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All-way potato salad
Featured recipe

All-way potato salad

Warm new potatoes boiled in their skins and tossed in one of three dressings: creamy parsley sour cream, a tangy basil vinaigrette, or a fresh 'greeny' dressing of cottage cheese and herbs. Each dressing is enough for 500 g of potatoes, so make one, or make all three for a party. Serve the salad chilled on a bed of lettuce with a spoonful of single cream on top.

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NazookSour cream pastry rolls

Nazook is the slice-shaped pastry stacked in the windows of Yerevan bakeries and sold by the box at every Armenian church fair from Glendale to Marseille. A yeasted dough enriched with sour cream is rolled thin, spread with a vanilla-scented filling of flour, butter and sugar, rolled into a log and cut on the slant before baking. The result is flaky outside, with a soft, buttery swirl inside, sweet but not sticky. It is a coffee pastry, served to guests and packed for long journeys because it keeps well. Chef's tip: keep the filling cold and spread it right to the side edges; the swirl looks finished and every slice gets its share.

70 minArmenianBaking
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CapunsChard parcels of herby dough

Capuns come from the valleys of Graubünden, where every village in the Surselva and Engadin has its own way of making them, and they are cooked on cold evenings and for festivals in mountain inns. A soft spätzle batter flavoured with herbs and little cubes of air-dried salsiz sausage and bacon is wrapped in chard leaves, then the parcels are poached in a mixture of milk and stock and finished with butter and grated mountain cheese. The salsiz and bacon are pork. Most first attempts fail because the dough is too runny to wrap; it should drop slowly off a spoon, like very thick porridge. Chef's tip: dip the chard leaves into boiling water for just 10 seconds so they turn supple enough to roll without tearing.

80 minSwissMeat
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NdambéBlack-eyed bean stew

Ndambé is what Dakar eats for breakfast on the way to work: a thick, peppery stew of black-eyed beans with onion and tomato, sold from pots on street corners and spooned into a split baguette (tapalapa or pain de mie) with a smear of chilli sauce. At home it is just as good with rice or bread for supper. The beans are cooked until some break down and thicken the sauce, so it holds together in the bread. Chef's tip: soak the beans and cook them separately in plain water first; adding the tomato too early keeps the skins tough.

90 minSenegaleseBreakfast & BrunchVegan
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Ndolé with peanuts and greensBitter leaf and peanut stew

Ndolé comes from the Douala coast and is Cameroon's national dish, cooked for Sunday lunches, weddings and funerals: bitter leaves washed until only a gentle bitterness remains, simmered in a thick sauce of boiled, ground peanuts. Traditionally it is finished with beef, smoked fish and prawns; this version keeps the greens and peanuts at the centre and tops it with crisp fried onions, the way Douala cooks always do. Serve with boiled plantain, miondo or rice. As a variation, add prawns or beef the traditional way. Chef's tip: use raw peanuts, boiled and ground, not peanut butter; ndolé should be nubbly and pale, not like a smooth satay sauce.

110 minCameroonianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Chodang sundubuSoft silken tofu

In Chodang village on the edge of Gangneung, tofu houses have curdled soy milk with clean seawater from the East Sea for generations, and the result, chodang sundubu (초당순두부), is served warm in a bowl before it has been pressed: soft, quivering curds in their own pale whey, with a soy dressing to spoon over. It is breakfast and lunch there, eaten with rice, kimchi and a few banchan, and tastes sweet and clean in a way packaged tofu never does. At home, nigari (the mineral salt left from seawater) gives the same effect. Use plain, unsweetened soy milk with at least 7% soy or make your own. Chef's tip: add the nigari off the heat and stir only once or twice; stirring after the curds start to form breaks them into grains.

35 minKoreanVegetarianVegan
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Jansson's temptationPotato, onion and sprat gratin

No Swedish Christmas table, from Gothenburg to Luleå, is complete without a dish of Janssons frestelse, and it often comes back at Easter and midsummer too. Matchsticks of potato and soft onion are baked in cream with Swedish-style spiced sprats (labelled ansjovis in Sweden), which melt into the sauce and season it with a salty, sweet-spiced depth rather than a fishy taste. It is rich, so a spoonful sits beside ham, meatballs and pickled herring rather than being a main course on its own. Many people go wrong by buying Mediterranean salted anchovies; they are far saltier and the gratin turns harsh, so look for the sweet-cured sprats in Scandinavian shops. Chef's tip: cut the potatoes into thin sticks rather than slices; the starch on their many edges thickens the cream as it bakes.

75 minScandinavianFish
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Milanesa de carneBreaded beef cutlet

If there is one dinner every Argentine child grows up on, it is milanesa: beef pounded very thin, dipped in garlicky egg, coated in breadcrumbs and fried until golden. It came with Italian immigrants to Buenos Aires and Rosario, and today it is eaten on weekday nights with mashed potato or chips, cold in sandwiches the next day (milanesa al pan), and on long car trips. Lemon wedges are a must. The mistake most people make is leaving the beef too thick; it should be about 5 mm, so it cooks through by the time the crumb is golden. Chef's tip: bread the milanesas, lay them on a tray and chill them for 30 minutes before frying, so the coating sticks firmly and doesn't fall off in the pan.

40 minArgentinianMeat
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Pork vindaloo (vindalho)

Vindalho grew out of the Portuguese vinha d'alhos, meat kept in wine and garlic, which Goan Catholic cooks remade with palm vinegar, Kashmiri chillies and spices. In Goa it is a feast dish for Christmas, weddings and the big family lunch after a church feast, made a day or two ahead because it improves as it sits. Despite its fame, the real thing is more sour and garlicky than blisteringly hot, and it has no potatoes. This recipe contains no alcohol. Chef's tip: let the pork marinate overnight in the fridge so the vinegar and chilli go right through the meat.

