Featured recipe

Pane carasau

Thin crisp flatbread

Shepherds in Barbagia, the mountainous heart of Sardinia, took stacks of pane carasau with them for weeks on the high pastures, because this dry, glass-thin flatbread never goes stale. Each disc is baked until it balloons, split in two while hot, then baked again until crisp and golden; Italians call it carta da musica, music paper, for how thin and crackly it is. Sardinians eat it with olive oil and salt as a snack, break it into soups and layer it into pane frattau. Making it at home takes patience and a very hot oven. Chef's tip: split each puffed disc the moment it comes out of the oven; once it cools, the two layers fuse together.

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SantulaMildly spiced mixed vegetables

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

35 min

Indian Sides

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Baladi saladChopped tomato and cucumber salad

Salata baladi, the 'country salad', is on every Egyptian table, from Cairo koshari shops to Alexandria fish restaurants and home lunches, next to the rice and bread. It is finely diced tomato, cucumber, onion and green chilli, with a little parsley, a big squeeze of lemon and a pinch of cumin that makes it taste Egyptian rather than Levantine. It takes ten minutes and cuts through rich food like molokhia or mahshi. Chef's tip: dice everything small, about the size of a chickpea, so each spoonful carries a bit of everything.

10 min

Egyptian Salads

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Bal mithaiChocolate-brown fudge with sugar balls

Bal mithai belongs to Almora in Kumaon, where sweet shops on the old Lala Bazaar have sold it for well over a century. Khoya is cooked slowly with sugar until it caramelises to the colour of dark chocolate, set into bars and rolled in little white sugar balls, which give a crunchy bite against the fudgy middle. Families carry boxes of it home from the hills as the town's best-known souvenir. The flavour is deep and toffee-like, with no added colour or cocoa. Chef's tip: keep the heat low and be patient; the deep brown comes from slow caramelising over half an hour, not from turning the flame up.

45 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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BaksoBeef meatball soup

Listen for a spoon tapped against a bowl in any Indonesian neighbourhood and you will find a bakso cart, its glass case stacked with meatballs and two kinds of noodles. The meatballs are springy, almost bouncy, sitting in a clear, garlicky beef broth with yellow noodles, glass noodles and a little green veg. Everyone then builds their own bowl at the counter with sambal, sweet soy sauce, vinegar and a scattering of fried shallots; it is the go-to comfort on a wet afternoon. Chef's tip: keep the beef and everything that touches it ice-cold while you blend, because warm meat gives dense, crumbly balls instead of that famous bounce.

60 min

Indonesian Soups

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Bajan fish cakesSalt cod fritters

Fish cakes are on every Bajan party table and in every rum-shop snack box, and on Friday nights at Oistins Fish Fry they are tucked into a split salt bread roll as 'bread and two'. These are not potato patties but spoonfuls of light, herby batter full of flaked salt cod, spring onion, thyme and Scotch bonnet, fried until puffed and golden. Serve them hot with Bajan pepper sauce or a squeeze of lime. The mistake that gives flat, greasy fish cakes is a thin batter; it should drop from the spoon in a soft blob, not pour. Chef's tip: taste a flake of the cooked cod before mixing; if it is still salty, don't add any more salt to the batter.

55 min

Bajan Snacks & Starters

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Sara udonCrispy noodles with seafood sauce

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

30 min

Japanese Pasta & Noodles

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SattiChicken skewers in spicy sauce

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

60 min

Filipino Chicken

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Sattu parathaRoasted gram stuffed flatbread

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

40 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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Sattu sharbatRoasted gram flour drink

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

5 min

Indian Drinks

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Sichuan vegetable hot pot

Across Chengdu and Chongqing, friends spend whole evenings round a bubbling pot of red broth, dipping in mushrooms, tofu and greens a few at a time and fishing them out with chopsticks. The best-known bases are cooked in beef tallow; the clear-oil style (qīngyóu huǒguō) uses rapeseed oil instead, which keeps it vegetarian without losing the heat and tingle. You need a portable burner or electric hot pot on the table. Chef's tip: give each person a bowl of sesame oil with crushed garlic for dipping; it cools each mouthful just enough to keep going.

