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Amasi

Fermented milk with crumbly pap

Thick, tangy amasi was once soured in calabashes in Zulu and Xhosa homesteads, and it is still the drink-cum-meal that many South Africans crave on a hot afternoon, poured over crumbly pap as umvubo. At home it is easy and safe with pasteurised full-fat milk and a spoon of live cultured buttermilk as the starter; never use raw milk. Expect something like a pourable, sharper yoghurt with soft curds, cooling against the dry, crumbly maize. The common mistake is fermenting somewhere too warm, which makes the milk separate into watery whey and rubbery lumps. Chef's tip: once it has set, chill it for a few hours before eating; the cold firms the curd and rounds out the sourness.

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Moqueca baianaFish stew with coconut milk

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45 min

Brazilian Fish

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Moqueca capixabaFish stew with tomato and annatto

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35 min

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45 min

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Kashmiri chai, called pink tea or gulabi chai across Pakistan, came down from Kashmir to become the winter drink of Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad: it is ladled out at weddings, sold from steaming pots at tea stalls on cold nights and served with nankhatai biscuits at family gatherings. The colour is real chemistry, not food colouring: green tea leaves are boiled hard with a pinch of baking soda until the brew turns deep red, then whisked and splashed to get air into it, and finally cooked with milk until it blushes pink. It is lightly salted in the old Kashmiri way and sweetened in the city way; add as much sugar as you like. The mistake people make is using black tea; only green tea leaves turn pink. Chef's tip: pour in ice-cold water as soon as the brew is reduced, and beat it hard; the shock and the air are what lock in the bright colour.

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142 min

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70 min

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120 min

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75 min

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Japanese students often eat a bowl of katsudon the night before a big exam, because 'katsu' sounds the same as the verb 'to win'. Soba restaurants, set-meal shops and train-station stands all over Japan serve it, and it is a favourite takeaway lunch too. A panko-crusted pork loin cutlet is fried until golden, sliced, then simmered for a minute with onion and egg in sweet soy dashi. The top of the crust stays crunchy while the underside soaks up the sauce. Chef's tip: snip the fat along the edge of each cutlet in three or four places before breading, so the meat stays flat in the oil and cooks evenly.

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120 min

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KayaPandan coconut jam

Kaya is the coconut and egg jam spread thickly on toast in every kopitiam in Singapore, from heritage chains to the coffee shop under a housing block. This is the green Nyonya-style kaya, gently cooked with pandan leaves until it turns thick, glossy and custardy; the Hainanese version adds caramel for a brown colour. It keeps for a week in the fridge and is the essential part of kaya toast. Chef's tip: cook it slowly over a pan of barely simmering water and keep stirring; rushed kaya scrambles and turns grainy.

60 min

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Kaya toastToast with coconut jam

The kaya toast set is Singapore's breakfast ritual: thin, crisp toast sandwiched with kaya and a cold slab of butter, served with two runny soft-boiled eggs seasoned at the table with dark soy and white pepper, and a cup of kopi. Office workers eat it at kopitiams in Tiong Bahru and Tanjong Pagar before work; children love dunking the toast in the eggs. Chef's tip: put the eggs in water that's just off the boil for exactly 6–7 minutes; the whites should be barely set and wobbly, the yolks completely runny.

15 min

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Kazakh milk teaBlack tea with hot milk

Kazakhs drink more tea per person than almost anyone, and at home it is always sut shai: strong black tea, often brewed from Kenyan or Indian leaves, poured into a wide cup (kese) with hot milk or a spoon of cream. The host keeps the cups barely half full and refills them again and again, and a guest turns the cup upside down when they've had enough. In winter in Astana a pinch of salt or a knob of butter may go in. It accompanies baursak, shelpek and every meal. Chef's tip: heat the milk until it just steams and add it to the cup first; scalded, boiled milk gives the tea a cooked taste.

10 min

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KedjenouPot-steamed chicken

Kedjenou comes from the Baoulé people of central Côte d'Ivoire, who cooked it in a sealed clay canari set in the embers and shook the pot instead of stirring it; today it is a weekend favourite in Abidjan's maquis, served with attiéké or rice. Chicken, tomato, onion, aubergine, ginger and chilli go into the pot with no water at all, and the vegetables release enough juice to make a light, intense sauce. The mistake is lifting the lid to stir: the steam escapes and the pot can burn, so seal it well and shake it instead. Chef's tip: a heavy casserole with a sheet of foil pressed under the lid works just like the clay pot.

95 min

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Keerai masiyalMashed greens

Keerai masiyal is the plain, green, buttery-soft mash Tamil mothers make with whatever keerai the market has that morning: arai keerai, siru keerai, amaranth or plain spinach. The leaves are cooked with shallots, garlic and green chilli and then mashed, traditionally with a wooden mathu, until smooth but still a little textured, then finished with a cumin tempering. It's eaten mixed into hot rice with a spoon of ghee or sesame oil, next to sambar or rasam, and it's a favourite first food for toddlers. Chef's tip: cook the greens uncovered; covering them traps the gases that turn the leaves dull olive instead of bright green.

