Featured recipe

Banatage (tuna potato croquettes)

Golden, crunchy outside and soft inside, banatage are mashed-potato croquettes hiding a spoon of tuna, parsley and harissa, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried. They come out during Ramadan beside the brik and chorba, are tucked into lunchboxes and are a favourite with children all over Tunisia. Leftover mash works well, as long as it is firm. Serve them hot with lemon wedges, a salad or a dab of harissa. Chef's tip: dry the boiled potatoes in the hot pan for a minute before mashing; wet, watery mash is the usual mistake and makes croquettes that split open in the oil.

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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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Ash reshtehNoodle, bean and herb soup

Ash reshteh is the thick soup Iranians cook in big pots in the days before Nowruz and for Sizdah Bedar, the spring picnic day, when the noodles (reshteh) are said to help you grasp the threads of good luck for the coming year. Chickpeas, beans and lentils are simmered with a mountain of green herbs and spinach, thickened with flat noodles and finished at the table with tangy kashk, crisp onions and a sizzling swirl of mint oil. It is a meal in a bowl, hearty and herby. Kashk is usually made without rennet, but check the label; strained yogurt is a good substitute. Chef's tip: add the noodles only once the beans are soft, and stir often after that, because they thicken the pot and it can catch on the bottom.

120 min

Persian Soups

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BourekasFeta and potato pastry triangles

Bourekas are what Israelis grab from the bakery on a Friday morning or bring to a family gathering: puff pastry shapes with savoury fillings, shiny with egg and dotted with sesame. The tradition came from Sephardi Jews of Turkey and the Balkans, but in Israel it settled into puff pastry, with the shape telling you the filling at a glance (triangles for cheese, rectangles for potato in many bakeries). This version fills triangles with feta and ricotta and rectangles with herby mashed potato, and goes with a hard-boiled egg, pickles and grated tomato. Chef's tip: keep the pastry cold right up to the oven; warm puff pastry won't rise into flaky layers.

45 min

Israeli Snacks & Starters

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Telur baladoFried eggs in chilli sambal

Telur balado is a fixture of the nasi Padang counter and of West Sumatran home cooking: hard-boiled eggs fried until their whites blister and turn golden, then smothered in balado, the coarse red sambal of chilli, shallot and tomato that the Minangkabau cook with almost everything. The fried skin of the eggs grips the sauce, and the sambal is bright and fresh rather than long-cooked. It's a cheap, quick weekday lunch with rice and greens, and it travels well in lunch boxes. Chef's tip: grind the balado coarse, not smooth — the Padang version should look rough and glossy, with visible flecks of chilli skin.

25 min

Indonesian Sides

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SabichAubergine and egg pita

Sabich came to Israel with Iraqi Jews, who ate fried aubergine and hard-boiled eggs on Saturday mornings when no cooking was allowed. In Ramat Gan in the 1950s someone stuffed it all into a pita, and today it is street food all over Tel Aviv: crisp-edged aubergine, sliced egg, hummus, tahini, chopped salad and a spoonful of tangy amba mango pickle, with zhug for heat. It is messy, rich and best eaten standing up with a paper napkin. Chef's tip: salt the aubergine and dry it well before frying; it soaks up far less oil and comes out creamy instead of greasy.

40 min

Israeli Fast Food

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Afghan biscuitsChocolate cornflake biscuits

Afghans are a New Zealand classic, found in the old home baking books passed down in Kiwi kitchens and in the glass cabinets of cafés and bakeries from Christchurch to Whangārei. Nobody is quite sure where the name came from. The dough is rich with butter and cocoa, and lightly crushed cornflakes give each biscuit a crunchy, slightly rugged texture. A swirl of soft chocolate icing and a walnut half finish them off. They're not too sweet underneath, which is why the icing works so well. Chef's tip: crush the cornflakes only lightly with your hand; fine crumbs disappear, but big flakes give the crunch an afghan is known for.

35 min

Australian Baking

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TemblequeCoconut milk pudding

Tembleque gets its name from the way it shivers (tiembla) when you set it on the table, and in Puerto Rico it is the dessert of the Christmas season, from the parrandas of December through to the Three Kings in January. It's nothing more than coconut milk, sugar and cornflour cooked into a silky custard, poured into a mould and chilled until it holds its shape. It is cool, pure white, lightly sweet and tastes completely of coconut, with a blush of cinnamon on top. Chef's tip: use full-fat tinned coconut milk; light coconut milk sets thin and tastes watery.