125 minIndianMeatGluten freeSpicy
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Neenish tartsJam and cream tarts

Neenish tarts have sat in the windows of Australian country bakeries for more than a century, and they're also found across the Tasman in New Zealand. Where the name comes from is still argued over, with one story placing it in the small town of Grong Grong in New South Wales. A crisp sweet pastry case holds a thin layer of raspberry jam and a fluffy mock cream, a beaten mixture of butter, sugar and milk, and the top is iced in two halves: one white, one chocolate. Many bakery mock creams use gelatine; this one doesn't. Chef's tip: beat the mock cream for a long time, a full 8–10 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved and it is white and fluffy, not gritty.

80 minAustralianBaking
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Cholar dalChana dal with coconut

Cholar dal is the festive dal of Bengal, cooked for Durga Puja and weddings and always paired with luchi. Split bengal gram is simmered until soft but whole, then finished with a fragrant tempering of ghee, bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves, little fried coconut pieces and plump raisins. It is thick, mildly sweet and warmly spiced rather than hot. Serve with luchi, puri or steamed rice. Chef's tip: fry the coconut slivers until golden before anything else goes in the pan; they stay crisp-chewy and add a toasty sweetness to every spoonful.

45 minIndianCurriesGluten free
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CholentOvernight beef and bean stew

Cholent, called hamin by Sephardic families, is the slow stew that Jewish homes in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Bnei Brak put on before Shabbat begins on Friday afternoon, so it can cook gently overnight without anyone touching the stove and be eaten hot at Saturday lunch. Beef, dried beans, pearl barley, potatoes and onions cook for 12 hours or more in a paprika-scented broth, often with whole eggs in their shells that turn brown and creamy. Chef's tip: add enough water to just cover everything; too little and it dries out overnight, too much and it is soup.

750 minIsraeliMeat
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CholeraPotato, leek and apple pie

Cholera is a Valais pie from the upper Rhône valley, especially the Goms district, filled with layers of potato, leek, apple, pear and mountain cheese under a pastry lid. One story ties the name to the 1830s cholera outbreak, when people stayed home and baked whatever was in the cellar; another to the old Valais word for a coal stove, chola. It is eaten warm or cold, as a Sunday lunch, picnic food or a slice with a green salad, and the sweet fruit against salty cheese and soft leek is the whole point. Some Valais cooks add bacon; this vegetarian version doesn't need it. Use cheese made with vegetarian rennet. Chef's tip: slice the potatoes, apples and pear thinly and evenly (3 mm) so everything cooks through in the time the pastry takes to brown.

95 minSwissBaking
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Jeonbok jukAbalone rice porridge

Jeju's haenyeo, the island's women free-divers, have gathered abalone from its rocky coast for generations, and porridge made with it is a favourite breakfast on the island. Restaurants near the harbours and many hotel breakfast tables offer it, often a soft green-grey from the abalone guts cooked into the rice. It's gentle, warming food, also cooked for anyone who is unwell or tired. Frozen cleaned abalone works well; the porridge is just paler without the guts. Chef's tip: toast the soaked rice in sesame oil with the abalone until the grains turn translucent at the edges before adding any water; it gives the porridge its nutty flavour.

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Jeonju kongnamul gukbapBean sprout rice soup

Jeonju, the North Jeolla city known for bibimbap, starts its day with kongnamul gukbap (콩나물국밥): a scalding clay bowl of clear soybean-sprout broth over rice, sharp with garlic and chilli, served before dawn to market traders and, famously, to anyone with a hangover. Many Jeonju shops bring a half-cooked egg in a separate cup, which you season with a little broth and crumbled seaweed and slurp first. The usual broth is anchovy based, with salted shrimp at the table; here it is kelp, shiitake and soup soy sauce. Chef's tip: keep the lid on while the sprouts cook and don't open it until they are done; lifting it early is said to give them a raw, grassy smell.

35 minKoreanSoups
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Jeow bongSweet-hot chilli paste with pork skin

Jeow bong is the famous chilli relish of Luang Prabang, the old royal capital, sold in little jars at its night market and eaten with sticky rice, crisp river-weed sheets and fresh vegetables at almost every Lao meal. Dried chillies, roasted garlic, shallot and galangal are pounded with palm sugar and fish sauce into a sticky, smoky, sweet-hot jam. This version contains pork: traditionally it includes thin strips of dried buffalo skin, and here it uses cooked pork skin for the same chewy texture. Chef's tip: roast the aromatics until truly blackened in spots; that char gives jeow bong its smoky depth.

50 minLaoChutneys & DipsGluten freeSpicy
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Neer dosaThin rice crepes

Neer means water in Tulu and Kannada, and that is the whole idea: a batter as thin as milk, poured onto a hot pan where it sets into a soft, lacy crêpe full of tiny holes. In Mangaluru and Udupi homes it is made fresh for breakfast or a Sunday lunch, folded into quarters and eaten warm with coconut chutney, a vegetable sagu, or simply with grated coconut and jaggery for children. Unlike most dosas, the batter is not fermented, so you can soak rice in the morning and eat by lunchtime. The crêpes are pale white, never browned, and should be tender enough to fold without cracking. Chef's tip: stir the batter from the bottom before every single dosa; the rice settles within a minute, and a batter poured from the top runs too thin and tears.

45 minIndianBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
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Chongqing xiao mianChilli oil noodles

Chongqing wakes up to these: thin wheat noodles in a small bowl of red, numbing sauce, eaten standing up at street stalls before work. The noodles are plain; everything happens in the bowl, where chilli oil, Sichuan pepper, garlic water, preserved mustard greens and crushed peanuts are stacked up before the noodles go in. The vegetable version on this page is how most locals order it day to day. Chef's tip: some bought chilli oils are made with beef fat, so check the label or use your own vegetable-oil chilli oil.