70 min

Chinese Soups

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Bai sach chroukGrilled pork over rice

Bai sach chrouk, 'rice with pork', is the classic Cambodian street breakfast, grilled over charcoal on pavements in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in the early morning and eaten before work and school. It is a pork dish: thin slices of pork are marinated overnight in coconut milk, garlic and palm sugar, then grilled until caramelised and smoky and served on broken rice with quick-pickled cucumber and carrot and a small bowl of clear broth. Chef's tip: slice the pork thinly, about 5 mm; it marinates faster and chars before it dries out.

45 min

Cambodian Meat

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Sauce graine with chicken and smoked fishPalm nut sauce with chicken

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

100 min

Ivorian Chicken

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BakabanaFried plantain fritters

Bakabana are Suriname's favourite snack: long slices of ripe plantain dipped in a light batter and fried until crisp outside and custard-soft within. In Paramaribo they're sold from warung stalls (the Javanese-Surinamese snack bars), and in Dutch cities with Surinamese communities, always with a spicy peanut sauce on the side for dipping. The sweet fruit, crisp shell and salty-hot sauce make them hard to stop eating. Chef's tip: pick plantains that are yellow with lots of black spots but still firm; fully black and soft ones fall apart in the batter.

30 min

Guyanese Snacks & Starters

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BagnetCrispy fried pork belly

Up in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur, in towns like Vigan and Batac, bagnet hangs in market stalls in golden slabs: pork belly that has been boiled, dried and deep-fried so the rind is puffed and crunchy all the way through. Ilocanos chop it into rice bowls, add it to pinakbet and dinengdeng, or eat it with sukang Iloco, the region's dark sugarcane vinegar. It is richer and crunchier than lechon kawali because it is fried twice. A tomato and onion salad with a little shrimp paste cuts the fat. Chef's tip: the second fry, in hotter oil after a rest, is what makes the rind bubble; skip it and you get chewy skin.

150 min

Filipino Meat

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Bagna càudaWarm garlic and anchovy dip

When the grape harvest is over in the Langhe and Monferrato, Piedmontese friends gather round a terracotta pot of bagna càuda, the 'hot bath', kept warm over a little flame in the middle of the table. Everyone dips raw and cooked vegetables into it: peppers, cardoons, fennel, cabbage leaves, Jerusalem artichokes, boiled potatoes and beetroot. The sauce is mellow rather than fierce, because the garlic is poached in milk before it melts with anchovies into olive oil and a little butter, giving a rich, salty, nutty bath. Hunks of bread catch the drips, and a young red wine is the usual partner. Chef's tip: keep it hot but never bubbling, on a fondue burner or tea-light warmer; if it fries, the garlic turns bitter and the anchovies harsh.

35 min

Italian Chutneys & Dips

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BaghrirThousand-hole semolina pancakes

Baghrir are the spongy, lacy pancakes that Moroccan families make for breakfast on weekends and at Ramadan, when they are piled high at the iftar table. A smooth semolina batter is blended until thin, rested so the yeast and baking powder can work, then cooked on one side only: as it heats, hundreds of tiny holes open across the surface. The holes soak up the warm butter and honey poured over before serving. Chef's tip: the batter must be as thin as single cream; too thick and the holes won't break through to the top.

30 min

Moroccan Breakfast & Brunch

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Bacalhau à BrásSalt cod with egg and potatoes

Lisbon's Bairro Alto taverns claim this dish, said to be named after a tasca owner called Brás, and it is still a weeknight favourite in homes all over the city. Flaked salt cod is softened with slowly cooked onion, tossed with a heap of fine straw-cut fried potatoes, then bound at the last second with beaten egg so everything stays creamy and loose. Black olives and parsley go on top. A green salad is all it needs. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat the moment you add the eggs; they should finish cooking from the warmth of the potatoes, like a soft scramble.

