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Orange salad with cinnamon
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Orange salad with cinnamon

After a heavy tagine or couscous, Moroccan families in the orange-growing Souss valley and around Marrakech often skip pastries and bring out a plate of sliced oranges instead, splashed with orange blossom water and dusted with cinnamon. It is the simplest dessert there is, but when the oranges are cold and juicy it tastes like a perfume of spice and flowers. Scatter over toasted almonds or chopped dates to make it more filling. Chef's tip: cut off every bit of white pith; even a thin ring of it makes the slices bitter.

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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.

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Lyutenitsa is Bulgaria's pantry relish, cooked in huge pans in courtyards around Plovdiv and the Thracian plain every September, when the red peppers are at their sweetest. Roasted peppers, tomatoes and a little aubergine and carrot are ground smooth and simmered for hours into a thick, brick-red spread, warm with garlic and a little hot pepper. It is smoother and more tomato-rich than ajvar or zacuscă. Children grow up on it spread on bread with grated sirene (filiyka), and it goes with everything from eggs to beans. Chef's tip: stir from the bottom often as it thickens; walking away is the common mistake, and a scorched base will taint the whole pot.

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When the sun goes down during Ramadan in Dubai, Sharjah or Muscat, plates of luqaimat appear on iftar tables and in mosque courtyards. The little balls of yeasted batter, scented with saffron and cardamom, are fried until crisp and golden outside and soft as a cloud inside, then drizzled with dibs (date syrup) and scattered with sesame. Unlike syrup-soaked fritters, they are glazed only lightly, so they stay crunchy. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of oil on your thumb and a wet spoon stop the sticky batter clinging, so the balls drop round into the oil.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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LuladaLulo and lime drink

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MhadjebStuffed semolina flatbreads

Mhadjeb (also mahjouba) are the folded flatbreads of Constantine and the east of Algeria, sold on street corners at teatime and made in every home during Ramadan. A stretchy semolina dough is pulled paper-thin with oiled hands, filled with a jammy stew of onion, tomato and pepper, folded into a square and cooked on a dry griddle until spotted brown. Chef's tip: knead the dough for the full 15 minutes; it must stretch almost transparent without tearing.

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Mi QuangTurmeric noodles with pork and prawns

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Lula kebabChopped lamb kebab

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PulihoraTamarind rice

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MiciGrilled skinless sausages

Every Romanian park, beer garden and May Day picnic smells of mici, the little skinless rolls of minced beef and lamb that sizzle on charcoal grills from Bucharest's Obor market to the Black Sea coast. The mince is beaten with garlic, thyme, a strong beef stock and a little bicarbonate of soda, which makes them springy and juicy inside with a crusty outside. They come in tens, with plenty of mustard, fresh bread and sometimes chips. The usual error is cooking them straight after mixing: the mince needs a night in the fridge for the bicarbonate and garlic to work. Chef's tip: shape them with oiled hands on an oiled tray, and grill them no thicker than your thumb so the middle cooks before the outside burns.

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Midin gorengStir-fried jungle fern

Midin is a wild fern that grows in Sarawak's forests, with curly tips that stay crunchy when cooked, and Kuching restaurants serve it at almost every meal. The best-known version uses belacan (shrimp paste); just as common, and what this is, is midin fried hard and fast with plenty of garlic and a little chilli. Outside Borneo, fiddlehead ferns are the nearest match, and young pea shoots or asparagus tips make a good everyday stand-in. Chef's tip: fry in a very hot wok and serve in under 3 minutes; ferns lose their snap quickly.

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Hong Kong pineapple bun

Despite the name, there is no pineapple in a bolo bao; the crackled, golden sugar crust on top just looks like the fruit's skin. It is the best-selling bun in Hong Kong bakeries and cha chaan teng cafés, eaten warm at breakfast or tea time with milk tea, and many people order it as bo lo yau, split open with a thick, cold slice of butter melting into it. Chef's tip: roll the topping between two sheets of baking paper rather than on a floured board; the soft dough is fragile and paper lets you lift it on in one piece.

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Kefta tagine with eggs

Café kitchens from Tangier to Agadir keep a row of small clay tagines bubbling with this one at lunchtime, and plenty of Moroccan families make it on busy weeknights. Little cumin-and-paprika meatballs poach in a thick, garlicky tomato sauce, then eggs are cracked straight into the pan and left to set softly on top. You eat it straight from the pot, tearing bread to scoop up meat, sauce and runny yolk together. Serve with a plate of olives and a simple chopped salad. Chef's tip: roll the meatballs no bigger than a cherry tomato so they cook through in the sauce in the same time it takes to thicken.

