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Green chilli chutney
Featured recipe

Green chilli chutney

The everyday Gujarati green chutney: fresh coriander, hot green chillies, raw mango and green pepper blended coarsely with fafadia gathia, which thickens it and stops it going watery. It's hot, tangy and a little sweet. Serve it with dhokla, khandvi, sandwiches and all kinds of farsan.

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Kyoto takiawaseSimmered vegetables

Obanzai is what Kyoto calls its everyday home cooking: thrifty, seasonal side dishes that families keep in the fridge and that small restaurants line up in bowls along the counter. Takiawase, 'simmered together', is one of its finest. Each vegetable is cooked separately in a pale, delicate broth, so the kabocha stays orange, the daikon turns translucent and the carrot keeps its colour, then they are arranged side by side in one dish. Kyoto cooks season with light-coloured usukuchi soy, which is saltier than regular soy but doesn't darken the food. Serve it warm or at room temperature with rice and miso soup. Chef's tip: let everything cool in its broth. The vegetables soak up most of their flavour as they cool, not while they boil.

55 minJapaneseSidesVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kyrgyz shorpoLamb and vegetable broth

Shorpo is the soup that keeps Kyrgyz herders warm in the summer pastures around Issyk-Kul and in yurts high in the Tian Shan: big pieces of lamb on the bone simmered slowly with whole potatoes, carrots and onion until the broth is clear and golden. The meat and vegetables are often served on a plate and the broth in bowls, with fresh herbs and bread torn into it. It is simple, so the quality of the lamb matters. Letting it boil hard is the usual mistake; a rolling boil makes the broth cloudy and the meat stringy. Chef's tip: start the lamb in cold water and skim patiently for the first 15 minutes.

145 minKazakhSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Empanadas de humitaCreamy corn empanadas

Empanadas de humita are the vegetarian favourite at every Argentine empanada shop, from Tucumán, which claims the best empanadas in the country, to the delivery menus of Buenos Aires. The filling is sweetcorn and onion cooked with red pepper, nutmeg and a little white sauce until creamy, then folded into wheat pastry discs and closed with the twisted edge (repulgue) that tells you what's inside. Unlike the husk-wrapped humita en chala, these are baked and golden. Chef's tip: chill the filling until firm before filling; warm filling melts the pastry and the empanadas open in the oven.

75 minArgentinianSnacks & Starters
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EggahHerb omelette

Eggah is the omelette Egyptian families make at home for breakfast or a light supper, often on a Friday morning alongside ful, falafel, cheese and baladi bread. It is thick and set rather than folded, packed with spring onion, parsley and dill and warmed with cumin, and it's cooked slowly so it puffs and browns on both sides. Slice it into wedges and eat it hot from the pan or cold in a sandwich. Chef's tip: grate the onion and squeeze it dry; wet onion makes the eggs weep and the eggah falls apart when you flip it.

25 minEgyptianBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
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Egg hoppersBowl-shaped rice pancakes with egg

Hoppers (appa) are the crisp-edged, bowl-shaped pancakes that street cooks in Colombo, Kandy and Jaffna make in rows of small round pans every evening; an egg hopper has an egg cracked into the soft centre so it steams to a runny yolk. The batter of rice flour, coconut milk and yeast (traditionally toddy) is left to ferment until it's light and slightly sour, which gives the lacy, golden rim and the spongy middle. They're eaten hot with pol sambol and lunu miris, and plain hoppers come with sweet jaggery for dessert. Kerala's appam is a cousin, but Sri Lankan hoppers are thinner and crisper and the egg version is their own. The common mistake is a batter that's too thick, which gives heavy, pale hoppers; it should flow like single cream. Chef's tip: swirl the pan in one quick full turn the moment the batter goes in, then cover at once.

60 minSri LankanBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
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La bandera dominicanaRice, beans and chicken plate

Across the Dominican Republic, from Santo Domingo office canteens to family kitchens in Santiago, the midday meal is la bandera, named after the flag: white rice, red beans stewed with squash, and braised chicken. It is eaten almost every weekday, often with a green salad and fried plantain. Dominican cooks start the chicken by caramelising sugar in the oil, which gives the sauce its deep brown colour, and they prize the concón, the crisp layer of rice at the bottom of the pot. The mistake to avoid is letting the sugar go past dark amber; burnt sugar makes the whole stew bitter. Chef's tip: marinate the chicken with lime, garlic and oregano the night before; it takes on far more flavour than a quick 30 minutes.

105 minPuerto RicanChickenGluten free
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La Paz batchoyPork noodle soup

La Paz batchoy was born in the market of La Paz, a district of Iloilo City on Panay, where stalls ladle it out from early morning to late at night. It is a pork noodle soup through and through: fresh egg noodles (miki) in a deep pork-bone broth seasoned with a little shrimp paste, topped with sliced pork, liver, crushed pork crackling (chicharrón) and lots of fried garlic. Locals often crack a raw egg into the bowl and ask for extra broth. It is a warming, savoury bowl for rainy afternoons. Chef's tip: make the broth the day before and chill it; the fat sets on top so you can lift most of it off and fry the garlic in it.

180 minFilipinoSoups
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Laal maasFiery red mutton curry

Laal maas grew out of the Rajput hunting tradition in the desert country around Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, where game was cooked with plenty of garlic and red chillies to carry it. Today it's made with goat or lamb and is the dish Rajasthanis cook for a winter feast, served with bajra roti or plain rice and a bowl of yogurt to cool things down. The fierce colour comes from Mathania chillies, grown near Jodhpur, which are deep red, aromatic and properly hot. Some cooks finish it with a burning coal set in the pot to give it a smoky edge, an optional step included here. Chef's tip: soak and grind the dried chillies to a paste instead of using chilli powder; it gives the deep red colour and a rounder heat that doesn't scorch.

140 minIndianMeatGluten freeSpicy
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Efo riroSpinach stew

Efo riro, literally 'stirred greens', is the Yoruba vegetable stew cooked in homes from Ibadan to Lagos on any ordinary weekday, and eaten with pounded yam, eba or plain rice. Leafy greens are wilted into a rich base of blended peppers fried in palm oil with iru, the pungent fermented locust beans that give the dish its savoury backbone. Most families add assorted meats, stockfish and crayfish; some keep a little smoked fish on the side for those who want it. This version leans on mushrooms, iru and a touch of smoked paprika instead. Chef's tip: squeeze the blanched greens really dry before they go into the sauce; wet spinach thins the stew and washes out the flavour.

50 minNigerianCurriesVeganGluten freeSpicy
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LablabiChickpea soup with bread

Lablabi is the working breakfast of Tunis, served from steaming cauldrons in tiny shops near the medina and the markets from dawn, and eaten all over Tunisia on cold winter mornings. Torn day-old bread goes into the bowl first, then hot chickpeas and their garlicky broth, and everyone dresses their own with harissa, cumin, olive oil, lemon and capers; many add a soft-poached egg that is broken through the bread. Chef's tip: let the bread soak for a minute before you stir in the harissa, so it turns soft and spoonable but not mushy.