60 min

Portuguese Fish

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Bacalao al pil pilSalt cod in garlic oil sauce

Bacalao al pil pil belongs to Bilbao and the rest of Bizkaia, where it fills restaurant menus in Lent and Holy Week and reappears on Christmas Eve tables. It is made from just four things: desalted salt cod, olive oil, garlic and a dried chilli. The trick is the sauce. The cod gives off gelatine as it cooks gently in warm oil, and swirling the clay dish round and round turns that oil into a thick, pale, mayonnaise-like emulsion; the name comes from the 'pil pil' sound of it bubbling. Plan ahead, because thick salt cod needs 24–48 hours of soaking in the fridge. Chef's tip: buy thick, skin-on loins (lomos); the gelatine that makes the sauce comes from the skin.

60 min

Spanish Fish

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Scallion pancakes (cong you bing)Spring onion flatbreads

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

50 min

Chinese Breads & Parathas

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Vawksa repSmoked pork with mustard greens

Mizo cooking in Aizawl and the hill villages of Mizoram is simple and clean, with few spices and lots of greens, and vawksa rep shows it at its best. Smoked pork (vawksa rep) is simmered until soft, then mustard greens (antam) go in and soak up its smoky, fatty broth. It is an everyday lunch with rice, and some families add a little bai (bamboo shoot) or chilli. Chef's tip: keep the stems and leaves of the greens separate; the stems need a few minutes longer.

70 min

Indian Meat

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Hot and sour potato shreds

In Chengdu this is the dish a family orders when the table already has something rich: a heap of potato cut as fine as matchsticks, cooked for barely two minutes so it stays crunchy, sharp with vinegar and warm with dried chilli. Over the border in Shanxi the same dish is made with the province's dark aged vinegar (lǎo chéncù) and less chilli, and it tastes deeper and slightly sweet; both versions are given here. It goes with plain rice and any braised tofu or bean dish. Chef's tip: rinse the cut potato until the water runs clear, because that washed-off starch is what turns the shreds gluey in the wok.

20 min

Chinese Sides

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Schwäbischer KartoffelsalatWarm potato salad

Swabian potato salad is nothing like the creamy kind. In Stuttgart and across Baden-Württemberg it is made with waxy potatoes sliced while still warm and soaked in hot stock, vinegar, onion and oil until it turns glossy and slightly 'schlonzig', a local word for that loose, juicy texture. It is eaten lukewarm, never fridge-cold, beside Maultaschen or vegetarian schnitzel, and at every summer garden party. This version uses vegetable stock. Chef's tip: pour the hot dressing over the potatoes while they are still warm; cold potatoes won't drink it in and the salad stays dry.

40 min

German Salads

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Schwarzwälder KirschtorteBlack Forest gâteau

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte comes from the Black Forest in south-west Germany, a region famous for its sour cherries and the clear cherry brandy, Kirschwasser, distilled from them. Layers of light chocolate sponge are soaked with cherry syrup (and traditionally kirsch), filled with thickened sour cherries and lots of whipped cream, then covered in cream and chocolate shavings and topped with cherries. It's the cake of birthdays, Sunday Kaffee und Kuchen and Konditorei windows. This version leaves out gelatine: the cherries are set with cornflour and the cream with a little mascarpone. Chef's tip: chill the assembled cake for at least 4 hours; cut too early and the layers slide apart.

95 min

German Baking

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Vegetable khorovatsGrilled aubergine, peppers and tomatoes

No Armenian summer weekend at the dacha passes without a khorovats, the charcoal grill fired up in the garden from Dilijan to Lake Sevan. Alongside the skewers, whole aubergines, peppers and tomatoes are grilled until black and collapsing, then peeled and chopped with raw onion, garlic and herbs into a smoky, juicy salad. Served on its own with lavash, salty cheese and pickles, it makes a full meal, and it is one of the dishes that Armenians say tastes of summer itself. It works on a barbecue or straight on a gas flame. Chef's tip: grill the vegetables whole, without oil and without cutting them; the skins burn and peel away, while the flesh steams inside and soaks up the smoke.