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Mie gorengFried egg noodles

Mie goreng is what the gerobak noodle carts of Indonesian towns fry up after dark, each portion tossed in a blackened wok over a roaring flame, sweet and savoury from kecap manis and sharp with garlic. Unlike Malaysia's tomato-red mamak noodles, the Indonesian style is dark, glossy and dominated by sweet soy and white pepper, with plenty of greens and a scattering of fried shallots. This version swaps the usual chicken and prawns for tofu and mushrooms and is on the table in twenty minutes. Chef's tip: cook the noodles a minute short of the packet time and rinse them in cold water; they finish softening in the wok and stay springy instead of breaking.

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Picadillo vegetarianoLentil and mushroom picadillo

Picadillo a la habanera is Havana's everyday savoury hash, sweet with raisins, salty with olives and capers and sharp with tomato and sofrito. This vegetarian version swaps the meat for brown lentils and finely chopped mushrooms, which give the same crumbly, juicy texture and a deep savoury flavour. Spoon it over white rice with fried ripe plantain, or use it to fill empanadas and stuffed peppers. Chef's tip: let the mushrooms fry until all their liquid has gone and they turn brown; that browning is what makes it taste rich.

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Migas with greens and garlicFried bread with greens and garlic

In the Alentejo nothing made of bread is wasted, and migas is the proof: stale loaves soaked, then worked in a pan of hot olive oil and garlic until they come together into a golden, crusty roll with a soft middle. Around Évora and Beja it usually sits next to fried pork, but in spring, when wild asparagus (espargos bravos) and grelos are picked along the field edges, cooks fold the greens straight into the bread and make it a dish in its own right. This version uses tender asparagus or turnip tops and is entirely plant-based. Serve it as a side with a fried egg or a bean stew, or on its own with olives. Chef's tip: soak the bread only until it is damp and heavy, then squeeze it hard; wet bread steams in the pan instead of forming the golden crust that makes migas worth eating.

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Poulet bicycletteGrilled free-range chicken

Across Burkina Faso and northern Côte d'Ivoire, "bicycle chicken" is the lean village chicken once carried to market strapped to the back of a bike; in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso it is grilled whole at open-air stalls in the evening and eaten with fries, attiéké or a chunk of bread. The birds are smaller and firmer than supermarket chicken, so a small free-range or poussin works best at home. The mistake is grilling a whole chicken over high heat from the start, which burns the outside before the inside is safe; start it on indirect heat or in the oven, then char it. Chef's tip: spatchcock the bird so it cooks evenly and fast.

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Ehime mikan jellyMandarin jelly

Ehime, on the sunny north coast of Shikoku, is Japan's mandarin country. Terraced orchards climb its hillsides above the Seto Inland Sea, and the local mikan is so central to life there that some towns joke their taps run with juice. Mikan jelly is the prefecture's everyday treat, sold in cups at service stations and made at home when the fruit glut comes in winter. Ours is set with kanten (agar) instead of gelatine, which also means it holds firm at room temperature and doesn't melt on a hot day. Serve chilled after dinner. Chef's tip: boil the agar properly for 2 minutes. Agar only sets once fully dissolved, and undercooked agar leaves a grainy, weak jelly.

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Lucknowi sheermalSaffron sweet milk flatbread

Sheermal is a soft flatbread made with milk and ghee instead of water, lightly sweet, and brushed with saffron milk so it bakes to a glossy amber colour. In Lucknow's old quarters like Chowk and Aminabad, bakers still make it in tandoors each morning, and families buy it for Eid, weddings and Ramadan iftar, eating it alongside rich kormas or simply with a cup of milky tea. It sits halfway between bread and pastry. The usual mistake is adding too much flour while kneading because the dough feels sticky; a dry dough gives a tough, crumbly sheermal. Chef's tip: oil your hands instead of flouring the surface, and let the rich dough rise until it is truly doubled.

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Milanesa a la napolitanaBreaded beef with ham and cheese

Despite the name, this has nothing to do with Naples: it was invented in Buenos Aires in the 1940s at a restaurant called Nápoli, near the Luna Park stadium. A crisp milanesa is topped with tomato sauce, a slice of ham and plenty of mozzarella, then grilled until the cheese bubbles. It is a pork-and-beef dish, because of the ham. Porteños order it at the corner bodegón with a mountain of chips, one plate often shared by two. The common mistake is spooning on too much sauce, which turns the crumb soggy; a thin layer is enough. Chef's tip: fry the milanesas a minute less than usual, since they finish cooking under the grill, and keep the sauce thick.

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Moamba de galinhaChicken stew in palm oil sauce

Moamba de galinha is the national dish of Angola, cooked in Luanda for Sunday lunch and family celebrations: chicken simmered in a deep orange sauce of palm oil (or palm-nut cream), tomato, garlic and chilli, with okra and butternut squash. It is served with funge, a smooth cassava porridge, which is dipped into the sauce. The mistake is frying red palm oil over high heat, which makes it bitter; heat it gently. Chef's tip: marinate the chicken in lemon and garlic first; the sourness balances the rich sauce.