95 minTunisianSoupsSpicy
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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
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Cape Malay koesistersSpiced syrup doughnuts

Koesisters are Cape Town's Sunday-morning ritual: in the Bo-Kaap and on the Cape Flats, families buy or make a batch to eat with tea after the week's work is done. They are nothing like the plaited, crunchy Afrikaner koeksister. These are soft, cake-like, oval dumplings flavoured with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, aniseed and naartjie (tangerine) zest, fried, briefly boiled in a thin syrup and rolled in desiccated coconut. Chef's tip: fry them over a moderate heat so they cook through to a fluffy centre before the outside turns dark; they should be a rich brown, not black.

150 minSouth AfricanDesserts
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EetchBulgur in tomato and pepper

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30 minArmenianSaladsVegan
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LabraMixed vegetable curry

Labra is the vegetable dish of Durga Puja bhog: in community pandals across Bengal it is ladled out beside khichuri and a sweet tomato chutney to hundreds of people sitting in rows. It is a loose jumble of pumpkin, potato, aubergine, radish, sweet potato, raw banana and spinach stalks, cooked with panch phoron and ginger until some pieces melt and others hold. No onion or garlic goes in, because it is temple food. Chef's tip: add the vegetables in order of hardness, so the pumpkin goes soft and sweet while the radish and banana keep their shape.

50 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sayur lodehVegetables in coconut milk

Sayur lodeh is everyday cooking in Central Java, made in big pots in Solo and Semarang kitchens and ladled over rice, with lontong rice cakes at Lebaran, or alongside opor and sambal goreng on festive tables. It's soupy rather than thick: a fragrant broth of coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass and lime leaf that carries chunks of aubergine, long beans, chayote and sweetcorn, plus tempeh and tofu to make it a meal. The flavour is mellow and slightly sweet, so the heat comes from sambal on the side. Chef's tip: keep the pot at a gentle simmer once the coconut milk goes in and stir now and then — a rolling boil splits the coconut milk into oily curds.

35 minIndonesianCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 3 views

Echorer dalnaYoung jackfruit curry

In early summer, Kolkata's bazaars sell baby green jackfruit (echor), and Bengali households cook it into a dalna rich enough to be called gachh-patha, 'mutton from the tree'. The jackfruit is boiled, fried with potato and simmered in a ginger, cumin and tomato gravy, finished with ghee and garam masala. Its chewy, meaty texture soaks up the spice. It is a Sunday lunch dish, eaten with rice or luchi. Chef's tip: buy jackfruit no longer than your forearm, with pale seeds; older fruit is fibrous and the seeds are hard.

75 minIndianCurriesGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Alfajores de maicenaCornflour dulce de leche sandwich cookies

Alfajores de maicena are the homemade alfajor of Argentina and Uruguay, baked for birthdays, school fairs and merienda (afternoon tea) with mate. Two pale, melt-in-the-mouth biscuits made mostly with cornflour are sandwiched with a thick layer of dulce de leche and rolled in desiccated coconut around the edge. They should crumble at the first bite. Chef's tip: take them out of the oven while still pale; if they colour they lose their tender, sandy texture.

42 minArgentinianBaking
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Ladakhi skyuWheat dough and root vegetable stew

Skyu is what Ladakhi families in Leh and the villages along the Indus cook when the passes close and fresh vegetables run short: a thick stew of turnip, potato and carrot with little cups of wheat dough pressed with the thumb, a bit like orecchiette. It is filling, gently peppery and made in a single pot on the kitchen stove that also heats the house. Some homes finish it with a splash of milk or a crumble of dried cheese; this version keeps it plant-based and lets the vegetables flavour the broth. Chef's tip: press each piece of dough thin enough to see the thumbprint clearly; thick pieces stay doughy in the middle.

60 minIndianSoupsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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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Dwaeji gukbapPork and rice soup

Ask anyone in Busan for a bowl of something filling at any hour and they will probably send you for dwaeji gukbap. Seomyeon has a whole alley of gukbap restaurants, open from early morning to late at night, serving the soup to market workers, students and people heading home after a night out. Pork bones are boiled hard for hours until the broth turns cloudy and white, then poured over sliced pork and rice. Each diner seasons their own bowl at the table with salted shrimp, chilli paste and a pile of garlic chives, with raw onion, green chilli and kimchi on the side. Chef's tip: season the soup in the bowl, not the pot; a little saeujeot at a time gives a clean, savoury depth that salt alone doesn't.

180 minKoreanSoups
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DushbaraTiny lamb dumplings in broth

Dushbara is the test of a patient cook in Azerbaijan: dumplings so small that a dozen fit on a spoon, filled with lamb and onion and served in clear bone broth. Families in Baku and the Absheron towns make them for New Year and Novruz, everyone sitting around the table folding together. At the table each bowl gets dried mint, a little crushed garlic in vinegar, and sumac. Over-filling is the usual problem; too much meat and the edges won't seal, so the dumplings open in the pot. Chef's tip: make the broth from lamb bones the day before and chill it, so you can lift off the fat and the soup stays crystal clear.

115 minAzerbaijaniSoups
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Albóndigas en salsaMeatballs in tomato almond sauce

Albóndigas turn up all over Spain: in a cazuelita on a tapas bar counter, as the second course of a weekday menú del día, and in home kitchens on a Sunday when there is time to roll them. These are made with pork and beef, softened with milk-soaked bread, browned and then simmered in a tomato sauce thickened the old Spanish way with ground fried almonds, which gives it body and a gentle nutty sweetness. Serve them with chips, rice or plenty of bread. They taste even better the next day. Chef's tip: wet your hands with cold water before rolling each meatball; the mixture won't stick and the balls come out smooth and round.

60 minSpanishMeat
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MofongoMashed fried plantain

In Puerto Rico mofongo is the dish people drive out to the kioskos of Piñones and the roadside fondas of Arecibo for: green plantain fried in chunks, then pounded while hot in a wooden pilón with raw garlic and good olive oil until it holds together in a rough, crusty dome. The outside stays a little crisp, the inside is soft, starchy and fiercely garlicky. Most places pound in chicharrón (pork crackling); this garlic-oil version is the main one here, and the crackling is a note at the end for meat eaters. Serve it with a small bowl of hot caldo to spoon over, or with stewed beans or a tomato sofrito sauce. Chef's tip: warm the garlic in the olive oil only until it smells sweet, never until it browns, so the mofongo tastes of fresh garlic rather than bitter toast.

40 minPuerto RicanVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ala thel dalaDevilled potatoes

Ala thel dala means 'potato tempered in oil', and it's the quick, fiery potato fry that Sri Lankan mothers make when there's no time for a full curry, served with rice, packed into a lunch box with parippu, or eaten with bread at breakfast. Boiled potato cubes are tossed in hot oil with mustard seeds, plenty of red onion, curry leaves, turmeric and roughly crushed dried chilli until the edges turn golden and the onion goes soft and sweet. Unlike an Indian aloo sabzi there are no ground cumin or coriander, just chilli heat, onion and curry leaf. The usual mistake is boiling the potatoes until they're soft right through; they then break up in the pan. Chef's tip: stop boiling when a knife still meets a little resistance in the middle; the potatoes finish cooking in the pan and keep their shape.