40 min

Armenian Salads

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Vegetable kottu rotiChopped roti stir-fried with vegetables

After dark in Colombo you hear kottu before you see it: the rhythmic clang of two steel blades chopping roti on a hot flat-top at every street stall from Pettah to Wellawatte. Shredded godamba roti is stir-fried with leeks, carrot, cabbage, onion, chilli and egg, then moistened with a spoonful of spicy curry gravy so it's soft, smoky and messy in the best way. Stalls usually ladle on chicken curry gravy; we make a quick vegetable curry sauce instead, and the egg keeps it vegetarian rather than vegan. Leftover parathas or frozen flaky flatbreads stand in well for godamba roti. The common mistake is overcrowding a small pan, which steams everything; cook in two batches if your pan is under 30 cm. Chef's tip: chop the roti into strips while it is still slightly warm, then let it dry for 10 minutes so it fries rather than turns mushy.

40 min

Sri Lankan Fast Food

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Vegetable kushikatsuBreaded vegetable skewers

Kushikatsu belongs to Shinsekai, the neon-lit old entertainment district at the foot of Osaka's Tsutenkaku tower. Since the 1920s, labourers have stood at its counters eating skewers fried to order, dunked in a shared steel pot of thin, fruity sauce. The famous house rule, 'no double dipping', is printed on signs everywhere. Vegetables are as popular as meat there: lotus root, shiitake, onion, asparagus and, a local favourite, chewy mochi and cheese. Have a plate of raw cabbage leaves on the side; they're free at every shop and used to scoop extra sauce. Chef's tip: use fine panko, or blitz ordinary panko briefly. Fine crumbs give the thin, crunchy jacket that Osaka shops are known for.

50 min

Japanese Snacks & Starters

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BabruBlack gram stuffed fried bread

Ask anyone who grew up in Shimla about babru and they will mention a paper plate of them in the Lower Bazaar, still puffing from the oil, with a ladle of dark tamarind chutney poured over. Unlike Uttar Pradesh's flaky urad kachori, babru is made from a soft, yeasted wheat dough, so it fries up light and bready, and it is pressed flat and wide rather than shaped into a ball. The filling is whole black gram, soaked and ground with ginger and green chilli. In Himachal homes it is a tea-time and festival snack, and it travels well in a tiffin. Chef's tip: grind the dal coarse and thick, like hummus; a runny paste leaks and makes the babru greasy.

120 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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Ayam betutuSpiced slow-braised chicken

Drive through west Bali to the ferry port of Gilimanuk and the roadside warungs all sell the same thing: ayam betutu, chicken cooked so long in spice paste that it slumps off the bone into a fiery, turmeric-orange gravy. The paste is base genep, Bali's master seasoning of shallots, garlic, galangal, aromatic ginger, turmeric, chillies, candlenuts and shrimp paste, and it is rubbed inside and out before the bird braises gently in a covered pot. Expect deep heat, a little bitterness from the greens tucked inside and a rich, almost buttery sauce. Pile it on steamed rice with water spinach or a raw sambal matah to cut through. Chef's tip: braise it the day before; the paste mellows overnight and the chicken reheats beautifully.

180 min

Indonesian Chicken

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Vegetable lagmanHand-pulled noodles with vegetables

Lagman came to the Ferghana Valley with Uyghur and Dungan cooks, and in Andijan and Namangan it is still made the old way: a soft dough oiled, rested and pulled by hand into long, springy noodles, then topped with a stew of peppers, radish, green beans and tomato called vadja. Ferghana lagman is usually 'dry' (quwurma), the sauce thick enough to cling, rather than a soup. Locals eat it at lunchtime from noodle houses near the bazaar, with a dash of vinegar and chilli oil at the table. This version uses only vegetables. Chef's tip: oil the dough ropes generously and let them rest a full 30 minutes; well-rested dough stretches to arm's length without snapping.