20 minChinesePasta & NoodlesVeganSpicy
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Jeow mak lenRoasted tomato and chilli dip

No Lao meal is complete without a jeow, a pounded dip eaten by pinching a ball of sticky rice and dragging it through. Jeow mak len, made from tomatoes charred over the coals until their skins split, is the everyday one from Vientiane to the villages of the north, smoky, garlicky and as hot as you dare. It's served alongside grilled vegetables, raw cucumber and long beans, and keeps well for a few days. Chef's tip: grill everything until it is genuinely blackened in patches; the burnt bits are the flavour, so don't peel all the skin away.

25 minLaoChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
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Goan fish curry (xitt codi)

Ask anyone from Salcete or Bardez what they eat for lunch and the answer is xitt codi: rice (xitt) and curry (codi), almost always fish curry. The gravy is ground from fresh coconut and Kashmiri chillies, soured with kokum and tamarind, and cooked with whatever the boats brought in, from kingfish and pomfret to mackerel. It is a weekday dish, ladled over red Goan rice with a fried fish or a pickle on the side. Chef's tip: grind the coconut masala for a full 2–3 minutes until it is completely smooth; a grainy paste gives a thin, separated curry.

50 minIndianFishGluten freeSpicy
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Jeyuk bokkeumSpicy stir-fried pork

Jeyuk bokkeum is the backbone of the Korean lunch: almost every baekban (set-meal) restaurant near offices and building sites serves it with rice, soup and little side dishes, and it is just as common at home on weeknights. Thin slices of pork are fried hard in a sauce of gochujang, chilli flakes, garlic and ginger until the edges catch and caramelise. Eat it over rice, or wrap a piece in a lettuce leaf with a slice of raw garlic. Chef's tip: fry the pork on its own first until the fat runs, then add the sauce; you get smoky, sticky edges instead of boiled meat.

25 minKoreanMeatSpicy
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JhalmuriSpiced puffed rice

Jhalmuri is the snack Kolkata eats on the move: outside Howrah station, along the Maidan, on suburban local trains, where a vendor tosses puffed rice in a tin with raw mustard oil, chopped onion, cucumber, green chilli and a fistful of chanachur, then tips it into a cone of newspaper. The sharp, nose-tingling mustard oil is what separates it from Mumbai's bhel; there is no sweet chutney at all, only salt, lime and heat. Eat it the minute it is mixed, while it still crackles. Chef's tip: warm the puffed rice in a dry pan for a couple of minutes first; even fresh muri crisps up noticeably.

13 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganSpicy
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Jhangora ki kheerBarnyard millet pudding

Jhangora is barnyard millet, a hardy grain that grows on the high fields of Garhwal and Kumaon, and this kheer is how most hill families turn it into something special. It cooks faster than rice kheer and ends up softer and silkier, with a light, nutty taste. Because millet isn't a cereal grain, it's eaten on Navratri and Ekadashi fasts, when you'll find bowls of it at temples and in homes from Rishikesh to Chamoli. It is just as good chilled the next day. Chef's tip: soak the millet for 20 minutes before cooking; it softens evenly and you won't be left with hard little grains in the pudding.

60 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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Juju dhauThick sweet curd

Juju dhau means king of curds in the Newar language, and it belongs to Bhaktapur, the old brick-and-temple city east of Kathmandu, where it is sold in round clay bowls from shops around Durbar Square and taken home by the stack. Full-fat milk, traditionally buffalo milk, is boiled down by a third until it is rich and faintly caramel, sweetened, then set overnight in unglazed clay pots that soak up the whey, leaving a custard-thick, creamy yogurt with a pale golden skin. No wedding, festival or important meal in the Valley ends without it, and it is eaten on its own with a small spoon. People often rush the reduction, and the yogurt then sets thin and sour. Chef's tip: if you don't have clay pots, set it in ceramic ramekins and pour off any whey after setting; and keep it warm and undisturbed, wrapped in a blanket, so it sets in one smooth layer.

35 minNepaliDessertsGluten free
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BaraBlack lentil patties

Bara, or wo in the Newar language, is a thick, savoury pancake of ground black lentils that the Newar people of the Kathmandu Valley have made for centuries. It is cooked on a flat griddle until spotted brown and lacy at the edges but soft and airy inside. It is festival food above all: it appears at Sithi Nakha in early summer, on the plates of Newar feasts and at roadside stalls in Kirtipur and Patan, where it is often topped with a cracked egg. This plant-based version keeps it plain, with ginger, garlic and cumin in the batter. Eat it hot with golbheda ko achar. The usual mistake is to add too much water when grinding: the batter must be thick enough to hold a peak, or the bara spread thin and go flat. Chef's tip: beat the ground batter by hand for 3–4 minutes until it turns pale and fluffy; the air you whip in is what makes the bara light.

40 minNepaliSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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JianbingSavoury egg crêpe

Jianbing guozi began in Tianjin and is now Beijing's favourite breakfast on the go: a crêpe spread on a round griddle, cracked over with egg, brushed with sauces and folded round a crunchy fried cracker. Vendors make one in two minutes; at home a large non-stick pan works. The batter mixes mung bean and wheat flour for a tender, slightly nutty pancake. Chef's tip: spread the batter thin and fast while the pan is hot, then lower the heat before adding the egg so the crêpe stays pliable.

25 minChineseBreakfast & Brunch
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Andong jjimdakSoy-braised chicken and potatoes

Andong jjimdak took shape in the 1980s in the old market of Andong, a city in North Gyeongsang province, where an alley of small restaurants still serves it on big platters for sharing. Chicken on the bone is braised in a dark, sweet soy sauce with potatoes, carrots and a few dried chillies, then slippery glass noodles are stirred in at the end to soak up the sauce. It is salty, sweet and only gently hot. Serve with rice and kimchi. Chef's tip: soak the glass noodles in warm water for 30 minutes before you start, so they only need 5 minutes in the pot.