25 minSri LankanSidesVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

LahmacunThin spiced meat flatbread

Lahmacun belongs to south-east Turkey, especially Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa, where bakeries slide dozens at a time into wood-fired ovens and people eat them on the street at any hour, often with a cold ayran. The dough is rolled almost see-through and spread with a raw paste of minced lamb, onion, peppers, tomato and herbs that cooks in minutes in fierce heat. To eat, squeeze lemon over, add a handful of parsley and onion, roll it up and fold. Chef's tip: blitz the topping vegetables to a fine paste and squeeze out the excess juice, so the meat spreads in a thin, even layer that bakes crisp rather than soggy.

90 minTurkishPizza
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Lahori charghaSteamed and fried spiced chicken

Chargha is a Lahore speciality, sold from the busy food streets of Lakshmi Chowk and the old city, where whole birds are coated in a red, tangy masala, steamed in big pots and then dropped into hot oil to order. It is the centrepiece of wedding dinners and Saturday-night family outings, and makes an impressive home dinner for guests. Steaming keeps the meat moist and cooked through before frying gives it a crisp, spicy skin. Serve it with naan, raita, salad and a squeeze of lime. Chef's tip: slash the chicken deeply to the bone so the masala and steam reach the thickest parts.

90 minPakistaniChickenGluten freeSpicy
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Durian candyDurian milk fudge

Davao City on Mindanao is the Philippines' durian capital, and its roadside stalls sell the fruit by the kilo next to boxes of durian candy for travellers who can't carry a whole one home. Ripe durian pulp is cooked slowly with condensed milk, sugar and butter until it becomes a dense, chewy fudge that tastes of caramel, custard and that famously strong fruit. Chef's tip: frozen durian pulp works perfectly; thaw it fully and pick out any seeds and fibrous bits before you start.

65 minFilipinoDessertsGluten free
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Dulce de lecheMilk caramel

Dulce de leche is Argentina's national sweet, spread on toast at breakfast, sandwiched in alfajores, rolled into panqueques and spooned onto flan. Argentine families traditionally make it by slowly cooking milk and sugar with a vanilla pod and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, which helps it turn deep brown, until it becomes a thick, glossy caramel cream. It takes about three hours of gentle cooking and regular stirring. Chef's tip: use a wide, heavy pan and keep the heat low; the wider the surface, the faster the milk reduces, and the less it catches on the bottom.

185 minArgentinianBasicsGluten free
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Lahpet thokePickled tea leaf salad

Lahpet thoke is how Myanmar welcomes a guest: a lacquered tray of pickled tea leaves surrounded by fried beans, peanuts, sesame and garlic, offered after meals, at weddings and at monk feasts from Mandalay to Yangon. Mixed into a salad with cabbage, tomato, chilli and lime, it becomes the country's most famous dish: bitter, sour, salty and crunchy at once, with a gentle caffeine lift. Ready-made lahpet sometimes contains fish sauce and the crunchy mix often has dried shrimp, so this version quick-pickles loose green tea at home. Chef's tip: soak the tea in several changes of hot water and squeeze it hard each time; that's what tames the bitterness.

25 minBurmeseSaladsVeganGluten free
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LaingTaro leaves in coconut milk

Laing is the pride of Bicol, the chilli-loving region at the southern tip of Luzon. Dried taro leaves are simmered for close to an hour in coconut milk with ginger, lemongrass and siling labuyo until they collapse into a dark, creamy, spicy mass, then finished with thick coconut cream. Bicolano cooks usually add pork or dried fish and shrimp paste; this vegetarian version leans on extra ginger and a little salt and stays rich. Eat it with plain rice, often as a Friday or Lenten dish. Chef's tip: lay the leaves on top of the coconut milk and don't stir until they have soaked it up; stirring raw taro leaves early is said to leave an itchy taste.

70 minFilipinoVegetarianVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Duba watSpicy pumpkin stew

Duba wat is a fasting-season stew from the Ethiopian highlands, made when pumpkins are plentiful after the rains around Meskel in late September. Chunks of pumpkin are cooked in a classic red wat base of slow-cooked onion, garlic and berbere, so the sweetness of the squash plays against the heat of the spices. It is softer and sweeter than most wats and goes well with gomen and injera. Chef's tip: add the pumpkin only once the onion and berbere base is fully cooked and glossy; raw-tasting berbere spoils the dish.

40 minEthiopianCurriesVeganGluten free
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LaksamRice noodles in coconut fish gravy

Kota Bharu's morning market has its own noodle: laksam, thick sheets of steamed rice batter rolled up like little carpets and sliced into wheels. They are drowned in a pale, creamy gravy of pounded fish and coconut milk, then heaped with raw herbs and vegetables (ulam): cucumber, long beans, bean sprouts, daun kesum and torch ginger flower, with a spoonful of fiery chilli and budu, the region's fermented anchovy sauce. The result is soft and slippery, rich and cool at the same time. Locals eat it for breakfast or as a mid-morning snack. Chef's tip: pound the cooked fish with the shallots instead of blending it smooth; the gravy should feel faintly textured, like a thin porridge.

60 minMalaysianPasta & NoodlesGluten free
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Lal sahRed tea

In Assam, the home of half of India's tea, the everyday cup is lal sah, 'red tea': strong CTC or orthodox Assam leaf brewed briefly, poured off, sweetened and drunk black. It is what tea-garden workers, Guwahati office-goers and grandmothers drink from morning till evening, often with a slice of lemon, a crushed piece of ginger or, in upper Assam, a bay leaf. Its colour is a deep, clear red and its taste is malty and brisk, never stewed. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat before adding the leaves; boiling them makes the tea harsh and cloudy.

7 minIndianDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 1 views

StollenFruit Christmas bread

Dresden has baked Christstollen for more than 500 years, and every December the city holds a Stollen festival with a giant loaf paraded through the old town to the Striezelmarkt. The loaf's shape, folded over and dusted white, is said to show the Christ child wrapped in swaddling cloth. It's a rich, dense yeast bread, heavy with butter, raisins, candied peel and almonds, brushed with melted butter straight from the oven and buried in sugar. It's baked weeks before Christmas and sliced thinly through Advent. Chef's tip: wrap it tightly and let it rest for at least a week before cutting; the flavours ripen and the crumb turns moist.

120 minGermanBaking
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Mojo criolloSour orange and garlic sauce

Mojo criollo is the raw sauce Cuban cooks keep in a jar by the stove: sour orange juice from the naranja agria tree, pounded garlic, cumin, oregano and olive oil. On the island it marinates whatever goes on the grill and is spooned over tostones, boiled malanga and roast vegetables; vegetarians use it to marinate tofu, mushrooms or thick slices of squash. It is sharp, garlicky and bright. Chef's tip: pound the garlic to a paste with the salt rather than chopping it; the salt helps it break down so the sauce tastes round, not harsh.

