnniyappamBanana and rice fritters

Unniyappam are small, round sweet dumplings that Kerala families make for Vishu and Karthika, and they are a well-known temple offering at Guruvayur and Sabarimala. A batter of ground rice, ripe banana and jaggery, studded with ghee-fried coconut bits and sesame, is fried in the round hollows of an unniyappa chatti until crisp and dark brown outside and soft and spongy in the middle. They keep for a couple of days in a tin and are perfect with tea. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for an hour; it softens and puffs a little, giving lighter unniyappam.

50 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

SawhchiarChicken and rice porridge

Sawhchiar is Mizoram's comfort food and community food at once: rice and chicken slowly cooked together until thick and soft. In Aizawl huge pots are made for church gatherings, festivals such as Chapchar Kut and for neighbours in times of mourning, and smaller pots at home for anyone feeling unwell. It is gently seasoned with ginger, garlic and pepper and eaten with a fiery chilli on the side. Chef's tip: stir from the bottom every few minutes near the end; once the rice thickens it catches quickly.

70 minIndianRice & GrainsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tocăniță de ciuperciMushroom stew

Tocăniță is the everyday stew of Romanian home cooking, and the mushroom version is a fixture of the Orthodox fasting days, when Transylvanian cooks use forest mushrooms gathered in the Apuseni hills and city cooks use button mushrooms from the market. Onions, garlic, tomato, white wine and thyme cook down into a thick, glossy sauce, without the sour cream and paprika of a Hungarian paprikás. It is always eaten with hot mămăligă and a spoon of the sauce over the top. Chef's tip: brown the mushrooms in batches in a hot pan; crowding them is the usual mistake, and they then stew grey in their own water instead of turning golden.

50 minRomanianVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mawa jalebiMilk solid jalebi

Mawa jalebi, sometimes called khoya jalebi, belongs to Jabalpur and the towns of the Mahakoshal region of Madhya Pradesh, where sweet shops sell them stacked like dark brown coils. Unlike the crisp batter jalebi piped into hot oil, these are rolled from a soft khoya dough into ropes, coiled by hand and fried slowly, so they come out tender and almost fudgy inside a thin caramelised skin. They are eaten warm on winter mornings and bought by the kilo for weddings. Chef's tip: roll the ropes no thicker than a pencil; thicker coils look generous but stay doughy at the core.

75 minIndianIndian Sweets
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nasi gorengIndonesian fried rice

Every warung and night stall from Medan to Makassar has its own nasi goreng, but the starting point is always yesterday's rice, a pounded paste of shallot, garlic and chilli, and a glug of kecap manis that turns the grains glossy and caramel-brown. Indonesians eat it for breakfast as readily as for a late supper, crowned with a fried egg and served with cucumber, tomato and a heap of crackers. This vegetarian version keeps all the smoky-sweet depth without the usual shrimp paste. Chef's tip: get the wok properly hot and add the kecap manis down the side of the pan, not onto the rice, so it sizzles and caramelises before you toss it through.

20 minIndonesianRice & Grains
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mawa batiMilk solid dumplings

Ask a halwai in Ujjain, Indore or Ratlam for something festive and they will point to mawa bati: a fist-sized cousin of gulab jamun, made richer with more khoya, fried slowly to a near-mahogany shell and stuffed with nuts, saffron and cardamom. It turns up on wedding menus across Malwa and in sweet-shop boxes at Diwali, usually served warm with a spoonful of its own syrup. Cutting one open to find the green-gold filling is half the pleasure. Chef's tip: fry on a really gentle heat, with the oil barely shimmering; the bati should take a full 12–15 minutes to darken, which is how the middle cooks through.

70 minIndianIndian Sweets
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Scallion pancakes (cong you bing)Spring onion flatbreads

Cong you bing are sold from griddles on street corners across northern China, and every Shanghai breakfast stall has its own version. The dough is rolled thin, brushed with a flour-and-oil paste, scattered with spring onion, rolled up like a snail and flattened again, so it fries into dozens of crisp, chewy layers. Children love tearing them apart. Chef's tip: make the dough with hot water; it scalds some of the flour so the pancakes stay soft and roll out without springing back.

50 minChineseBreads & ParathasVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nyama chomaSlow-grilled goat or beef

Nyama choma, "roasted meat" in Swahili, is the centre of every weekend gathering in Kenya: at roadside joints on the edge of Nairobi you choose your goat ribs or beef by the kilo, it is grilled slowly over charcoal, chopped on a wooden board and brought to the table with salt, kachumbari (tomato and onion salad) and ugali. The meat is meant to be firm and chewy, smoky and simply salted. The mistake is grilling over fierce flames; the outside chars before the inside is tender, so keep it over glowing coals and turn it often. Chef's tip: leg of goat or lamb on the bone is easiest at home; rub it with salt and a little lemon only.

110 minEast AfricanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MedfounaSpiced meat stuffed bread

Out on the edge of the Sahara around Rissani and Merzouga, medfouna means 'buried', because the stuffed bread was traditionally baked in hot sand next to a fire. Two rounds of soft yeast dough enclose a filling of spiced beef, lots of onion, parsley and a little fat, and the whole thing bakes into a golden, crusty pie that is cut into wedges like a pizza. It is road-trip food, market-day food and the meal desert guides cook for travellers, eaten hot with mint tea. Chef's tip: squeeze the chopped onion and drain the cooked filling well; dry filling means a crisp base instead of a soggy one.

120 minMoroccanBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MaubySpiced bark drink

Mauby is one of the oldest drinks of the Eastern Caribbean, and in Barbados it's sold ice-cold from vendors in Bridgetown and made at home on hot afternoons. It's brewed from the bark of the mauby tree, simmered with cinnamon, clove, star anise, bay and orange peel, then sweetened and diluted. The first sip is surprising: bitter like strong tea or tonic, then sweet, spicy and refreshing, with a liquorice note. Bark is sold in Caribbean shops and online. Chef's tip: brew a strong concentrate and dilute it to taste; mauby lovers like it bitter, newcomers should start with more water and more sugar.

25 minBajanDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nasi dagangCoconut rice with tuna curry

Breakfast on the east coast, in Kuala Terengganu and Kota Bharu, very often means nasi dagang: soft, slightly sticky rice steamed twice with coconut milk, ginger and fenugreek seeds, wrapped in paper with a ladle of gulai ikan tongkol, a gentle tuna curry. The rice is fragrant and a little chewy from the glutinous grains mixed in, while the curry is mellow, coconutty and sour from dried tamarind slices. Stalls sell it from dawn, with hard-boiled eggs and cucumber pickle on the side. It also makes a fine weekend brunch at home. Chef's tip: soak the two kinds of rice overnight so the grains steam evenly and turn plump rather than chalky.

90 minMalaysianRice & GrainsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 81 of 10,569 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 1,014 of 1,175