60 minKoreanChicken
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AmbaTangy mango pickle sauce

Amba is the golden, sour mango sauce that Iraqi Jews brought from Baghdad (where it had come from Indian traders), and in Israel it is the signature of sabich and a favourite in falafel pitas. Traditionally green mangoes are salted and left in the sun for days to ferment; this quicker stovetop version cooks unripe mango with turmeric, fenugreek, mustard seed and vinegar, then blends it into a smooth, pourable sauce with the same tangy, curry-like flavour. Chef's tip: use mangoes that are hard and green right through; ripe ones make a sweet jam, not amba.

30 minIsraeliChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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Shopska salad

Shopska salata is named after the Shopi people of the Sofia region and has become Bulgaria's national salad, the first thing ordered at any mehana (tavern) with a cold glass of rakia. Ripe tomatoes, cucumber, onion and soft roasted peppers are dressed simply with sunflower oil and vinegar, then buried under finely grated sirene, the Bulgarian white brined cheese, so the top looks like fresh snow. Unlike a Greek village salad, there are no olives and the cheese is grated, not in a slab. Chef's tip: salt and dress the vegetables before the cheese goes on; dressing over the cheese is the common mistake and turns the white snow soggy.

20 minBulgarianSaladsGluten free
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Aloo tikki chaatPotato patties with chutneys

In Delhi, aloo tikki is fried on a giant iron tawa at the edge of a busy market, flattened with a spatula until the outside is shatteringly crisp, then smothered in spiced chickpeas, cool yogurt and green and tamarind chutneys. Places like Chandni Chowk and Lajpat Nagar have queues for it on winter evenings. Delhi tikkis are often stuffed with a little spiced chana dal, which adds bite inside the soft potato. Unlike Mumbai's ragda pattice, it's served with chole and a lot of yogurt. Chef's tip: let the tikkis sit undisturbed on the hot pan for the first 5 minutes; a crust forms that stops them breaking when you turn them.

65 minIndianSnacks & StartersSpicy
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Jingalov hatsWild greens flatbread

Jingalov hats comes from Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), where women in Stepanakert markets would roll the dough around armfuls of greens and cook the flat parcels on a hot saj in front of the queue. The filling is nothing but herbs and leaves, ten to twenty kinds when spring greens are at their best: sorrel, spinach, dill, coriander, spring onion, beet leaves, mint and nettle, wilted with oil and salt. The bread is eaten hot from the griddle at Easter and through Lent, folded in half and dripping with green juices. Displaced families now sell it in Yerevan, where it has become a street-food symbol of home. Chef's tip: mix at least six different greens and keep some sharp ones such as sorrel or lemon juice in the mix; with spinach alone the filling tastes flat.

65 minArmenianBreads & ParathasVegan
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JingisukanGrilled lamb and vegetables

When the cherry trees bloom in Sapporo in early May, parks fill with groups grilling lamb on ridged, dome-shaped pans, and the city's beer halls serve it all year. Named after Genghis Khan, the dish grew up after Hokkaido began raising sheep for wool in the early 20th century. In the Sapporo style, plain lamb is seared on the hump of the pan while bean sprouts, onion and pumpkin cook on the rim in the dripping juices, and everything is dipped in a fruity soy sauce. No domed pan? A heavy frying pan or flat griddle works well. Chef's tip: grease the pan with a piece of lamb fat rather than oil, as it gives the vegetables a rich, meaty flavour.

40 minJapaneseMeat
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Aloo tamaPotato and bamboo shoot curry

Aloo tama is the curry that tells you you are in Nepal: potatoes (aloo) and black-eyed beans (bodi) simmered with tama, slivers of bamboo shoot that have been fermented until they are pleasantly sour and funky. It is a Newar dish at heart, cooked all over the Kathmandu Valley for weddings, feasts and cold winter evenings, and every Nepali restaurant abroad keeps a pot of it. The sourness comes from the bamboo, sharpened with tomato, and the warmth from fenugreek seeds burnt nearly black in mustard oil and a dusting of timur, the Nepali Sichuan pepper that numbs the lips. Eat it with rice or beaten rice (chiura). Don't skip rinsing the bamboo: straight from the jar it can be so sharp that it takes over the whole pot. Chef's tip: let the fenugreek seeds turn a deep reddish brown before anything else goes in; that bitter-sweet, almost maple smell is the backbone of the curry.

50 minNepaliCurriesVeganGluten free
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Jiufen taro ballsTaro balls in syrup

Jiufen, the old gold-mining town clinging to the hills above Taiwan's northeast coast, is famous for bowls of chewy purple taro and orange sweet potato balls, eaten in steep teahouses with a view of the sea. Shops serve them hot in a light sugar syrup in winter and over shaved ice in summer, often with mung beans or red beans. They are just steamed root vegetables kneaded with tapioca starch, so they're naturally gluten free and have a bouncy, QQ chew Taiwanese people love. Chef's tip: knead the starch into the vegetables while they are still hot; the heat partly cooks the starch and makes the dough smooth and pliable.

60 minTaiwaneseDessertsVeganGluten free
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Aloo potala rasaPointed gourd and potato curry

Aloo potala rasa is Odisha's favourite party curry: you will find it on the menu of every Odia wedding and thread ceremony, ladled over rice or eaten with puri. Pointed gourds (potala, parwal) are scraped, fried until blistered, and simmered with potatoes in a thick onion, tomato and ginger-garlic gravy perfumed with whole garam masala. Unlike the light everyday dishes of the state, this one is rich and slow-cooked. Chef's tip: scrape the potala lightly rather than peeling; the green streaks look pretty and hold the shape.

55 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Jodhpuri kabuliLayered vegetable rice

Jodhpuri kabuli is a celebration rice from Marwar that has nothing to do with chickpeas; the name refers to its rich, layered style. Rice is stacked with vegetables simmered in spiced yogurt and milk, crisp fried bread cubes, cashews, raisins and saffron, then steamed under a lid so the bread absorbs the juices while the top stays crunchy. Jodhpur families cook it for weddings and festive lunches, and it is eaten on its own with raita or kadhi. A common mistake is layering the bread at the bottom, where it becomes soggy; it belongs in the middle and on top. Chef's tip: cook the rice only until it still has a firm bite, because it will finish cooking during the dum.