10 minCubanChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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DovgaHerb and yogurt soup

Dovğa is green, tangy and cooling, the soup Azerbaijanis drink cold from glasses on hot Baku afternoons and eat hot in bowls when the Absheron wind turns chilly. Yogurt is thinned, thickened with rice and egg, then packed with chopped spinach, dill, coriander, mint and sorrel, until the soup is more herbs than dairy. It is served at weddings and at Novruz to settle the stomach after rich food, and many cooks add chickpeas. Unlike Armenian spas, there is no fried onion or wheat; the flavour is all fresh herbs and sour yogurt. Chef's tip: add the herbs only once the yogurt is boiling steadily and stable; they wilt in seconds, and the colour stays bright green.

50 minAzerbaijaniSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

LamingtonsChocolate coconut sponge squares

Lamingtons are said to be named after Lord Lamington, Governor of Queensland at the turn of the twentieth century, and they're the cake of Australian school fundraisers, Country Women's Association stalls and morning tea at work; there's even a National Lamington Day on 21 July. Cubes of light butter sponge are dunked in a thin, glossy chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated coconut, so each one has a soft, chocolate-soaked outside and a fluffy middle. Some bakeries split them and fill them with jam and cream. Chef's tip: bake the sponge a day ahead, or freeze the cut squares for an hour; fresh sponge crumbles in the icing, firm sponge dips cleanly.

75 minAustralianBaking
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Lamprais (home version)Rice parcel with meat curry

Lamprais came to Sri Lanka with the Dutch Burgher community, and Colombo's Burgher families still make it for Sunday lunch, christenings and Christmas. Each banana-leaf parcel holds rice cooked in rich stock, a mixed meat curry, little fried meatballs called frikkadels, a hard-boiled egg, aubergine moju and seeni sambol, all baked together until the leaf perfumes everything. The traditional version uses three meats including pork; this home version keeps it to chicken and beef so it is manageable in one day, and the steps still take time. Chef's tip: make the curry and frikkadels the day before; on lamprais day you only cook the rice and wrap.

210 minSri LankanRice & Grains
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Doro watSpicy chicken and egg stew

Ethiopian families make doro wat for the biggest days of the year, especially Genna (Christmas) and Fasika (Easter), when it breaks weeks of meatless fasting. Its secret is patience: a mountain of red onions is cooked down slowly with no fat at all until jammy and dark, then enriched with spiced butter and fiery berbere. Chicken pieces and whole hard-boiled eggs simmer in the sauce until it is thick, glossy and brick red, with a deep, smoky heat. Ladle it onto injera, with ayib (fresh cheese) alongside to cool things down. Chef's tip: score the boiled eggs lightly all over before adding them, so the sauce seeps right into the whites.

150 minEthiopianChickenGluten freeSpicy
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Alicha wat (chicken)Mild turmeric chicken stew

Not every Ethiopian stew is fiery: alicha wat is the gentle, golden one, coloured with turmeric instead of berbere and seasoned with ginger, garlic and a few green chillies. Families across the country cook doro alicha when someone wants something soothing, when children are at the table, or as the mild partner to a spicy wat on a festive spread. The chicken simmers in a soft onion and spiced-butter sauce until tender, with a fragrant, buttery and slightly peppery flavour. Serve with injera or rice and a fresh tomato salad. Chef's tip: add the green chillies whole and fish them out before serving if you want flavour without heat.

60 minEthiopianChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

LángosFried bread with garlic and cheese

Lángos is the deep-fried flatbread of Hungarian beaches and markets: it is eaten in swimsuits on the shore of Lake Balaton, at Budapest's Great Market Hall and at every summer fair. The dough is soft and yeasted, often enriched with mashed potato, and it fries into a puffy disc that is crisp at the edges and chewy in the middle. The classic topping is garlic water brushed on hot, then sour cream and a snowfall of grated cheese. Chef's tip: stretch the dough thinner in the centre than at the rim; the edge puffs into a crisp crust while the middle stays soft enough to hold the toppings. Choose a cheese made with vegetarian rennet (many supermarket Cheddars and Edams are).

60 minHungarianFast Food
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DooghSalted yogurt drink

Doogh is the salty, fizzy yogurt drink served in tall glasses with lunch across Iran, and above all with kebab and rice at the chelow-kababi restaurants of Tehran. Bottled sparkling doogh from the mineral springs of Abali, in the mountains east of the capital, is the famous one; at home it is mixed from yogurt, cold water and soda water with crumbled dried mint, and sometimes wild pennyroyal (kakuti) or rose petals. Its bubbles and mint set it apart from plainer, still yogurt drinks. It is cooling and good with rich, herby food. Chef's tip: add the sparkling water last and stir gently, or the fizz disappears before it reaches the glass.

5 minPersianDrinksGluten free
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AktoriBuckwheat pancakes with greens

High in the Spiti and Lahaul valleys of Himachal Pradesh, where wheat struggles, buckwheat (kathu) grows in short summer fields and its leaves are eaten as a vegetable too. Aktori are thin buckwheat pancakes cooked with a layer of those greens inside, dotted with ghee and eaten warm with yogurt or salty butter tea. Families make them on festival mornings and through the long winter. Outside the valleys, spinach or young chard stands in well for buckwheat leaves. Chef's tip: keep the batter as thin as pouring cream; buckwheat has no gluten, so a thick batter cooks up gummy instead of tender.

30 minIndianBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
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Dongbei da la piMung bean sheet salad

In north-east China, a big platter of this arrives at almost every family dinner and restaurant table, often next to the stews and dumplings. Wide, glassy sheets of mung-bean starch sit on a bed of shredded cucumber, carrot and cabbage, with a sesame, garlic and vinegar sauce and a dab of mustard poured over at the table. It's cool, slippery and crunchy. Look for dried la pi sheets or wide mung-bean noodles in Chinese supermarkets. Chef's tip: the sheet noodles must be fully cold before mixing, or they go soft and sticky.

25 minChineseSaladsVegan
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DomodaBeef and peanut stew

Domoda is the stew that most families in the Gambia, from Banjul to the riverside villages upcountry, cook several times a week. Beef is browned and simmered with tomato and onion, then smooth peanut butter is stirred in until the sauce turns thick, glossy and rich, with pumpkin and sweet potato melting into it. It is spooned over white rice with a squeeze of lime, and a scotch bonnet floats in the pot for whoever likes it hot. The mistake to avoid is adding the peanut butter too early and leaving it unstirred, as it catches and burns on the bottom; add it once the beef is nearly tender and stir often. Chef's tip: whisk the peanut butter with a ladle of hot broth before it goes in, so it melts smoothly instead of forming lumps.