90 min

Uzbek Pasta & Noodles

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Axone porkPork with fermented soybean

Axone, called akhuni in the Sumi Naga language, is soybean fermented in banana leaves until it is pungent and deeply savoury, and pork cooked with it is a signature of the Sumi people of Zunheboto in Nagaland. The smell is strong while it cooks, but the finished curry tastes rich, earthy and meaty, sharpened by tomato and chilli. Serve with rice and a green vegetable. Chef's tip: open a window and warn the household; axone is famously smelly in the pan and wonderful on the plate.

75 min

Indian Meat

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AvialMixed vegetables in coconut yogurt

Avial is a mainstay of the Kerala sadya, the vegetarian feast served on a banana leaf at Onam and weddings. Batons of vegetables (raw banana, drumstick, yam, carrot, beans, ash gourd) are cooked just tender, then coated in a coarse paste of fresh coconut, cumin and green chilli, soured with curd and finished with raw coconut oil and curry leaves. It's thick rather than saucy, mild, tangy and fragrant. Serve with rice and sambar, or with adai. Chef's tip: cut every vegetable into the same 5 cm batons and add them in order of hardness, so they're all tender together and nothing turns to mush.

40 min

Indian Curries

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Semmelknödel with mushroom sauceBread dumplings with mushroom sauce

Semmelknödel are the bread dumplings of Bavaria and Austria, made to use up yesterday's rolls (Semmeln) soaked in warm milk and bound with egg, onion and parsley. With a creamy mushroom sauce, Semmelknödel mit Schwammerlsoße, they become a full meal and a favourite in Munich beer gardens and Alpine inns from late summer, when foraged chanterelles and ceps reach the markets. Chef's tip: simmer the dumplings in barely trembling water, never a rolling boil; hard boiling breaks them apart, which is the most common Knödel disaster.

50 min

German Vegetarian

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Assida zgougouAleppo pine seed pudding

Assida zgougou is made in Tunisian homes once a year, for the Mouled (the Prophet's birthday): a dark, nutty pudding of Aleppo pine seeds (zgougou) cooked with flour and sugar, topped with a pale vanilla custard and decorated with almonds, pistachios, pine nuts and sugared almonds. Families make dozens of glasses to share with neighbours. Zgougou is sold in Tunisian and North African grocers; ground hazelnuts are a stand-in, though the taste is different. Chef's tip: strain the zgougou liquid through muslin twice; any grit ruins the smooth texture.

70 min

Tunisian Desserts

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Asperges à la flamandeWhite asparagus with egg and butter

In May and June, white asparagus from Mechelen and the sandy fields around Limburg arrive in Belgian markets, and asperges à la flamande (asperges op Vlaamse wijze) is the way to eat them. The pale spears are peeled and cooked until tender, then covered with a warm sauce of melted butter, chopped hard-boiled egg, parsley and nutmeg that is half sauce and half garnish. It is served as a starter in Flemish restaurants all through the short asparagus season, sometimes with a slice of ham alongside; here it stays meat-free. Chef's tip: peel the spears from just below the tip all the way down with a swivel peeler; white asparagus has a thick, bitter skin, and missing even a strip leaves woody threads.

35 min

Belgian Snacks & Starters

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Vegetable maféPeanut and vegetable stew

Mafé is the Sunday-lunch stew of Senegal and Mali: a rust-coloured sauce of roasted peanut paste and tomato, simmered until oil glistens on top and ladled over broken rice. In Dakar it usually carries lamb or beef; this version uses sweet potato, carrot, cabbage and okra, which soak up the sauce just as well. In Côte d'Ivoire the same idea is called sauce d'arachide and is eaten with rice or foutou; make it slightly thinner and add aubergine for the Abidjan style. Chef's tip: use plain, unsweetened peanut paste and cook it long enough that a thin layer of red oil rises to the surface; that is the sign the peanut has lost its raw taste.