75 minIndianRice & Grains
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Aloo postoPotatoes in poppy seed paste

Aloo posto is one of West Bengal's best-loved everyday dishes: cubes of potato cooked gently in a thick paste of ground white poppy seeds, green chilli and mustard oil. The poppy seeds give a nutty, creamy coating without any dairy, and the nigella seeds and raw mustard oil add a sharp, fragrant edge. It's simple, mild and comforting, eaten with plain rice and dal in Kolkata homes. Chef's tip: grind the soaked poppy seeds with the green chillies and a splash of water until truly smooth; a gritty paste never turns creamy.

30 minIndianSidesVeganGluten free
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Nga thongbaLight fish curry with potato

In the Imphal Valley fish comes from Loktak Lake and the paddy-field ponds, and nga thongba is how most Meitei families cook it on an ordinary weekday. It is a thin, gently spiced curry with potatoes, finished with a big handful of herbs such as maroi nakupi (a local chive) and coriander, so it smells green and fresh. It is eaten with sticky or plain rice, alongside a chilli chutney. Chef's tip: lightly fry the fish first so it stays in neat pieces in the thin gravy.

45 minIndianFishGluten free
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Jolada rotti with ennegaiSorghum flatbread with stuffed aubergine

Across Hubballi, Dharwad, Vijayapura and the dry plains of north Karnataka, a meal means jolada rotti: thin, crisp sorghum flatbreads slapped out by hand, often by the hundred and stored in cloth to eat with everything. Their best-loved partner is ennegai, which means 'oil vegetable': small brinjals slit and stuffed with roasted peanuts, sesame, dry coconut and spices, then cooked slowly in plenty of oil until they collapse into a thick, nutty gravy. It is wedding food, field food and Sunday food, with raw onion, a wedge of lemon and spicy chutney powder on the side. Chef's tip: use boiling water for the jowar dough; it gelatinises the flour slightly, so the rotti holds together without any wheat.

80 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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JolpanFlattened rice with curd and jaggery

Jolpan is how Assam starts the morning of Magh Bihu and Bohag Bihu, and how guests are welcomed in villages all year: a bowl of chira (flattened rice), muri, or sticky bora saul, served with thick curd, yellow jaggery or gur, and sometimes cream. It is not cooked so much as assembled, and every family has its own order: soak the chira, top with doi, crumble in gur. Variants such as komal saul (a soft rice that needs only soaking) are also jolpan. Chef's tip: rinse the chira quickly and drain it at once; a long soak turns it to paste.

10 minIndianBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
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Bhopali gosht korma

Bhopal was ruled for over a century by the Begums, and its Muslim kitchens developed their own style: earthier and more robust than the delicate cooking of Lucknow, with a liking for red chilli, roasted coriander and a thickening paste of dried coconut and poppy seeds. This mutton korma is the centrepiece of Eid lunches and nikah dinners in the old city around Chowk Bazaar, eaten with sheermal or khamiri roti. Compared with an Old Delhi chicken korma, it is darker, hotter and nuttier, and it's made with goat on the bone. Chef's tip: crush the fried onions roughly with your hands instead of blending them smooth; the little flecks of onion are part of the Bhopali texture.

140 minIndianMeatGluten freeSpicy
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Joojeh kababSaffron chicken skewers

Joojeh kabab is what fills Tehran's parks on Sizdah Bedar, the thirteenth day of Nowruz, when families picnic outdoors and grills smoke under the plane trees; it is just as common on restaurant platters beside koobideh. Chunks of chicken soak overnight in yogurt, grated onion, lemon and bloomed saffron, then cook fast over high heat so the edges char while the middle stays juicy and golden-orange. Serve with buttery chelow rice, grilled tomatoes and a pinch of sumac. Chef's tip: grind the saffron threads with a pinch of sugar before steeping them in hot water; you get twice the colour from the same few threads.

40 minPersianChickenGluten free
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NgohiongFive-spice spring rolls

Ngohiong grew from the Chinese-Filipino kitchens of Cebu City and is now street food all over Cebu: a lumpia filled with heart of palm (ubod) or jicama seasoned with five-spice, then dipped in batter and fried, so it has a thick, golden coat rather than a thin crisp skin. It is eaten with a glossy, sweet-hot dipping sauce and often with rice. Cebu stalls mix in a little pork or shrimp; this version is all vegetable. Chef's tip: cook the filling until dry and cool it fully; wet filling tears the wrapper and spits in the oil.

55 minFilipinoSnacks & Starters
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Aloo acharPotato and sesame salad

Aloo ko achar is the potato salad of Nepal, but tangy, nutty and hot rather than creamy. Boiled potatoes are tossed with ground toasted sesame, lemon juice, green chilli and timur, then finished with mustard oil in which fenugreek seeds have been fried dark. You find it everywhere: in tiffin boxes on the way to school, at picnics and on the long leaf plates of Newar feasts, alongside beaten rice and spicy beans, and it is a fixture at Dashain and Tihar gatherings when food has to sit out for hours. It keeps well, and the flavour improves after a rest. Dressing the potatoes while still hot is the usual mistake: they soak it up and turn mushy, so let them cool first. Chef's tip: toast the sesame until it just starts to pop and smells like popcorn, then grind it to a coarse sandy powder; it thickens the dressing and gives the salad its nuttiness.

30 minNepaliSaladsVeganGluten free
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Aloo keemaMinced meat with potatoes

Aloo keema is the dinner that turns up in Pakistani homes from Karachi to Peshawar several times a month: quick, cheap, and loved by children and grandparents alike. Mince is browned with onion, tomato and whole spices, then simmered with potato cubes and peas until the potatoes soak up the masala. It is usually eaten with hot chapati or paratha, and leftovers become a filling for sandwiches and samosas the next day. Chef's tip: keep frying the mince until all the water it releases has gone and it starts to sizzle; that's where the browned, meaty flavour comes from.