125 minSenegaleseMeatGluten free
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Larb gaiSpicy chicken salad

Out in the rice-farming provinces of Isan, a plate of larb turns up at almost every family meal and roadside som tam shack, always with a basket of sticky rice and a pile of raw greens. Warm minced chicken is tossed with fish sauce, plenty of lime, dried chilli and a fistful of mint, then finished with nutty, crunchy toasted rice powder. The result is bright, sour, salty and hot all at once, with a pleasing coarse texture. Wrap spoonfuls in lettuce, or eat it with sticky rice, cucumber and long beans. Chef's tip: toast your own rice powder; shop-bought tastes flat, and freshly ground grains smell like popcorn.

25 minThaiSaladsGluten freeSpicy
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Lasaniya batakaGarlic potatoes

Lasaniya bataka is a dhaba favourite along the highways of Kathiawad, where it lands on the table next to bajra rotla, a lump of white butter, raw onion and a glass of chaas. Baby potatoes are boiled, lightly fried, then coated in a thick paste of pounded garlic and red chilli that has been cooked down until it smells sweet rather than sharp. It is hot, garlicky and a little tangy, the kind of side dish that turns plain flatbread into a meal. Make it for a winter lunch with Kathiawadi kadhi and khichdi. Chef's tip: pound the garlic and chilli in a mortar instead of blending; a slightly coarse paste clings to the potatoes and gives you little bursts of garlic.

40 minIndianSidesVeganGluten freeSpicy
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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
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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
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Domatesli bulgur pilavıTomato bulgur pilaf

Across Turkey, from Anatolian village kitchens to Istanbul lunch counters (esnaf lokantası), a pot of bulgur pilaf sits beside beans, stuffed vegetables and yogurt as reliably as bread does. Coarse bulgur (pilavlık bulgur) is cooked with onion, sweet pepper paste, grated tomato and a green pepper until every grain is separate, tender and lightly reddish. It is nuttier and chewier than rice pilaf and ready in half an hour, which is why so many families make it on weeknights. Spoon it next to kuru fasulye, cacık or a simple salad, or eat a bowl on its own with a dollop of yogurt. Chef's tip: once the water is absorbed, lay a clean tea towel under the lid and let the pilaf rest off the heat for 10 minutes; the towel catches the steam so the grains turn fluffy instead of wet.

30 minTurkishRice & GrainsVegan
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Dolma batataStuffed potatoes in chickpea sauce

Dolma batata belongs to the Algiers home kitchen, where it is a Ramadan favourite and a Friday dish: hollowed potatoes filled with beef mince, onion, parsley and cinnamon, fried until golden, then simmered in a pale sauce (marqa beida) of onion, chickpeas, black pepper and cinnamon. The sauce stays white because no tomato goes in. The mistake is hollowing the potatoes too thinly, so they split in the pot; leave walls about 1 cm thick. Chef's tip: fry the scooped-out potato flesh and add it to the sauce to thicken it.

95 minAlgerianMeatGluten free
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DohneiiongPork in black sesame gravy

The name says it plainly in Khasi: 'doh' is meat and 'neiiong' is black sesame. In the Khasi Hills around Shillong this near-black pork curry is cooked for family feasts and Sunday meals, and its roasted, nutty flavour is unlike any other curry in India. The sesame is toasted and ground into a paste that thickens the gravy and coats the pork. Serve with plain rice or jadoh. Chef's tip: pork belly gives the silkiest result; mix it half and half with shoulder if you prefer it less rich.

90 minIndianMeatGluten free
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Doh khliehBoiled pork salad

Doh khlieh is the cool, sharp side dish that sits next to jadoh on almost every Khasi table in Meghalaya. Tender boiled pork is chopped small and tossed with raw onion, ginger, green chilli and lime, so it is fresh and fiery rather than rich. In Shillong it is eaten at lunch and at gatherings, and some families add boiled pork brain, which this version leaves out. Chef's tip: chop the pork while it is still slightly warm; it takes up the lime and ginger much better.

60 minIndianSaladsGluten freeSpicy
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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
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Dobos tortaLayered chocolate caramel cake

Dobos torta was created in Budapest in 1885 by the confectioner József C. Dobos, and it is still the cake Hungarians order in old coffee houses on Andrássy Avenue and bake for name days and big birthdays. Six thin sponge layers are stacked with a rich chocolate buttercream, and the top layer is glazed with hard amber caramel, cut into wedges and set at an angle like a fan. It is a project cake, but each stage is simple and the finished torte keeps for days. Chef's tip: mark the caramel into wedges with an oiled knife within the first minute; once it sets, it shatters instead of cutting.

150 minHungarianBaking
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Diri kole ak pwaRice and red beans

Diri kole ak pwa, rice 'stuck together' with beans, is the plate Haitians call their national dish, cooked in homes from Jacmel to Gonaïves and served most days of the week. Unlike rice and peas from elsewhere in the Caribbean, there's usually no coconut milk: red beans are simmered first, then their dark, savoury cooking liquid goes into the rice with fried epis, thyme and cloves, so the grains turn a rich reddish-brown and taste of beans all the way through. A whole scotch bonnet adds fruity heat without fire. Chef's tip: fry the drained beans in the epis until their skins blister and catch slightly; that browning gives the rice its deep, almost smoky taste.

60 minHaitianRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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Diri djon djonBlack mushroom rice

Diri djon djon comes from northern Haiti, around Cap-Haïtien, where the tiny black djon djon mushrooms are gathered and dried. Soaked in hot water, they give an inky liquid that turns rice a striking grey-black and makes it taste deeply earthy and savoury. It's the rice for weddings, baptisms and big Sunday lunches, cooked with epis, cloves and green peas or butter beans, a whole scotch bonnet laid on top for perfume. Dried djon djon is sold in Haitian and Caribbean shops and online. Chef's tip: avoid djon djon stock cubes, which are often made with chicken fat and add little real flavour; use the dried mushrooms, and add a few dried shiitake for even more depth.

70 minHaitianRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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DimlamaSteamed lamb and vegetables

Dimlama is what Uzbek families cook at the end of summer, when the markets of the Fergana Valley are piled with cabbage, aubergine, peppers and tomatoes. Everything goes into one heavy pot in layers, lamb at the bottom, and the lid stays on for nearly two hours while the vegetables slowly give up their juice and become the sauce. There is no added water, so the flavour is deep and sweet. People eat it straight from shallow bowls with non bread. The biggest error is lifting the lid to check; the steam escapes, the vegetables stew dry and the bottom can catch. Chef's tip: seal the lid with a damp tea towel or a strip of foil so no steam gets out.

140 minUzbekMeatGluten free
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AkokCaramelised egg and coconut cakes

Akok is a Kelantanese kuih traditionally baked in small brass moulds over coals, with more coals laid on the lid, and it is a classic for breaking the fast in Kota Bharu during Ramadan. The batter is mostly eggs, coconut milk and dark gula melaka, so the little cakes come out custardy in the middle with a dark, caramelised, almost sticky crust. A mini-muffin tin in a hot oven gives a very close result. Chef's tip: heat the greased tin in the oven before filling it, which is how the base caramelises.