20 min

Puerto Rican Desserts

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Sabzi poloGreen herb rice

Sabzi polo is the rice of Nowruz, the Persian New Year on the spring equinox, when families across Iran sit down on the first evening to a mound of rice speckled green with dill, parsley, coriander and chives. Fresh green herbs stand for renewal, and the dish is traditionally paired with fish on the New Year table; a vegetarian house serves it with kuku sabzi, the herb omelette, fried eggs or a bowl of yogurt. The rice tastes bright and grassy, with a gentle garlic note and a golden lavash crust underneath. Chef's tip: chop the herbs the day before and spread them on a tray to dry slightly; damp herbs make the rice heavy and clumpy.

75 min

Persian Rice & Grains

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Sabzi qovurmaLamb with fresh herbs

Sabzi qovurma is a home dish across Azerbaijan, made especially in spring when the markets of Ganja and Baku are full of bundles of green herbs. Pieces of lamb are fried until golden, then cooked with masses of chopped coriander, dill, spinach, spring onion and leek, sharpened by dried black lime or sour plums. It is served with plain plov rice or bread and a bowl of yogurt. The trap is adding wet herbs straight to the pan; they stew rather than fry and the dish goes flat and grassy. Chef's tip: dry the herbs well and fry them on their own until they darken before they join the meat.

125 min

Azerbaijani Meat

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Tempe mendoanBattered fried tempeh

Mendoan comes from Banyumas in Central Java, and in Purwokerto it's sold by the stack at every roadside stall, eaten warm with a raw bird's eye chilli bitten between mouthfuls or dunked in sweet soy. The name comes from the Banyumas word mendo, meaning half-cooked: the batter is deliberately fried only until set and pale, so it stays soft and bendy rather than crisp. Make it with thin, wide tempeh slices so each one is mostly batter and herbs. Chef's tip: fry for barely a minute a side in very hot oil and pull the slices out while they're still pale gold and floppy — that limp, tender texture is the whole point.

20 min

Indonesian Snacks & Starters

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Sadza with beef stewMaize porridge with beef stew

Sadza ne nyama, sadza with meat, is the meal most Zimbabweans would call home: a stiff, smooth porridge of white maize meal shaped into rounds with a wooden spoon, served with a beef stew and a side of greens such as covo or rape. Families in Harare and Bulawayo eat it at lunch or supper, rolling a little sadza into a ball in the right hand and dipping it in the gravy. The mistake is adding all the maize meal at once, which makes lumps; stir in a paste first, then add the rest gradually. Chef's tip: let the porridge "rest and cook" under a lid for a few minutes between additions so the meal tastes cooked, not raw.

130 minSouthern African Meat

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Tempe orekSweet crisp tempeh

Across Java, tempe orek is the side dish every household keeps in a tub: crisp sticks of tempeh fried and then tossed in a sweet-salty glaze of kecap manis, palm sugar, garlic and chilli. It goes into lunch boxes with plain rice, onto nasi campur plates, and lasts several days without losing its chew, which is why student boarding houses and office canteens rely on it. Some cooks add peanuts or green beans; this version stays classic. Chef's tip: fry the tempeh sticks properly crisp before glazing and keep the glaze to a thick syrup, so the tempeh stays crunchy rather than going soft.

25 min

Indonesian Sides

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Ají picanteFresh chilli and coriander sauce

Every Colombian table has a bowl of ají, the loose, fresh hot sauce spooned onto empanadas, patacones, sancocho and arepas. Unlike a thick salsa, it is thin and bright: chopped hot chilli, spring onion, tomato and lots of coriander in lime juice, vinegar and water. Each family, from Bogotá to the Pacific coast, swears by its own heat level. Chef's tip: make it at least 30 minutes before eating; the onion softens and the chilli heat spreads through the liquid.

10 min

Colombian Chutneys & Dips

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Safed maasMutton in white gravy

Safed maas is the quiet sibling of fiery laal maas, created in the palace kitchens of Rajasthan's princely states such as Jaipur and Udaipur, where cooks prized dishes that looked as refined as they tasted. There is no turmeric, no red chilli and no browning: the mutton is cooked white with yogurt, a paste of cashews and almonds, cream and white pepper, scented with cardamom and kewra. Its heat is gentle and comes from white pepper and a few green chillies. It's served at weddings and festive dinners with soft rotis or saffron pulao. Chef's tip: keep the heat low from start to finish; the moment the meat or the spices brown, the gravy turns beige and loses that ivory look.

125 min

Indian Meat

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AseedaSorghum porridge

Aseeda (asida) is the stiff, slightly sour sorghum porridge eaten across Sudan, especially in Darfur, Kordofan and the countryside, where it is the daily staple. The batter is left to ferment before being cooked into a smooth, firm dough, shaped in a bowl into a dome, and turned out with mullah poured around it. During Ramadan it is a common iftar dish. Chef's tip: beat hard with a wooden spoon once the dough thickens; that beating is what makes aseeda smooth instead of lumpy.