55 minPakistaniMeatGluten free
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Carciofi alla romanaBraised artichokes with mint

Every spring, from February to April, Roman market stalls pile up round, thornless romanesco artichokes (cimaroli), and trattorie serve them alla romana: stuffed with wild mint, parsley and garlic and braised stem-up in oil and water until meltingly soft. They are eaten warm or at room temperature as a contorno, often next to their crisp cousins, carciofi alla giudia. Any large globe artichoke works at home. Chef's tip: braise them upside down, stems in the air and tightly packed, so the hearts sit in the liquid and the stems steam to the same tenderness.

50 minItalianSidesVeganGluten free
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Aloo ke gutkePotato cubes with mountain spices

Ask anyone from Kumaon what they miss most from home and aloo ke gutke comes up quickly. Hill potatoes are boiled, cut into rough chunks and tossed in smoking mustard oil with jakhiya, a tiny wild seed that pops and crunches like mustard but tastes more like toasted cumin. It's served at tea time with a mug of chai, on festival plates next to puri, and in local dhabas with cucumber raita. Outside Uttarakhand jakhiya is hard to find, so use cumin seeds with a few black mustard seeds instead; the dish will still taste right. Chef's tip: boil the potatoes a few hours ahead, or the night before, so they firm up and fry into crisp-edged cubes instead of crumbling.

40 minIndianSidesVeganGluten free
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Com hen (Hue baby clam rice)

Cơm hến began as a cheap meal of the boat people around Cồn Hến, an islet in the Perfume River in Huế, and it is still sold for breakfast and as an afternoon snack from tiny stalls across the city. Room-temperature rice is topped with stir-fried baby clams, crunchy pork crackling, roasted peanuts, toasted rice cracker and a heap of raw herbs and greens, then splashed with hot clam broth and plenty of chilli. Huế cooks use tiny river clams; at home, choose the smallest clams you can find, such as baby or Manila clams. The mix of cool and hot, crisp and soft, is the whole point. Chef's tip: keep the rice cool and the broth boiling hot right up to the moment you pour it.

50 minVietnameseRice & GrainsSpicy
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Cari pouletChicken curry

In Réunion a cari is any stew cooked with turmeric (called "safran" on the island), garlic, ginger, onion, tomato and thyme, and cari poulet is the dish families cook on Sundays in Saint-Denis and the mountain villages, often in a big cast-iron pot over a wood fire. It is served with white rice, red beans or lentils, and a fiery rougail on the side. The mistake is adding water too early: let the chicken brown and the tomatoes melt first, then add only a little. Chef's tip: thyme is essential in Réunionnais cooking; add it whole and fish it out before serving.

65 minMauritianChickenGluten free
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Mercimek çorbasıRed lentil soup

If one soup feeds Turkey, it is this. Mercimek çorbası is on the counter of every lokanta (tradesmen's restaurant), in factory and hospital canteens, and it is often what Turks eat for breakfast on a cold morning or to break the fast in Ramadan. Red lentils simmered with onion, carrot and potato are blended until velvety, then each bowl gets a squeeze of lemon and a swirl of butter sizzled with Aleppo pepper and dried mint. It is warming, cheap and filling. Chef's tip: rinse the lentils in several changes of water until it runs clear; it washes off the starch that makes the soup foam and taste dusty.

35 minTurkishSoupsGluten free
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Almond ghribaChewy almond cookies

Ghriba are the crinkle-topped cookies that fill Moroccan biscuit trays for Eid, weddings and guests dropping by for tea; the almond version, ghriba bel louz, is especially loved in Fez and Tétouan. The dough is just ground almonds, sugar, egg and lemon zest, rolled in icing sugar so the top cracks into white rivers as it bakes. They are naturally gluten free, crisp at the edge and soft and chewy inside. Chef's tip: take them out when the cracks have formed but the centres still feel soft; they firm up as they cool, and overbaked ghriba turn hard.

35 minMoroccanBakingGluten free
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Jukut urabGreens with spiced coconut

Jukut urab turns up on almost every Balinese rice plate and at temple-day feasts: blanched long beans, greens and bean sprouts tossed with freshly grated coconut that has been fried with a little bumbu of shallot, chilli, kencur and lime leaf. It is bright, crunchy and only gently hot, the fresh side dish that balances heavier ones. Many cooks add shrimp paste to the bumbu; this one leaves it out. Chef's tip: toss the vegetables and coconut only just before serving, or the coconut draws out water and the dish turns soggy.

30 minIndonesianSaladsVeganGluten free
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NhopiPumpkin and peanut butter mash

Nhopi is a simple Shona dish from Zimbabwe, made at harvest time when the pumpkins come in: pumpkin or butternut boiled soft, mashed and enriched with peanut butter. Some families stir in a little maize meal to make it thicker (nhopi dovi), and it is eaten for breakfast or as a side with greens. It is sweet, nutty and loved by children. Chef's tip: drain the pumpkin very well before mashing, or the nhopi turns thin and watery.

30 minSouthern AfricanSidesVeganGluten free
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Jus de bouyeBaobab fruit drink

Bouye is the Wolof name for the powdery white pulp of the baobab fruit, and jus de bouye is the thick, creamy-tart drink sold in reused bottles from coolers all over Dakar and served at every family celebration. It tastes like sherbet with a hint of pear. Most cooks now use baobab powder, which is sold in health shops as well as African grocers. Sweetened condensed milk is optional but common. Chef's tip: whisk the powder into a little water first to make a smooth paste; poured straight into a jug it forms lumps that never dissolve.