80 min

Senegalese Curries

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Sepu vadiLentil dumplings in spinach yogurt gravy

No dham in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh is complete without sepu vadi. Light urad-dal dumplings are fried, softened in warm water and then simmered in a smooth spinach gravy tangy with yogurt, until they swell up and turn spongy. The botis who cook the feast make huge copper pots of it, served on leaf plates with rice and eaten with the fingers. At home it makes a rich weekend curry with rice or chapati. Chef's tip: beat the ground dal by hand for a few minutes before frying; the air you whip in is what makes the vadi light.

75 min

Indian Curries

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Vegetable lawarBean and toasted coconut salad

Lawar is the dish of Balinese ceremonies: before a temple festival or a family rite, the men of the banjar gather at dawn to chop and mix it by hand in huge quantities. Many versions include meat, but lawar kacang, made with long beans, is common at home and at Balinese warungs, and it shows off base genep, the island's master spice paste of shallot, garlic, galangal, kencur, turmeric and chilli. Mixed with toasted grated coconut, it's crunchy, fragrant, sour and hot, and is eaten with rice the day it's made. Chef's tip: mix the lawar just before serving and with your hands, squeezing gently, so the spice paste works into the beans; made too early, it goes watery and dull.

40 min

Indonesian Salads

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SerabiCoconut rice pancakes

Serabi are small, thick pancakes cooked one at a time in clay pans over charcoal, sold at dawn in Solo and Bandung. The rice-flour batter, rich with coconut milk, sets with a spongy, bubbly top and a crisp, lacy base. In Bandung they come with a pour of kinca, a warm palm-sugar syrup scented with pandan; Solo's version is rolled in a banana leaf with a dot of thick coconut cream. Chef's tip: don't flip them; covering the pan lets steam cook the top while the bottom crisps.

45 min

Indonesian Desserts

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Vegetable machboosSpiced rice with vegetables

In Bahrain and Kuwait machboos is the rice dish of the home kitchen: deeper yellow than Saudi kabsa, with more turmeric, more dried lime and a last splash of rose water that perfumes the whole pot. Families cook it for the big midday meal, especially on Fridays and through Ramadan, and pile it high on a round metal tray. Here potatoes, cauliflower and peppers take the place of chicken, and the rice is crowned with hashu, soft caramelised onions with raisins and a pinch of black lime powder. Chef's tip: brown the potatoes and cauliflower before the rice goes in; their golden edges give the meaty depth the chicken usually brings.

90 minGulf Arabian Rice & Grains

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SernikBaked cheesecake

Sernik is the baked cheesecake Polish grandmothers make for Easter and Christmas, and in Kraków it often comes as sernik krakowski, with raisins in the filling and a lattice of pastry on top. Unlike the American kind it is made with twaróg, a dry, tangy curd cheese, so the filling is light and fine-grained rather than dense, set with eggs and a little potato starch, never gelatine. This version keeps a buttery shortcrust base and a smooth vanilla-lemon top. Chef's tip: the twaróg must be put through a mincer or sieve twice, or bought as ready-ground twaróg sernikowy in a tub; lumpy cheese gives a grainy cake.

110 min

Polish Baking

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Asmara pasta al sugoSpaghetti in berbere tomato sauce

Pasta is part of everyday life in Asmara, a legacy of the Italian years, and in Eritrean homes and cafés 'pasta al sugo' means spaghetti in a slow tomato sauce warmed with berbere, garlic and plenty of onion. It is eaten on weekdays and after church on Sundays, often with a banana or a green chilli on the side. The usual sauce has minced beef; this one uses finely chopped mushrooms and carrot for the same body. Chef's tip: cook the onions and berbere slowly before the tomato goes in; raw berbere tastes dusty.

60 min

Eritrean Pasta & Noodles

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Ashlyan-fuCold noodle soup with starch jelly

Ashlyan-fu is the street food of Karakol, the town on the eastern shore of Kyrgyzstan's Lake Issyk-Kul, brought by Dungan (Hui) families more than a century ago. Locals eat it for lunch on hot days at the 'ashlyan-fu row' near the bazaar: thick wheat noodles and cubes of wobbly starch jelly in a chilled, sour and fiery broth, with a strip of thin omelette, often alongside a fried potato pirozhok. It's eaten all over Kyrgyzstan and southern Kazakhstan now. This version uses a vegetable sauce rather than meat. Chef's tip: everything must be cold; chill the broth and the jelly properly, as lukewarm ashlyan-fu tastes flat.