40 minMalaysianDesserts
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DibiGrilled lamb with mustard onions

In Dakar a dibiterie is a smoky little shop where lamb is grilled over charcoal and sold by weight, wrapped in paper with raw onion, mustard and a pinch of spice salt; people eat it late in the evening, often after prayers or a football match. At home you get close with lamb chops or shoulder steaks, a quick marinade and a very hot grill. The mistake is moving the meat too much: leave it until it chars and releases on its own. Chef's tip: toss the sliced onions with salt and vinegar while the lamb marinates; they soften and lose their harsh bite in 20 minutes.

40 minSenegaleseMeatGluten free
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Mesaqa'aBaked aubergine and pepper

Mesaqa'a shares a name with Greek moussaka but is a different dish: there's no béchamel and no cheese, just fried aubergine slices baked in a garlicky tomato sauce with green peppers and chilli until soft and jammy. In Cairo it is a weekday family dish and a favourite during the summer heat and in the Coptic fasting seasons, when many families eat no animal products; it tastes even better the next day at room temperature, scooped up with baladi bread. Chef's tip: salt the aubergine and press it dry, then roast or shallow-fry it until truly golden; pale aubergine makes a watery, grey mesaqa'a.

70 minEgyptianVegetarianVeganGluten free
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Akoho sy voanioChicken in coconut milk

Akoho sy voanio, chicken with coconut, is a dish of Madagascar's east coast around Toamasina, where coconuts are everywhere, and it has become a favourite all over the island. Chicken is browned with onion, garlic, ginger and tomato, then simmered gently in coconut milk with a pinch of curry until the sauce is creamy and mild. It is eaten with plenty of white rice and a little achard (vegetable pickle). The mistake is boiling the coconut milk hard so it splits; keep it at a gentle bubble. Chef's tip: brown the chicken well first; the coconut sauce needs that savoury depth.

65 minMalagasyChickenGluten free
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MetemgeeRoot vegetable and dumpling stew

Metemgee (also mettagee or 'mettem') is Guyanese country food from the coastal villages: ground provisions, cassava, eddoes, sweet potato, yam and plantain, layered in a pot and cooked in coconut milk until soft, with duff (dumplings) steamed on top. The broth thickens from the starch into a creamy, thyme-and-pepper gravy. It's usually served with fried salt fish; here it's all vegetables, with okra added. Chef's tip: layer the hardest vegetables at the bottom and the softest on top, then don't stir; everything ends up cooked at the same moment.

75 minGuyaneseVegetarianVegan
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Łazanki with cabbage and mushroomsSquare noodles with cabbage and mushrooms

Łazanki are short, square egg noodles, and in the Podhale highlands and around Kraków they are tossed with soft-fried white cabbage, a little sauerkraut and mushrooms for a cheap weekday supper, especially in autumn when the cabbage is new. Most cooks add smoked bacon; this version leaves it out and gets its depth from dried ceps, browned fresh mushrooms and plenty of black pepper and marjoram. It is soft, savoury and slightly sour. Serve it on its own with a glass of buttermilk or kefir, as people do in the mountains. Chef's tip: let the cabbage catch and brown in places before you add the noodles; that browning is the flavour bacon would otherwise give.

45 minPolishPasta & Noodles
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KaftaGrilled minced meat skewers

Kafta is the everyday grilled mince of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine: a Sunday barbecue staple in the Lebanese mountains and a quick dinner in city flats, cooked on skewers, shaped into fingers for the pan, or baked in a tray with potatoes and tomato. Lamb and beef are mixed with plenty of onion and parsley and warmed with baharat (seven spice). Wrap them in bread with tomato, onion and a smear of hummus or tahini sauce. Chef's tip: grate the onion and squeeze it hard in a clean cloth; dry onion keeps the kafta firm on the skewer and stops it steaming.

27 minLebaneseMeatGluten free
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Di san xianPotato, aubergine and pepper stir-fry

Di san xian means 'three fresh things from the earth', and it is the best-known home dish of Dongbei, China's cold north-east, where potatoes, aubergines and peppers are the summer harvest. Each vegetable is fried until golden, then tossed in a sticky, garlicky soy glaze. It's rich and filling, and goes with rice or steamed buns. Chef's tip: fry the potato first and longest; it needs to be golden and fully tender before it meets the sauce, because it won't soften further in the wok.

30 minChineseVegetarianVegan
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AjvarRoasted pepper and aubergine relish

Every September the smell of charring peppers drifts over courtyards from Leskovac in southern Serbia to Strumica in North Macedonia, as families roast crates of long red babura peppers on wood stoves and spend a whole Sunday stirring the pulp into ajvar for the winter shelves. A little roasted aubergine softens the flavour, and long cooking with sunflower oil turns it into a glossy, sweet-smoky spread that is eaten on bread with white cheese, beside beans or potatoes, and with almost every winter meal. This is a home-sized batch for two medium jars rather than a cellar full. Chef's tip: do not rinse the roasted peppers under the tap to get the skins off; it washes away the smoky juices that make ajvar taste of autumn, so peel them with oiled fingers and a paper towel instead.

145 minBalkanChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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Methi matar malaiFenugreek and peas in cream gravy

Methi matar malai belongs to the Punjabi wedding buffet and the dhaba menu as much as to winter home cooking, when bunches of fresh fenugreek pile up in the markets of Ludhiana and Jalandhar. Bitter-sweet methi leaves and sweet green peas sit in a pale, silky gravy of onion, cashew and cream, mild enough for children and rich enough for a celebration. Serve it with butter naan, lachha paratha or jeera rice. Chef's tip: salt the chopped methi and squeeze it before cooking; it takes away much of the bitterness while keeping the flavour.

40 minIndianCurriesGluten free
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Leche flanCaramel custard

Leche flan is on the table for every Filipino Noche Buena on Christmas Eve, at fiestas and at birthdays, steamed in the oval aluminium tins called llaneras and turned out shining under a dark caramel. Unlike Spanish flan or the Brazilian pudim, it is made with egg yolks only, condensed milk and evaporated milk, so it is much denser and smoother, almost like a firm custard fudge, and a little goes a long way. A grating of calamansi or lime zest cuts the richness, and many cooks steam rather than bake it. The leftover whites go into meringue biscuits. Chef's tip: strain the custard twice and stir, don't whisk; air bubbles become holes in the finished flan.

60 minFilipinoDessertsGluten free
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DhuskaFried rice and dal bread

Dhuska is the breakfast of Ranchi and the whole of Jharkhand, fried fresh at roadside stalls from early morning. Rice and chana dal are soaked, ground to a thick, slightly coarse batter with green chilli and ginger, and ladled into hot oil, where each round puffs up crisp outside and soft and spongy inside. It is eaten with aloo-chana ghugni or a thin potato curry and a sharp coriander chutney, and it is a must at Jharkhandi weddings and Karma festival. Chef's tip: beat the batter hard for a couple of minutes before frying; the trapped air makes it puff without any soda.