10 minSenegaleseDrinksGluten free
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CarimañolasYuca fritters stuffed with beef

Carimañolas are torpedo-shaped fritters of mashed yuca filled with savoury minced beef, a breakfast and party snack in Panama City and along the Caribbean coast in Colón, often eaten with a cup of coffee or a spoon of hot sauce. The yuca dough is soft and smooth, the outside crisp after frying. The mistake is working the yuca dough while it is cold; mash and shape it while still warm, when it is smooth and pliable. Chef's tip: wet your hands with a little oil or water as you shape them so the dough doesn't stick.

80 minCentral AmericanSnacks & StartersGluten free
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Vegetable chorba frikTomato soup with green wheat

Chorba frik is the soup that breaks the fast in Algerian homes every evening of Ramadan, from Algiers to Constantine, and it is just as common in Libya as shorba. Frik is young green wheat, roasted and cracked, which gives the tomato broth a smoky, nutty depth. It usually cooks with lamb; here chickpeas, celery and courgette carry it. Serve with lemon wedges and bread. Chef's tip: add the frik only once the broth is boiling and stir for the first minute, or it sinks and sticks.

65 minAlgerianSoupsVegan
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Bouillabaisse

Bouillabaisse began as the fishermen's supper on the quays of Marseille's Vieux-Port, made from the bony rockfish nobody could sell, and today it is a long, slow Sunday lunch in Provence. A deep orange broth of fennel, tomato, orange peel and saffron is boiled hard so the olive oil emulsifies, then firm white fish and shellfish are poached in it at the last minute. In Marseille the broth is served first with garlicky rouille on toasted bread, then the fish on a platter. Chef's tip: add the fish in order of thickness, firmest first, so every piece finishes at the same moment.

110 minFrenchFish
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Spaghetti alla carbonara

Roman trattorie from Testaccio to Trastevere serve carbonara at lunch to people who would be scandalised by a drop of cream: the gloss comes only from egg yolk, sharp pecorino romano, rendered guanciale fat and starchy pasta water. Made well, it coats each strand in a golden, peppery custard that just holds together, with crisp-edged nuggets of cured pork through it. It needs nothing alongside but a green salad dressed with lemon, eaten after the pasta as Romans do. Because the eggs are only warmed through, use pasteurised eggs if you are cooking for anyone pregnant, very young, older or otherwise vulnerable. Chef's tip: use mostly yolks and only a couple of whole eggs; whites set first and turn grainy, while yolks give that silky, deep yellow sauce.

25 minItalianPasta & Noodles
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KaassouffléFried Gouda in breadcrumbs

Despite the French-sounding name, a Dutch kaassoufflé has nothing to do with a baked soufflé. It is a snack-bar classic, fried in the frituur of every cafetaria from Groningen to Maastricht: a rectangle of thin pastry wrapped around a slab of young Gouda, coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried until the cheese inside goes molten. It is the vegetarian's answer to the kroket, eaten at lunch or on the way home from football, with a squeeze of mayonnaise or sweet chilli sauce. Chef's tip: chill the filled, breaded pockets for at least 30 minutes before frying; cold pastry and cheese stay sealed in the hot oil, while warm ones burst and leak.

40 minDutchSnacks & Starters
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Carne de porco à alentejanaPork and clams

Despite the name, this surf-and-turf dish of pork and clams is most often linked with the Algarve coast, where Alentejo pork met local shellfish; today it is served in tascas all over Portugal, especially for Sunday lunch. It is a pork dish: cubes of pork shoulder marinate in massa de pimentão (sweet red pepper paste), garlic and traditionally white wine, then are fried and tossed with steamed clams, crisp potato cubes, pickles and lots of coriander. For an alcohol-free version, swap the wine for chicken stock with a tablespoon of white wine vinegar. Chef's tip: buy the pork with a little fat on; lean loin turns dry and tough when fried.

80 minPortugueseMeatGluten free
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ChoripánChorizo sandwich

Choripán is what fans buy outside football stadiums in Buenos Aires, what the asador hands round while the beef is still cooking, and what stalls sell along Costanera Sur on a Sunday afternoon. This is a pork dish: a fat Argentine-style fresh chorizo (pork, sometimes mixed with beef) is grilled slowly, split open (a mariposa) and tucked into a crusty roll with chimichurri or salsa criolla. That's it, and it doesn't need more. The common mistake is grilling the chorizos too hot, so the skins burst and the centre stays raw; low and slow is the rule. Chef's tip: once cooked, split each chorizo lengthways and give the cut sides 1 minute on the grill so they char a little.

30 minArgentinianFast Food
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Couscous royalCouscous with lamb, chicken and sausage

Couscous royal is the big-occasion couscous that Algerian and Moroccan families brought to France and that is now served for weddings and Sunday gatherings from Oran to Marseille: a pot of lamb and chicken simmered with vegetables and chickpeas in a mildly spiced broth, grilled merguez on the side, and a mountain of steamed couscous. The mistake is putting all the vegetables in at once; the courgettes go mushy while the turnips are still hard, so add them in stages. Chef's tip: brown the lamb and chicken well before the water goes in; that colour flavours the whole broth.

160 minAlgerianMeat
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Kabab koobidehMinced lamb kebabs

Koobideh is the kebab of Tehran's bazaar lunch houses and roadside chelo-kababis, laid on a hill of buttered rice with a raw egg yolk or a slab of butter melting into the grains. The name means 'pounded': minced lamb is kneaded with grated onion until it turns sticky and pale, then pressed by hand along wide, flat skewers and grilled hard over coals. It comes out juicy and onion-sweet, with little ridges from your fingers. Eat it with charred tomatoes, raw onion, fresh herbs and lavash on the side. Chef's tip: squeeze every drop of juice out of the grated onion; wet mince slips straight off the skewer.