35 min

Sudanese Rice & Grains

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Vegetable tsuivanSteamed noodles with vegetables

Tsuivan is one of the most-cooked dinners in Mongolia, from Ulaanbaatar apartments to gers on the steppe: homemade noodles laid over a stir-fry and steamed under a lid until they soak up all the juices, then tossed together. It's normally made with mutton; meaty mushrooms and firm tofu stand in here, with carrot, cabbage and onion. Simple and filling, it's often eaten with a pot of salty milk tea. Chef's tip: lay the noodles on top and don't stir until the end; they cook in the steam, not in the liquid.

65 min

Mongolian Pasta & Noodles

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SaganakiPan-fried cheese

Saganaki takes its name from the small two-handled pan it's cooked in. A thick slice of hard sheep's-milk cheese, usually kefalograviera or kefalotyri, is dusted with flour and fried until it has a crisp, golden crust and a soft, stretchy middle, then splashed with lemon. In Greek tavernas it arrives sizzling at the start of the meal, to share with bread, salad and a cold drink. Traditional Greek hard cheeses are often made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian alternative such as a vegetarian graviera or halloumi. We dust it with rice flour so it is gluten free. Chef's tip: chill the cheese and get the pan properly hot before it goes in; a lukewarm pan is the common mistake and the cheese melts into a puddle before it crisps.

10 min

Greek Snacks & Starters

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Sago gula MelakaSago pudding with palm sugar

This cool, wobbly pudding is named after the dark palm sugar made from coconut-flower sap around Melaka, and it's on the menu at Peranakan restaurants there and at many a Malaysian dinner party. Little domes of clear sago pearls are chilled until set, then turned out and drowned in salted coconut milk and smoky gula Melaka syrup. The pearls are soft and bouncy, the sauces rich and caramel-dark, and it can all be made the day before. Chef's tip: pour the sago into the water only once it's at a full rolling boil, and stir straight away; tepid water turns it into a gluey lump.

40 min

Malaysian Desserts

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ĆevapiGrilled minced meat fingers

In Sarajevo's old Baščaršija bazaar, ćevabdžinicas grill ćevapi from morning till late night, serving them ten at a time stuffed into a puffy, griddle-warmed somun flatbread with raw onion and a spoon of kajmak. The little skinless fingers are made from beef (often mixed with lamb), seasoned with nothing more than salt, pepper, garlic and a little bicarbonate of soda, which gives them their bouncy bite. Belgrade and Banja Luka have their own versions, but the idea is the same: smoky meat, soft bread, sharp onion. People often over-season them with herbs and paprika; the Bosnian way is plain, letting the meat and charcoal speak. Chef's tip: chill the shaped ćevapi well before grilling and turn them only once or twice, so they keep a juicy centre and a crusty outside.

40 minBalkan Meat

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SahlabWarm milk drink

Sahlab is what Cairo drinks on a cold winter evening: a thick, sweet, steaming glass of milk sold in cafés and from street carts, topped with cinnamon, coconut, chopped nuts and a few raisins, and eaten as much with a spoon as drunk. The original thickener is powdered orchid root, which is now rare and protected, so most Egyptian households and many cafés use cornflour or a ready-made sahlab mix instead, as here. Chef's tip: keep whisking from the moment the thickened milk goes in until it boils; stop for a minute and it catches on the bottom of the pan and tastes scorched.

13 min

Egyptian Drinks

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Sai krok IsanSour pork and rice sausage

Strung in little round links and grilled at night markets from Khon Kaen to Udon Thani, these garlicky sausages are tangy from fermentation, with soft rice grains in a juicy pork filling. Vendors serve them with fresh ginger slices, bird's eye chillies, raw cabbage and roasted peanuts, and every bite is a mix of sour, salty, hot and crunchy. Traditionally they are left at room temperature for two or three days to sour; that is a real food-safety risk at home without controlled cultures and curing salts, so this version cures in the fridge instead. Expect a milder tang than street-stall sai krok; a squeeze of lime at the table makes up the difference. Chef's tip: use day-old cooked rice that went into the fridge quickly; freshly cooked warm rice turns the filling mushy and keeps it in the danger zone.

65 min

Thai Meat

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Sai ouaHerby grilled pork sausage

Walk through Chiang Mai's Warorot market and you will smell sai oua before you see it: long coils of sausage smoking over charcoal, flecked green with lime leaf and orange with chilli paste. The meat is coarse and juicy, the flavour loud with lemongrass, galangal and turmeric, and Northern Thais eat it in thick slices with sticky rice, raw cabbage, nam prik noom and a few slices of fresh ginger. If you have no casings or sausage stuffer, the same mixture makes excellent flat patties. Chef's tip: fry a teaspoon of the mixture before you stuff anything and taste it; this is your only chance to fix the salt and chilli.