70 min

Kazakh Pasta & Noodles

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SeswaaPounded boiled beef

Seswaa is Botswana's national dish, made by the men at weddings, funerals and Independence Day in great three-legged pots over fires: beef on the bone is boiled with only onion, bay and salt for hours until it falls apart, then pounded with a wooden spoon into soft shreds in its own fat. It is served with pap (stiff maize porridge) or samp and a side of greens. The mistake is adding too much water at the end; the meat should be moist, not soupy, so let the liquid cook away before pounding. Chef's tip: use a mix of brisket and shin on the bone for flavour and richness.

225 minSouthern African Meat

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Sweet potato cakeFried sweet potato cakes

Soft, lightly sweet fried cakes of grated boiled sweet potato, flour and milk, shaped by hand into small flat rounds. They're golden outside and tender inside; the book's Handy Hints say sweet potato is good for the eyes and lifts the mood. Serve as a tea-time snack, or with tomato and chilli sauce.

40 minAfrican Snacks & Starters

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AshakLeek-filled dumplings

Ashak are the dumplings Kabul families fold together for Eid, Nowruz and weddings: thin wheat wrappers stuffed with gandana (Afghan garlic chives, here replaced with leeks and spring onions), boiled, then laid on a bed of garlicky strained yoghurt and topped with a tomato sauce and dried mint. Ashak usually come with a minced-meat sauce; this vegetarian version uses yellow split peas in a spiced tomato base, as many Afghan cooks do on meatless days. Making them is a sociable afternoon job, so rope in helpers. Chef's tip: squeeze the salted leeks hard in a cloth before filling; any water left in them soaks the wrappers and they split in the pot.

95 min

Afghan Snacks & Starters

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Shah plovPilaf in a lavash crust

Shah plov, the "king's pilaf", is the showpiece of Azerbaijani weddings and Novruz feasts, especially in Baku, Shaki and Ganja. Saffron rice layered with butter-glazed apricots, raisins, prunes and chestnuts is packed into a pot lined with overlapping sheets of thin lavash, then baked until the bread forms a crisp golden dome. It is carried whole to the table, the top is cut like a crown, and everyone gets a crisp shard with their rice. The classic version also has lamb; this one keeps the fruit and nuts that already make it festive. Chef's tip: brush every lavash sheet generously with butter and overlap them by at least a third; thin spots tear when the plov is turned out.

130 min

Azerbaijani Rice & Grains

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Shahi tukdaFried bread in saffron syrup

Shahi tukda, the 'royal piece', comes from the Mughal kitchens of Old Delhi, and you'll still find trays of it around Jama Masjid during Ramzan, eaten after the evening meal, and at Eid feasts. Thick slices of bread are fried in ghee until crisp and golden, dipped briefly in cardamom and saffron syrup, then covered with rabri, milk slowly reduced until thick and full of creamy flakes. The bread stays crisp at the edges and soft in the middle. It's rich, so small pieces go a long way. Chef's tip: start the rabri first and let it simmer while you fry the bread; it takes the longest and needs only an occasional stir.

75 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Vegetable mandu-gukVegetable dumpling soup

In Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi province, the first meal of Seollal (Lunar New Year) is often mandu-guk (만두국): plump dumplings and coin-shaped rice cakes floating in clear broth, finished with ribbons of yellow and white egg and strips of toasted laver. The northern half of the peninsula has always favoured dumplings over rice cake soup, and Seoul families tend to combine the two. These mandu are filled with tofu, glass noodles, cabbage, mushrooms and chives, and the broth is a kelp and shiitake stock instead of beef. Fold the dumplings a day ahead and the soup comes together in 15 minutes. Chef's tip: squeeze the tofu and cabbage hard in a cloth; a wet filling turns the wrappers soggy and the dumplings split in the pot.