42 minPersianMeatGluten free
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ChotpotiSpiced yellow pea snack

Chotpoti is what Dhaka eats at dusk: vendors ladle it from great brass pots at Dhanmondi Lake and outside every university gate, and during Ramadan it is a fixture of the iftar spread. Dried yellow peas (motor) are simmered with potato until soft and slightly soupy, then served warm under a shower of raw onion, green chilli, grated boiled egg, crushed fuchka shells, roasted cumin and plenty of sour tamarind water. Chef's tip: soak the peas overnight and cook them until some burst and thicken the liquid; chotpoti should be spoonable, halfway between a stew and a salad.

65 minBangladeshiSnacks & StartersSpicy
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Corn bombSpiced corn on the cob chunks

Chunks of tender corn on the cob tossed in hot oil with cumin, green chillies, fresh coriander, turmeric, black pepper and lemon until every kernel is coated. It's hot, tangy and messy to eat with your fingers. Serve hot from the barbecue.

35 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten freeSpicy
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BasundiThickened sweet milk

Basundi is the reduced-milk dessert of Maharashtra and Gujarat: whole milk simmered patiently in a wide pan, with the skin that forms on top scraped back in, until it is thick, cream-coloured and a little grainy, then sweetened and scented with cardamom and saffron. In Maharashtra it's served with hot puris for Gudi Padwa and Bhau Beej; in Gujarat it turns up at weddings and on Sharad Purnima, and it's also the base of the famous custard-apple (sitafal) basundi. Make it a day ahead; it thickens and tastes richer after a night in the fridge. Chef's tip: use a wide, heavy pan rather than a deep one; more surface means faster evaporation and less time standing at the stove.

90 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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CornulețeJam-filled crescent cookies

Cornulețe are the little crescent cookies that fill tins in Romanian kitchens before Christmas and New Year, and that grandmothers in Sibiu and Timișoara bake by the hundred for weddings and name days. This version uses a tender yeasted dough made with butter and yogurt, wrapped around a spoonful of thick plum jam (magiun) or rose rahat and rolled into horns. They bake pale and soft, not flaky, and are rolled in vanilla sugar while warm (the recipe makes 32, two per serving), which sets them apart from the cream-cheese rugelach of Jewish baking. Chef's tip: use thick jam and pinch the ends shut; runny jam is the usual mistake and bubbles out and burns on the tray.

80 minRomanianBaking
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Thai fish cakes

Bouncy, not fluffy, is how a good tod man pla should feel between the teeth: the fish is worked with red curry paste into a sticky, elastic paste, studded with slices of long bean and shredded lime leaf, then fried in small discs that puff and ruffle at the edges. Markets all over Thailand, from Chiang Mai to Hat Yai, sell them by the bagful, and at home they are a starter or part of a shared meal with a sweet-sour cucumber dip scattered with crushed peanuts. Featherback fish (pla grai) is the classic choice, but any firm white fish works. Chef's tip: rub your hands with a little oil before shaping and the sticky paste won't cling to your fingers.

40 minThaiSnacks & Starters
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Casado vegetarianoRice, beans and plantain plate

Walk into any soda (small family diner) in San José at lunchtime and the board will offer a casado: one plate where rice and beans are 'married' to salad, sweet plantain and a main. The meatless version is just as common, with a fried egg and a slice of fresh white cheese, plus a little picadillo of chopped vegetables. It's a full, balanced lunch, and every element is simple. Chef's tip: cook the plantain only when it's deeply black-skinned and soft; ripe plantain caramelises to sticky dark edges, green plantain just goes dry.

65 minCentral AmericanVegetarianGluten free
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Chtitha djejChicken in paprika sauce with chickpeas

Chtitha djej is the everyday chicken of Algerian homes from Algiers to Constantine: chicken pieces simmered in a red sauce of paprika, cayenne, garlic and caraway with chickpeas, reduced until thick and clinging. It is mopped up with khobz or matlouh flatbread. The mistake is burning the garlic and paprika when they go into the oil, which turns the sauce bitter; keep the heat moderate and add water as soon as they smell toasted. Chef's tip: add a squeeze of lemon right at the end to brighten the spices.

65 minAlgerianChickenGluten freeSpicy
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Kabuli pulaoLamb pilaf with carrots and raisins

Kabuli pulao crossed the Khyber Pass from Afghanistan and is now part of everyday cooking in Peshawar and across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where it is the dish of honour for guests and the centre of Eid tables. Lamb on the bone is simmered into a rich stock, then rice is cooked in that stock and the meat is buried in the middle so it stays soft. On top go strips of carrot and raisins, glazed in a little sugar, and toasted almonds. It isn't spicy, just warm with cumin and cardamom. Chef's tip: caramelise a spoon of sugar in the oil before adding the stock; it gives the rice its traditional golden-brown colour.

135 minPakistaniRice & GrainsGluten free
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PączkiRose jam doughnuts

Pączki are the rich, yeasted doughnuts Poland eats by the dozen on Tłusty Czwartek, Fat Thursday, the last Thursday before Lent, when Warsaw bakeries such as the old ones on Nowy Świat have queues round the block from dawn. A good pączek is round and heavy for its size, with a pale ring around its middle, a fine, yolk-rich crumb and a filling of rose-petal jam (konfitura z róży) or plum butter, finished with icing and candied orange peel. A spoon of vodka or spirytus in the dough is an old trick: it evaporates in the hot oil and stops the dough soaking up fat. Chef's tip: keep the oil between 165 and 175°C with a thermometer; hotter and they burn outside while raw in the middle, cooler and they turn greasy.

70 minPolishDesserts
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Niislel saladPotato and egg salad

Niislel means 'capital', and this creamy salad is the one served across Ulaanbaatar at Tsagaan Sar (Lunar New Year), birthdays and in every canteen. It descends from the Russian Olivier salad of the Soviet era, made Mongolian with plenty of cucumber and sometimes apple; it usually includes ham or sausage, left out here and replaced with extra egg. It's cool and comforting next to hot buuz (dumplings) or tsuivan. Chef's tip: cut everything into small, even cubes the size of a pea; that uniform dice is what makes it niislel and not just potato salad.

45 minMongolianSaladsGluten free
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