90 min

Thai 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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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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Asado argentinoGrilled beef short ribs

For Argentines the Sunday asado is less a recipe than a ritual: someone (the asador) lights the fire mid-morning in a backyard in Buenos Aires or a ranch in the Pampas, and lunch happens hours later. Beef is cooked low and slow over glowing embers, seasoned with nothing but coarse salt, and carved at the grill to be eaten with bread, salad and a bowl of chimichurri. This home version uses two favourite cuts: tira de asado (thin cross-cut short ribs) and vacío (flank). The classic mistake is grilling over flames; wait until the coals are covered in white ash, and spread them so the heat is gentle. Chef's tip: hold your hand 15 cm above the grill; if you can keep it there for 8–10 seconds, the heat is right for asado.

140 min

Argentinian Meat

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TequeñosFried cheese sticks

Tequeños are said to come from Los Teques, the town in the hills outside Caracas, and they are the party food of Venezuela: no birthday, wedding or office celebration is without a tray of these crisp pastry fingers wrapped around salty white cheese. The dough is spiralled around the cheese, then fried so the pastry is crunchy and the cheese just starts to melt. Serve with guasacaca (avocado sauce) or a sweet chilli dip. Use a cheese made with vegetarian rennet. Chef's tip: overlap each spiral of dough slightly and seal the ends well, or the cheese escapes into the oil.

45 min

Venezuelan Snacks & Starters

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ÆbleskiverRound pancake puffs

From the first Sunday of Advent until Christmas, Danish homes and Christmas markets in Copenhagen's Tivoli smell of æbleskiver: little round pancake puffs cooked in a cast-iron pan with seven hemispherical wells. They are crisp and golden outside, light and almost custardy within, dipped in icing sugar and raspberry or strawberry jam, and washed down with gløgg or hot cocoa. The name means 'apple slices', a reminder that cooks once tucked a piece of apple inside; many families still do. Danes turn them with knitting needles or wooden skewers, a knack that takes a few rounds to learn. Chef's tip: turn each puff a quarter at a time; the raw batter flows into the space and builds the sphere, rather than flipping it all at once.

45 minScandinavian Desserts

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Sakkarai pongalSweet rice and moong dal

On the morning of Thai Pongal in mid-January, families across Tamil Nadu cook new-harvest rice in a clay pot in the courtyard and wait for the milk to bubble over: 'pongalo pongal!'. That pot becomes sakkarai pongal, a sticky, golden-brown sweet of rice and moong dal cooked soft, then simmered with melted jaggery and finished with lots of ghee, cardamom, edible camphor and cashews and raisins fried golden. It's also the classic prasadam at Vishnu temples. It's the sweet twin of the peppery ven pongal. Chef's tip: dry-roast the moong dal until it smells nutty before cooking; it adds a toasty depth that plain boiled dal can't give.

50 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Adobong kangkongBraised water spinach

In Manila and across Luzon, adobong kangkong is the cheap green that sits in a tray at the carinderia, the roadside canteen where office workers and jeepney drivers point at two or three dishes to go with their rice. It is not a stir-fry in the Chinese or Malay sense: the water spinach is cooked briefly in an adobo base of cane vinegar, soy sauce, bay and cracked pepper, so the stems stay crunchy while the leaves soak up a sharp, salty, garlicky sauce that runs into the rice. It costs very little, takes ten minutes and is often the only vegetable on a weekday plate. Chef's tip: let the vinegar boil for a full minute before you stir anything, the way Filipino cooks do; the raw, harsh edge cooks off and the sauce turns mellow.

18 min

Filipino Sides

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ÄrtsoppaYellow pea soup

For centuries Swedes have eaten ärtsoppa on Thursday: school canteens, army messes and home kitchens all serve thick yellow pea soup, followed by thin pancakes with jam (ärtsoppa och pannkakor). The tradition is said to date from Catholic times, a filling meal before Friday's fast. The soup is usually cooked with salt pork, but the soul of it is the dried yellow peas, onion and a generous hand of thyme and marjoram, so this version is fully plant-based and seasons the broth with a little smoked paprika instead. Each bowl gets a spoonful of sharp Swedish mustard stirred in at the table. Chef's tip: soak whole yellow peas overnight and skim the foam as they come to the boil; the skins that float up can then be lifted off, giving a smoother soup.