45 minIndianBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
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Lechón asadoRoast pork with mojo

This is a pork dish. In Cuba a whole pig is roasted for Nochebuena, Christmas Eve, and for big family parties, often in a pit in the yard; at home in Miami or Havana the same flavour comes from a pork shoulder soaked overnight in mojo, the sour-orange, garlic and oregano marinade. The meat roasts slowly until it pulls apart, and the skin turns to crackling. Serve it with moros y cristianos, yuca con mojo and a squeeze of lime. A common mistake is leaving the shoulder in the marinade on the kitchen counter: it must always marinate in the fridge. Chef's tip: if you can't find sour (Seville) oranges, mix two parts orange juice with one part lime juice for the same sharp edge.

330 minCubanMeatGluten free
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Lechon kawaliCrispy fried pork belly

Lechon kawali is pork belly, boiled with garlic and bay, dried, then fried in a wok (kawali) until the rind blisters into crackling. It is the everyday cousin of the whole roast pig: Manila carinderias sell it by the slice at lunchtime, and home cooks make it for weekend lunches all over Luzon. Each piece should be shatteringly crisp on top and juicy underneath. Serve it chopped with rice and a sharp garlic-vinegar dip, or with the sweet liver sauce sold in jars. Chef's tip: after boiling, leave the belly uncovered in the fridge overnight; a bone-dry rind puffs up and spits far less in the oil.

110 minFilipinoMeat
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LecsóPepper and tomato stew

Lecsó is what Hungarian kitchens cook in late August, when markets in Szeged and Kecskemét are heaped with pale yellow wax peppers and over-ripe tomatoes. It is a soft, sweet-sour stew of peppers and tomato cooked down in paprika-scented oil; many families add smoked sausage or scramble eggs into it, but this version keeps it vegan and lets the peppers carry the flavour. Eat it hot with crusty bread or rice, or cold the next day, and jars of it are put up for winter. Chef's tip: add the tomatoes only once the peppers have softened; if they go in together, the tomato juice stews the peppers instead of letting them sweeten in the oil.

40 minHungarianVegetarianVeganGluten free
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Dhokar dalnaLentil cakes in gravy

Dhokar dalna comes from the Bengali niramish (vegetarian) kitchen of widows and temple cooks, and it is still cooked in Kolkata homes for festive lunches and Saraswati Puja. Soaked chana dal is ground, cooked with ginger and asafoetida into a thick paste, set in a tray and cut into diamonds, which are fried and then dropped into a thin, fragrant gravy just before serving. The dhoka soak up the sauce like a sponge. Chef's tip: cook the dal paste until it leaves the sides of the pan in one mass; if it is too soft, the diamonds break in the gravy.

65 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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LefseSoft potato flatbread

In Norway, and among Norwegian-American families in Minnesota and the Dakotas, lefse appears at Christmas in towering stacks wrapped in tea towels. These are soft, almost cloth-thin rounds made from riced potato and a little flour, cooked dry on a hot griddle until freckled with brown spots. The classic way to eat them in Telemark and Hallingdal is spread with butter, sprinkled with sugar and sometimes cinnamon, then rolled up or folded into triangles; savoury rolls with cheese are just as common. Home cooks use a grooved rolling pin and a long wooden stick to turn them, but a floured ordinary pin and a wide spatula do the job. Chef's tip: rice the potatoes while hot and let the mash cool completely, even overnight; warm potato soaks up too much flour and the lefse go tough.

80 minScandinavianBreads & Parathas
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LegimMashed vegetable stew

Legim (from the French légumes) is a Haitian Sunday dish, made in big pots in Port-au-Prince and the countryside and eaten with white rice or diri kole. Aubergine, cabbage, chayote (mirliton), carrots and spinach or watercress are cooked down slowly with epis and tomato paste until soft, then crushed with a pilon or spoon into a thick, rough, savoury mash. It's often cooked with beef or crab; this vegetable version is just as traditional for the days without meat. It tastes deep and green, gently sweet from the carrot and warm from clove and scotch bonnet. Chef's tip: cook it uncovered at the end until the liquid has almost gone and the oil shows at the edges; that's when the flavours concentrate and it stops tasting boiled.

75 minHaitianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Dharwad pedaCaramelised milk sweets

Dharwad peda has been made in this north Karnataka town for well over a century, first by families who came from Uttar Pradesh, and it now carries a geographical indication tag. Unlike pale, smooth pedas elsewhere, it is cooked slowly until the milk solids caramelise to a deep brown and a grainy, almost crumbly texture, then rolled in powdered sugar. Pilgrims and travellers carry boxes home from Dharwad and Hubballi, and families buy it for weddings and exam results. Chef's tip: let the cooked mixture cool for ten minutes before you add the sugar for rolling; added while too hot, the sugar melts and the pedas go sticky.

70 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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Ajiaco santafereñoChicken and potato soup

On cold, drizzly afternoons in Bogotá, high up in the Andes, families sit down to ajiaco: a thick chicken soup made with three kinds of potato. Small yellow papas criollas melt away and thicken the broth, while waxy and floury potatoes keep some bite. Guascas, a dried herb with a grassy, artichoke-like taste, gives the soup its unmistakable flavour, and each bowl comes with corn on the cob, a spoon of cream, capers and slices of avocado to add at the table. A frequent mistake is adding all the potatoes at once; the papas criollas go in first so they can dissolve, the firmer ones later. Chef's tip: if you can't find guascas in a Latin shop, use a mix of dried oregano and a little dried thyme; the soup will still be good, just less Bogotá.

100 minColombianSoupsGluten free
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Mewari makki ki kadhiMaize flour yogurt curry

In the Mewar region around Udaipur, maize is a staple crop, and in winter it even goes into kadhi. Instead of gram flour, cooks thicken sour buttermilk with fine maize flour, which gives a golden, slightly earthy, gently sweet kadhi with no pakoras in it. It is ladled over makki ki roti or bajra roti, or eaten with plain rice and a raw onion on the side. The tadka is simple but bold: ghee, cumin, fenugreek, crushed garlic and whole red chillies. The usual mistake is not stirring until it boils—the yogurt splits into curds and whey. Chef's tip: simmer it longer than you would a besan kadhi, at least 20 minutes, until no raw corn taste remains.

45 minIndianCurriesGluten free
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Mezbani beefSpicy feast beef curry

A mezban is the great community feast of Chittagong, held for a death anniversary, a new home or a good harvest, and the food is always the same: rice, dal and this dark, fiery beef curry cooked in giant pots by professional bawarchis. What makes it different from other Bangladeshi curries is its spice blend: mustard oil, lots of dried red chilli, and a ground mix of star anise, mace, nutmeg, cumin and white pepper that tastes warm and deep rather than hot alone. At home it is a weekend treat, eaten with rice or paratha. The common mistake is rushing the bhuna (frying) stage; the beef must fry in its spices until the oil floats free before any water goes in. Chef's tip: toast and grind the mezbani spice mix fresh on the day, because ready-ground spices lose their perfume in a curry this long.