75 min

Korean Soups

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ShaiyahPan-seared lamb with onion and chilli

Shaiyah means "seared" and is what Khartoum families cook when guests drop in or for Eid breakfast after the sacrifice: small pieces of lamb thrown into a very hot pan with onion, garlic and green chilli and cooked fast until browned and sizzling. It is eaten with kisra flatbread or bread, a salad of tomato and onion, and a squeeze of lime. The mistake is crowding the pan, which stews the lamb grey instead of searing it; cook in two batches if needed. Chef's tip: use lamb with a little fat on it, such as shoulder or leg steaks, so it stays juicy over the high heat.

30 min

Sudanese Meat

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Asado uruguayoGrilled beef short ribs and chorizo

Sunday in Uruguay means asado: in Montevideo backyards and the cattle towns of the interior, beef ribs (asado de tira), chorizo and morcilla cook slowly over the embers of a wood fire, with only coarse salt, while the family waits. The parrillero rakes coals under the grill and keeps the heat low and even. This recipe includes pork chorizo. The mistake is cooking over flames; the fire should burn down to embers you can hold your hand above for 6–8 seconds. Chef's tip: salt the meat only when it goes on the grill, with coarse salt, never fine.

140 min

Paraguayan Meat

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Shaki pitiLamb, chickpea and chestnut stew

Piti belongs to Shaki, the old silk-road town in the green foothills of northern Azerbaijan, where it is still cooked in individual clay pots and served in restaurants near the caravanserai. Each pot holds lamb on the bone, chickpeas, a chestnut or two, a little tail fat and saffron water. It is eaten in two stages: first you pour the broth over torn bread with sumac, then you mash the meat and chickpeas and eat that as a second course. Rushing it at a high heat is the error to avoid; the broth turns cloudy and the lamb tightens. Chef's tip: if you have no clay pots, a heavy casserole works, and you can ladle it into bowls to serve.

235 min

Azerbaijani Soups

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Vegetable maqlubaUpside-down rice and vegetables

Maqluba means 'upside down', and in Palestinian homes from Jerusalem to Nablus the moment the big pot is flipped onto a tray at a Friday family lunch is greeted with clapping. Under the pot comes a golden cake of fried aubergine, cauliflower and potato with spiced rice packed between them. It is also cooked across Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. This meat-free version uses vegetable stock and is served with a cucumber and tomato salad or a bowl of yogurt for those who eat dairy. Chef's tip: once the pot is turned over, wait five minutes before lifting it so the layers settle and the tower holds.

80 min

Lebanese Rice & Grains

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SharlotkaApple sponge cake

Sharlotka is the cake every Russian family bakes in September, when dachas around Moscow and Saint Petersburg drown in Antonovka apples. It is nothing like Polish szarlotka with its shortcrust: here the tin is packed with sliced tart apples and a feather-light batter of whisked eggs, sugar and flour is poured over, so it bakes into an airy, crackly-topped sponge holding a soft apple layer. Only four ingredients, and it is on the table in under an hour with tea from the samovar. Chef's tip: whisk the eggs and sugar for a full 8 minutes until pale and tripled; that air is the only raising agent and a short whisk gives a flat, rubbery cake.

60 min

Russian Baking

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Asado negroBeef braised in panela

Asado negro is the Sunday lunch of Caracas families: a whole piece of beef eye of round (muchacho redondo) is seared in sugar caramelised almost to black, then slowly braised until the sauce is dark, glossy and sweet-savoury. Despite how it looks, it doesn't taste burnt, just deep and rich. It is sliced and served with white rice, fried ripe plantain and sometimes a mash of potatoes. Many cooks add a glass of red wine to the braise; to keep it alcohol-free, use the same amount of beef stock and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar instead. The mistake to avoid is stirring the panela while it caramelises: it crystallises and goes grainy. Chef's tip: get the caramel really dark, just before it smokes, because the colour and depth of the whole dish come from that minute.

200 min

Venezuelan Meat

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