105 minScandinavian Soups

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Salad shiraziTomato, cucumber and onion salad

Salad shirazi is named after Shiraz, the city of gardens in Fars province, and it is the salad served with almost every Persian rice and kebab meal. Tomato, cucumber and onion are cut into tiny, even dice and dressed simply with lime juice (or sour grape verjuice, ab-ghooreh, in Shiraz itself), dried mint and a little oil. There are no peppers or herbs to muddy it: it is crunchy, sharp and cold, and is spooned onto rice as a relish. Chef's tip: dice everything as small as a pea; the tiny cubes are what make it taste like Shirazi rather than a chopped salad.

10 min

Persian Salads

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ThiakryMillet couscous with sweet yogurt

Thiakry, called dégué in Mali and Burkina Faso, is the creamy dessert of Senegalese weddings, naming ceremonies and Tabaski: pellets of steamed millet stirred into sweetened yoghurt and soft fromage frais, scented with vanilla and nutmeg and served cold. Ready-made millet granules (arraw or sankhal) are sold in African grocers, which makes it a 15-minute job. Raisins and a little coconut are common in Dakar. Chef's tip: steam or soak the millet fully before it meets the yoghurt; undercooked grains stay hard and gritty in the cold.

25 min

Senegalese Desserts

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CanjeeroSpongy fermented pancakes

Canjeero (also called laxoox) is Somali breakfast, made fresh each morning in homes and sold in cafés from Mogadishu to Djibouti: thin, spongy pancakes from a soured batter, cooked on one side only so the top is full of tiny holes. Eaten warm, they are drizzled with sesame oil or ghee and sprinkled with sugar, then rolled up with sweet spiced tea; on weekends they come with liver or beans. They are smaller and lighter than Ethiopian injera and made mostly from wheat. Chef's tip: spread the batter in a spiral with the back of the ladle, starting in the middle; that is what makes the thin, even, lacy sheet.

40 min

Somali Breakfast & Brunch

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Ube halayaPurple yam jam

Ube halaya is a thick, deep purple jam made from purple yam, slowly stirred with coconut milk, condensed milk and butter until it pulls away from the pan. Bohol, where ube grows in abundance and the province holds a festival for it every January, claims it, and in Baguio jars of it are bought as pasalubong (gifts) to take home. It appears at Christmas and fiestas, spread on bread, eaten by the spoonful, packed into halo-halo or shaped in moulds and topped with latik or grated cheese. Real ube has a gentle, nutty, vanilla-like flavour; purple sweet potato is not the same. Chef's tip: frozen grated ube from Asian grocers works perfectly and saves an hour of peeling and grating.

50 min

Filipino Desserts

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Salata aswadAubergine and peanut butter salad

Salata aswad, the 'black salad', is a Khartoum favourite: aubergine fried until almost black and collapsing, then mashed with peanut butter, garlic, lime and a little chilli into a rich, smoky spread. It is served at Ramadan iftars and family lunches with kisra or bread, next to ful and fresh tomato salad. The peanut is what makes it Sudanese rather than a Levantine aubergine dip. Chef's tip: salt the aubergine and squeeze it dry before frying; it absorbs far less oil.

40 min

Sudanese Chutneys & Dips

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Arroz verdeGreen rice

Arroz verde is red rice's fresher sister, popular across central Mexico as a side for mole, enchiladas and beans. The rice is toasted in oil and then simmered in a vivid green purée of poblano pepper, coriander, parsley and a handful of spinach, so it comes out fluffy, herby and gently peppery, the colour of spring grass. It is vegan with vegetable stock and pairs especially well with mole rojo or roasted vegetables. Chef's tip: blend the greens with cold stock and add it straight to the rice; heated slowly or left standing the purée loses its colour, so make it right before you need it.

35 min

Mexican Rice & Grains

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Terong baladoFried aubergine in chilli sambal

Balado is the Minangkabau way of smothering fried food in a coarse, shiny red chilli sambal, and in West Sumatra the aubergine version is a daily home dish as much as a restaurant one. The aubergine is fried until soft and creamy inside, then folded into a sambal of red chillies, shallots and tomato cooked down until sweet. Serve it at room temperature with rice and fried tofu. Chef's tip: grind the chillies coarsely rather than to a purée; Padang cooks want flecks of skin and seed in a balado.

40 min

Indonesian Vegetarian

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Salată de vineteSmoky aubergine salad

Salată de vinete is on every Romanian table from Bucharest to Brașov in late summer, when market stalls are piled with aubergines and every balcony grill is busy charring them. The smoky flesh is chopped with a wooden knife and beaten with sunflower oil into a pale, fluffy spread, almost like a mayonnaise, then finished with sharp raw onion. There is no tahini or yogurt, which sets it apart from baba ganoush. It is eaten on toasted bread with sliced tomatoes for supper or as a meze before grilled vegetables. Chef's tip: drain the cooked aubergine well; leaving in the brown juices is the usual mistake and makes the salad bitter and watery.