180 minBangladeshiMeatGluten freeSpicy
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Delhi-style fruit chaatSpiced fruit chaat

Delhi's fruit chaat wallahs set up their carts in the afternoons with towers of guava, papaya, apples and bananas, plus roasted sweet potato, and chop whatever you point at into a leaf bowl. Then comes the part that makes it chaat rather than fruit salad: a big shake of tangy chaat masala, black salt and roasted cumin, a squeeze of lime, sometimes a pinch of chilli. It's a refreshing mid-afternoon snack in summer, and a regular sight on Ramzan iftar spreads too. The salt and spice make sweet fruit taste even sweeter. Chef's tip: season it just before eating; once the salt goes on, the fruit starts weeping juice and goes soft within 15 minutes.

15 minIndianSaladsVeganGluten free
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Delhi chole kulcheChickpeas with kulcha bread

Walk through any Delhi office district at lunchtime and you'll find a cart with a huge brass pot of pale white peas and a stack of soft kulchas warming on a tawa. Delhiites call it chole kulche even though it's made with dried white peas (safed matar) rather than chickpeas. The vendor scoops the peas onto a leaf plate, piles on raw onion, tomato, green chilli and ginger, squeezes lime over and dusts it with a sour, smoky masala. It's tangy, fresh and filling, and very different from the rich, stuffed Amritsari kulcha. Chef's tip: mash a ladleful of the cooked peas back into the pot; it thickens the liquid so the toppings and masala cling instead of sliding off.

90 minIndianFast FoodSpicy
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Ají de gallinaChicken in creamy chilli sauce

Lima's old criollo kitchens turned leftover hens into this golden, velvety stew, and it still turns up at family lunches, office canteens and menú del día stalls all over the capital. Poached chicken is pulled into threads and folded into a sauce thickened with milk-soaked bread, ground walnuts and parmesan, coloured by ají amarillo, Peru's fruity yellow chilli. It is served over white rice with boiled potatoes, a halved egg and a black olive. Chef's tip: keep the poaching broth; loosening the sauce with it instead of more milk gives a deeper, more chickeny flavour.

70 minPeruvianChickenSpicy
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DehroriFried rice and curd dumplings

Dehrori is the sweet Chhattisgarhi families make for Diwali, Holi and weddings, and it tastes like no other syrup sweet: soaked rice is ground coarse, left to sour gently with curd, then fried in ghee and dropped into cardamom syrup. The fermentation gives it a faint tang and a light, spongy crumb under a crisp shell, a little like a rustic cousin of rasbhari or gulab jamun. Grandmothers judge the batch by how well the dumplings hold their shape in the syrup. Chef's tip: grind the rice to the texture of fine semolina, not a smooth paste; that grain is what keeps dehrori light.

70 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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Lentil bobotieCurried lentil bake

Bobotie is the dish Cape Town is proudest of, brought to the Cape by Malay and Indonesian cooks centuries ago and still baked for Sunday lunch in the Bo-Kaap and across the Western Cape. Its flavour sits between sweet, sour and mildly hot: curry spices, apricot jam, fruit chutney and lemon, with a set egg-and-milk custard on top scented with bay leaves. The classic uses beef mince and milk-soaked bread; here brown lentils carry the spices so well that no bread is needed. Serve with yellow rice, chutney and a sliced banana and tomato sambal. Chef's tip: let the lentil filling cook down until thick and almost dry before baking, or the custard sinks into it instead of setting on top.

70 minSouth AfricanVegetarianGluten free
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Lentilles du Puy saladGreen lentil salad

Le Puy-en-Velay, in the volcanic hills of the Auvergne, grows a small, slate-green lentil with its own protected name. Lentilles du Puy hold their shape when cooked and have a peppery, almost mineral taste, which makes them perfect for salad. In French homes and bistros this salad is dressed while warm with a sharp mustard vinaigrette, shallot, carrot and parsley, then eaten as a starter, a packed lunch or a side to a quiche. Chef's tip: dress the lentils while they're still warm so they absorb the vinaigrette; dressing them cold is the common mistake and the flavour just sits on the outside.

30 minFrenchSaladsVeganGluten free
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Davanagere benne dosaButter dosa

Davanagere, a cotton-market town in central Karnataka, is famous for one thing above all: benne dosa, small, thick dosas cooked on a huge iron griddle with a generous lump of white butter melting over each one. The batter includes puffed rice (mandakki), which makes the inside soft and spongy while the base turns crisp and deep golden. In the town's busy dosa halls they arrive two at a time with a thin coconut chutney and a spoonful of potato palya tucked inside. It is breakfast, but many people eat it as an evening snack too. Chef's tip: use proper unsalted white butter if you can find it, and add it in two goes, half when the batter goes on and half just before folding, so the edges fry in butter rather than burn.

55 minIndianBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
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Daulat ki chaatSaffron milk foam

Daulat ki chaat appears in the lanes of Chandni Chowk only in the coldest months, from about November to February. Vendors whisk milk and cream through the night and leave it out under the winter dew, then skim off a foam so light it disappears on your tongue, topped with saffron, khoya, sugar and pistachios. It's sold before the sun gets high, because warmth destroys it. A home kitchen can't recreate a Delhi winter night, so this version uses very cold milk and cream whipped to a loose foam and layered with saffron. It comes close: airy, cool, faintly sweet. Chef's tip: chill everything, bowl and whisk included, for at least 4 hours; the colder the milk, the more stable the foam.

40 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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DamperSoda bread

Damper is the bread of the Australian bush: drovers, stockmen and swagmen carried flour and salt across the Outback and baked loaves in the ashes of the campfire, and it's still made in cast-iron camp ovens on camping trips from the Flinders Ranges to the Kimberley. Long before that, Aboriginal peoples ground native seeds into flour and baked seed cakes in the coals. Modern damper uses self-raising flour, a little butter and milk, so it rises into a craggy, golden round with a crisp crust and a soft, scone-like crumb. Tear it while warm and eat it with butter and golden syrup, which bush cooks called cocky's joy, or with soup. Chef's tip: mix with a knife and work quickly; the less you handle the dough, the lighter the damper.

40 minAustralianBreads & Parathas
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DalmaPigeon pea and vegetable dal

Dalma is the comfort food of Odisha and the dal offered at the Jagannath temple in Puri. Toor dal is cooked together with chunky vegetables, usually raw banana, pumpkin, aubergine and potato, so they soften into it and make it hearty enough to be a meal. A tempering of panch phoron and dried chilli and a sprinkle of roasted cumin-chilli powder give it its smoky warmth; a little grated coconut is often added on top. Odia homes finish it with a spoonful of ghee; this version uses oil so it stays vegan. Serve with plain rice. Chef's tip: add the vegetables halfway through cooking the dal, not at the start, so they keep their shape and the dal stays thick rather than watery.

40 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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