22 min

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Kek lapis SarawakLayer cake

In Kuching, kek lapis Sarawak is baked for Hari Raya, Christmas and Gawai, and every family gives boxes of it away. Unlike Indonesia's spiced lapis legit, Sarawak cakes are sweet, dense and buttery, often made with condensed milk, and famous for their bright geometric patterns. Many layers are grilled one by one, then the cake is cut into strips and glued back together with jam to make the design. This is the beginner's chequerboard in plain and pandan green. Chef's tip: spread each layer thin and even with the back of a spoon; uneven layers make the pattern crooked.

195 min

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KeleweleSpiced fried plantain

Kelewele is what Accra smells like after dark: ripe plantain cubes tossed in a paste of ginger, onion, chilli and spice, then fried at roadside stalls lit by lamps and sold in paper cones. It is eaten as an evening snack, often with a handful of roasted peanuts, or as a side with red red. The outside caramelises while the spices turn toasty, so every piece is sweet, hot and spicy at once. Chef's tip: use plantains that are yellow with lots of black spots; fully black ones collapse in the oil and green ones never turn sweet.

25 min

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AyranSalted yogurt drink

Ayran is what Turks drink with lunch: a chilled, foamy blend of yogurt, water and a pinch of salt, poured from copper jugs alongside cheese pide, börek, lentil soup and bean stews. In the Susurluk area of Balıkesir it is whisked so hard that it arrives under a thick head of foam, and roadside cafés all over Anatolia serve it in tin cups on hot summer days. It is tangy, refreshing and cooling with spicy food. Make it just before you sit down and drink it ice-cold. Chef's tip: whisk the yogurt alone with the salt until smooth before adding any water, and you'll get a silky drink with no lumps.

5 min

Turkish Drinks

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AyibFresh curd cheese

Ayib is the soft, crumbly fresh cheese that Ethiopians serve alongside spicy food to cool the mouth, especially with kitfo and gomen in the Gurage country south of Addis Ababa, where it is made from the buttermilk left after churning butter. It tastes very mild and slightly tangy, a little like ricotta or cottage cheese, and is often mixed with herbs or a pinch of mitmita. This home version uses milk and buttermilk, heated until they separate. Chef's tip: once the curds form, take it off the heat; boiling makes them tough and rubbery.

30 min

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Ayam rica-ricaChicken in fresh chilli paste

Rica means chilli in the Manado dialect, and North Sulawesi cooks are not shy with it. Ayam rica-rica turns up at Minahasa family parties and church gatherings, a heap of chicken pieces coated in a coarse, scarlet paste of fresh chillies, shallots and ginger, finished with tomato, spring onion and a fistful of lemon basil. It's hot, bright and fresh rather than deep and stewed, with a sticky sauce that clings to the meat. Serve it with lots of steamed rice and a cooling cucumber salad. Chef's tip: blend the paste coarse, with as little water as possible; a wet, smooth paste steams instead of frying and never gets that glossy, toasty edge.

50 min

Indonesian Chicken

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Ayam pongtehChicken and potato braise

Melaka's Peranakan (Nyonya) kitchens cook ayam pongteh for family dinners and for the Chinese New Year reunion table: a dark, gentle braise of chicken and potatoes that has no chilli at all. Its savour comes from taucheo, salted fermented soybeans, fried with a lot of shallots and garlic, sweetened with palm sugar and coloured with dark soy. The gravy is thin, glossy and moreish, and the potatoes drink it up until they are soft enough to crush with a spoon. Spoon it over plain rice with sambal belacan on the side for anyone who wants heat. Chef's tip: pound the shallots rather than blending them to a purée; slightly coarse shallots melt into the gravy and give it body.

60 min

Malaysian Chicken

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Ayam masak merahChicken in tomato chilli sauce

Red-cooked chicken turns up at almost every Malay kenduri (wedding feast) and Hari Raya open house across Malaysia, ladled out of huge pots beside nasi minyak or plain rice. The chicken pieces are fried first so the skin firms up, then simmered in a brick-red sauce of blended dried chillies, tomato and onion that tastes sweet first, then hot, then tangy. Cinnamon, star anise and cloves give it a warm, almost festive smell, and a splash of coconut milk at the end rounds off the edges. Serve it with steamed rice, cucumber slices and a spoon of acar (pickled vegetables). Chef's tip: fry the chilli paste until it darkens and the oil seeps out (pecah minyak) before any tomato goes in; raw paste makes the sauce taste harsh and bitter.

50 min

Malaysian Chicken

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