45 min

Romanian Chutneys & Dips

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TungrymbaiFermented soybean with sesame and ginger

Tungrymbai is the Khasi Hills' great fermented food: soybeans boiled, wrapped in leaves and left by the hearth until sticky and pungent, then cooked with onion, ginger, garlic, turmeric and a generous paste of roasted black sesame. In Shillong's markets and local eateries (jadoh stalls), it is often cooked with pork, but many Khasi homes make it with soybeans alone, which is the version here. It is dark, nutty and savoury, eaten in small spoonfuls with rice. Chef's tip: roast the black sesame until it just begins to pop; underroasted it tastes grassy, overroasted it turns bitter. Natto works if you can't get tungrymbai.

35 min

Indian Curries

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Salatat daquaTomato salad with peanut dressing

Daqua is the Sudanese name for peanut paste, and this everyday salad of tomato, cucumber, onion and green chilli dressed in thinned peanut butter and lime sits on the table at almost every meal in Omdurman and Khartoum, especially in the hot months. It is cooling, crunchy and creamy at once, and is eaten with ful medames, kisra or grilled food. Chef's tip: thin the peanut butter with water and lime before adding it to the vegetables; dolloped straight in, it clumps and never coats them.

15 min

Sudanese Salads

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Arroz rojoMexican red rice

Arroz rojo (also called arroz a la mexicana) is the rice served beside almost everything in Mexico, from enchiladas to beans to a fried egg. Long-grain rice is fried in oil until golden, then simmered in a blended tomato, onion and garlic broth until every grain is separate, tender and tinted orange-red. Diced carrot and peas add colour and sweetness, and a whole chilli in the pot gives a gentle warmth without heat. Made with vegetable stock it is vegan and a favourite with children. Chef's tip: rinse the rice until the water runs clear and let it dry well before frying; wet rice won't toast and turns out sticky.

35 min

Mexican Rice & Grains

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Adjaruli khachapuriCheese bread boat with egg

On the Black Sea promenade in Batumi, the capital of Adjara, this is the bread people queue for after a swim: a boat of soft yeasted dough, the middle filled with molten cheese, and an egg yolk and a slab of butter dropped in at the very end. You stir the yolk and butter through the cheese with a fork at the table, then tear off the crisp ends and dip them in. Locals say the shape is a boat and the yolk the sun over the sea. Georgian imeruli and sulguni cheeses are hard to find outside Georgia, so this uses mozzarella with feta for the salty tang. Choose cheeses labelled vegetarian (microbial rennet). The usual home mistake is putting the egg in too early, which sets it hard; the yolk should go in only for the last 2 minutes so it stays runny. Chef's tip: roll the long edges inwards tightly and pinch the tips hard, or they will unroll in the oven and the cheese will flood the tray.

120 min

Georgian Breads & Parathas

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Yassa pouletLemon onion chicken

Yassa comes from Casamance, the green, rice-growing south of Senegal, and has become the dish Dakar families cook for guests and naming ceremonies. Chicken spends a night in lemon juice, mustard and a huge pile of sliced onions, is grilled or browned until charred at the edges, then braised in those same onions until they collapse into a sharp, sweet, jammy sauce. It is served over plain white rice with a green olive or two on top. A common mistake is rushing the onions; if they are still crunchy the sauce tastes raw and harsh, so give them the full half hour. Chef's tip: keep the marinade, because it becomes the sauce; just boil it well with the onions so it is safe to eat.

100 min

Senegalese Chicken

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Cha ca La VongTurmeric fish with dill

A family restaurant in Hanoi's Old Quarter served this one dish for so long that the street itself was renamed Chả Cá, Grilled Fish Street. Chunks of white fish are marinated in turmeric and galangal, cooked until golden, then brought to the table in a pan of hot oil where everyone throws in handfuls of dill and spring onion to wilt. You eat it over rice vermicelli with peanuts, fresh herbs and a pungent shrimp-paste dip. Dill is rare elsewhere in Vietnamese cooking, which is why this dish tastes so distinct. Chef's tip: use a lot more dill than seems sensible; it is treated as a vegetable here, not a garnish.

45 min

Vietnamese Fish

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Adas poloLentil rice with dates

Adas polo is a homely Tehran weekday rice, also served at the Yalda winter-solstice gathering in December, when tables fill with dried fruit. Brown lentils and long-grain rice are layered and steamed together, then topped with dates and raisins warmed in butter with cinnamon, so every spoonful is savoury, earthy and lightly sweet. Unlike Levantine lentil-and-rice dishes, the rice keeps its long separate grains and gets a saffron crust underneath. Serve it with yogurt, a herb plate and salad shirazi for a complete meal. Chef's tip: cook the lentils separately until just tender but whole; they finish softening during the steam.

75 min

Persian Rice & Grains

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Arroz negroBlack rice with squid ink

Along the coast from Valencia up to the Costa Brava, arroz negro (arròs negre in Catalan and Valencian) is a seafront restaurant favourite, ordered for the table at lunchtime and brought out in its pan. Squid and its ink turn the rice glossy black and give it a deep taste of the sea, and every forkful gets a dab of garlicky all-i-oli. This version uses the traditional egg-free all-i-oli, just garlic, oil and salt pounded together; if you'd rather make the easier egg version, use a pasteurised egg, and note that raw egg is not suitable for pregnant women, young children, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system. Chef's tip: buy squid ink in sachets or small jars from a fishmonger or Spanish deli; the ink sac inside a whole squid is far too small to colour a whole pan.

60 min

Spanish Rice & Grains

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Uganda matokeMashed green bananas

Uganda's national dish: green matoke bananas steamed in banana leaves, mashed and kept warm in the leaves, then topped with a thick, gently spiced tomato and ground peanut sauce. It's soft, savoury and very filling. The book's Handy Hints add that bananas and peanuts are both good for the heart.

65 minAfrican Vegetarian

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XawaashSomali spice blend

Xawaash (pronounced 'ha-wash') is the spice mix every Somali kitchen keeps in a jar, used in rice, soups, stews, sambuusa fillings and even tea. Families toast and grind their own, often in quantity before Ramadan, and the balance of warm cumin, earthy coriander and sweet cardamom and cinnamon varies from house to house. It is different from Yemeni hawaij and Ethiopian berbere: there is no chilli in it. Chef's tip: toast each spice only until it darkens a shade and smells warm; burnt cumin turns the whole jar bitter.

11 min

Somali Basics

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ThalipeethMultigrain flatbread

Thalipeeth is a rustic Maharashtrian flatbread made from bhajani, a flour of roasted grains and lentils. The dough is soft and sticky with onion, green chilli and coriander, and is patted out by hand straight onto the pan, with holes poked in it so the oil can crisp it from both sides. It comes off the tawa crunchy at the edges and soft in the middle, smoky with cumin and coriander seed. Eat it hot for breakfast with thick yogurt, white butter or a garlic and peanut chutney, or with lemon pickle. Chef's tip: pat the dough out on a damp cloth or wet baking paper and flip it straight onto the pan; it's too soft to roll, and wet hands keep it from sticking.

35 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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Thayir sadamCurd rice

No Tamil meal is really finished without thayir sadam. It's the last course on a banana-leaf lunch, the comfort food packed for train journeys and school tiffins, and the prasadam handed out in some Tamil Nadu temples. Soft, mashed rice is mixed with cool yogurt and a splash of milk, seasoned with ginger, green chilli and curry leaves popped in hot oil, then dotted with pomegranate, grated carrot or green grapes. It's eaten slightly cool with a spoonful of pickle or a fried vathal on the side. Chef's tip: mix a little milk in with the yogurt; it keeps the rice creamy and stops it turning sour if you pack it for lunch several hours ahead.

25 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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SaltahLamb stew with fenugreek froth

Saltah is the national dish of Yemen, eaten at lunch in Sana'a and the highlands, brought to the table still boiling in a heavy stone pot called a madara. A rich lamb broth (maraq) is cooked down with tomato, potato and hawaij spices, then crowned with hulba, fenugreek whipped to a pale green froth, and scooped up with flatbread. Chef's tip: soak the ground fenugreek for at least 4 hours and pour off its bitter water before whipping; that is what makes it foam.

140 minGulf Arabian Soups

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SalteñasJuicy baked beef pastries

Salteñas are the pastries all of La Paz queues for between 10 and noon, when they come out of the oven: a slightly sweet, golden crust wrapped round a soupy filling of beef, potato, peas, olive and egg in a gelatine-set broth seasoned with cumin and ají. The trick, and the fun, is to bite off the top and sip the juice without spilling. The mistake is filling the pastry with warm stew: the filling must be chilled overnight until it sets firm, or it leaks. Chef's tip: hold a salteña upright, nibble off one corner and drink the juice before eating the rest.

90 minAndean Snacks & Starters

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ThekuaWheat and jaggery cookies

During Chhath Puja, when families across Bihar stand in rivers and ponds to make offerings to the setting and rising sun, thekua fill the bamboo baskets carried to the ghats. Women make them at home in the days before, pressing jaggery-sweetened wheat dough into carved wooden moulds (sancha) and frying them in ghee until dark and crunchy. Outside the festival they are the snack Bihari students take back to hostels in the city, because they keep for weeks. Chef's tip: the dough must be stiff, and the frying slow; soft dough loses the pattern and hot oil leaves them pale and soft inside.

50 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Saltimbocca alla romanaVeal with sage and prosciutto

The name means 'jumps into the mouth', which is how fast these little Roman escalopes vanish from the plate. Thin slices of veal are topped with a sage leaf and a sheet of prosciutto, seared for barely a minute a side, then glazed with white wine and butter in the same pan; it is a classic second course in Rome's family trattorie and takes about 20 minutes start to finish. The prosciutto crisps, the sage turns fragrant and the veal stays tender under a short, buttery sauce. Pork loin or turkey escalopes work just as well. Serve with roast potatoes or sautéed spinach to mop up the pan juices. Chef's tip: pound the meat to an even 5 mm between sheets of cling film and pin the ham and sage on with a cocktail stick, so everything cooks in the time it takes the ham to crisp.

20 min

Italian Meat

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ThethriGram flour twists

No Teeja in Chhattisgarh passes without a tin of thethri: knotted and twisted pieces of gram-flour dough, seasoned with ajwain and chilli and fried slowly until they shatter when you bite. Married daughters coming home for the festival are sent back with them, alongside the sweet khurmi, and they keep for weeks. Each family has its favourite shape, from simple knots to little spirals and braided rings. Chef's tip: fry on a medium-low flame and be patient; thethri fried hot puff up and brown outside but stay soft and chewy inside.

55 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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AdaiRice and lentil pancakes

Adai is the hearty cousin of the dosa, made in Tamil homes for a weekend breakfast or an early dinner, and in Tamil Brahmin families traditionally served with avial and a lump of jaggery and white butter. Rice and a mix of toor, chana, urad and moong dal are soaked and ground coarsely with red chillies, ginger and hing, so the batter needs no fermenting at all. The pancakes are thicker than dosa, crunchy at the edges and soft and gritty in the middle, with a deep, spicy, lentil flavour and plenty of protein. Chef's tip: grind the batter like coarse semolina, not silky; that texture is what gives adai its crisp, lacy rim.

50 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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ThieboudienneFish and rice in tomato broth

Ceebu jën, "rice and fish" in Wolof, is the dish Saint-Louis claims as its own and the whole of Senegal cooks for the big Friday or Sunday lunch, served on one wide platter that the family eats from together. Thick fish steaks are stuffed with a green paste of parsley, garlic and chilli, browned, then simmered in a deep tomato broth with whole cassava, carrot, cabbage and aubergine; the broken rice then soaks up that same broth until it turns orange and fragrant. The prized part is the xoon, the crust that forms at the bottom of the pot, which is shared out at the end. The usual mistake is leaving the fish in the pot while the rice cooks, so it falls apart; lift it out with the vegetables and keep it warm. Chef's tip: rinse the broken rice three times and steam it briefly before it goes into the broth, so the grains stay separate instead of turning to porridge.

135 min

Senegalese Fish

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KvassFermented rye bread drink

Before the cola era, kvass was Russia's everyday thirst-quencher, sold every summer from yellow barrel trailers on Moscow street corners and poured into glass mugs. At home it is brewed from dried rye bread, sugar and a pinch of yeast, fermented for a day or two until it tastes malty, a little sour and gently fizzy, and only about 1% alcohol. It is drunk ice cold and is also the broth for okroshka. Chef's tip: toast the bread until really dark, almost burnt at the edges; that is where kvass gets its deep colour and its toasted, malty taste.

50 min

Russian Drinks

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RolexOmelette chapati roll

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

20 minEast African Breakfast & Brunch

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ZigniSpicy beef stew

Zigni is the signature stew of Asmara and the Eritrean highlands, served on a wide platter of injera at weddings, Sunday lunches and the end of fasts. Red onions are cooked slowly in a dry pot until they collapse, then berbere, garlic, ginger and tomato go in, followed by beef that simmers until tender in a deep red, peppery sauce finished with spiced butter (tesmi). The mistake is rushing the onions: they must cook down for a good 20 minutes to give the sauce its sweet base. Chef's tip: the onions start in a dry pan with no oil, the traditional way; stir them often and add a splash of water if they catch.

120 min

Eritrean Meat

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Sambal goreng kentangFried potatoes in sweet-hot sambal

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

35 min

Indonesian Sides

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Sambal matahRaw shallot and lemongrass relish

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

17 min

Indonesian Chutneys & Dips

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Sambal oelekFresh chilli paste

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

10 min

Indonesian Chutneys & Dips

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