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Milanesa de berenjenaBreaded aubergine cutlets

Milanesas, thin breaded cutlets brought by Italian immigrants, are the everyday dinner of Argentina and Uruguay, made in every home from Rosario to Mendoza. Vegetarian families make them with aubergine slices, which turn creamy inside a crunchy golden crumb, and serve them with mashed potato, salad or between bread as a sandwich de milanesa. Children love them with a squeeze of lemon. Turn them into milanesa a la napolitana by topping with tomato sauce and mozzarella and grilling. Chef's tip: season the egg, not just the crumbs: garlic and parsley in the egg are what make an Argentine milanesa taste like home.

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Milanesa de carneBreaded beef cutlet

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

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Lucknowi galouti kebabMinced lamb patties

Lucknow's galouti kebab is said to have been created in the kitchens of the Nawabs of Awadh for a ruler who had lost his teeth, and 'galouti' means something that melts. The minced lamb is ground again until it's almost a paste, tenderised with raw papaya, scented with a dozen spices plus rose water and saffron, and fried gently on a flat griddle. In the old city around Aminabad they are sold all day on small, flaky ulte tawe ka paratha with sliced onion and mint chutney, and they are a must at Ramadan iftars. Chef's tip: chill the mixture well before shaping; the patties are meant to be fragile, and a cold mixture is the only way to get them into the pan in one piece.

125 minIndianMeatGluten free
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Picanha churrascoGrilled beef rump cap

Picanha, the rump cap with its thick white fat layer, is the cut Brazilians prize most at a churrasco. The tradition comes from the gaúchos, the cattle herders of Rio Grande do Sul, and lives on in Sunday family barbecues in the south and in churrascarias across the country, where waiters carry the meat from table to table on long skewers. It is seasoned with nothing but coarse rock salt (sal grosso) and cooked over charcoal with the fat left on, so it bastes the meat. You can fold thick steaks into a C shape on skewers, as in the churrascarias, or grill them flat. Chef's tip: before slicing, knock the excess salt off with the back of a knife; the crust keeps just enough.

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Lu puluCorned beef in taro leaves

Lu pulu is a Sunday dish in Tonga, cooked in the umu (earth oven) after church in Nuku'alofa and by Tongan families in Auckland and Sydney: taro leaves are layered into a cup, filled with corned beef, onion and thick coconut cream, wrapped in foil or banana leaf and baked until the leaves melt into a rich, silky parcel. It is served with boiled taro, yam or sweet potato. The mistake is undercooking the taro leaves: they must cook for at least an hour, as raw taro leaves irritate the mouth and throat. Chef's tip: if you can't find taro leaves, use large spinach or silverbeet leaves, cooked for 45 minutes.

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Milk tart (melktert)Cinnamon custard tart

Melktert is South Africa's coffee-time tart, made by Afrikaner and Cape Malay families alike, sold at church bazaars and in farm stalls along the Garden Route, and even celebrated with its own National Milk Tart Day on 27 February. A crisp sweet pastry case holds a thick, wobbly custard made with milk and flavoured with a cinnamon stick, then finished with a heavy dusting of ground cinnamon. It is lighter and more milky than a baked egg custard tart. Chef's tip: stir the custard constantly as it thickens and keep cooking for 2 minutes after it bubbles so the flour loses its raw taste.

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MilmyeonCold wheat noodles

Busan's milmyeon was born in the refugee years of the Korean War, when people from the north who had fled to the port city wanted the cold buckwheat noodles of home but could only get wheat flour, much of it from food aid. The noodles that resulted are chewier and paler than naengmyeon, and the broth is flavoured with beef bones, vegetables and sometimes medicinal herbs, then served icy cold. A spoonful of spicy red sauce sits on top, and diners add vinegar and mustard to taste. In summer, long queues form outside milmyeon shops across Busan. Making the broth the day before is easiest, though an ice bath and the freezer get it cold in about an hour. Chef's tip: serve the broth so cold that a slushy layer of ice floats on top, as Busan shops do; a wide container in the freezer gets it there.

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Lovo-style chickenEarth-oven style chicken

A lovo is Fiji's earth oven, dug in the ground for weddings, church feasts and Christmas in villages on Viti Levu and Vanua Levu: hot stones are covered with parcels of meat, fish and root vegetables in banana leaves, then buried for hours. This home version wraps chicken marinated in coconut, garlic and ginger with taro, cassava and sweet potato in foil and banana leaves and roasts them slowly, giving the same steamed, smoky-sweet result. The mistake is wrapping loosely, so the steam escapes and everything dries; seal the parcels tightly. Chef's tip: a few drops of liquid smoke or a smoked paprika rub gives a hint of the earth oven.

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Loubieh bi zeitGreen beans braised in olive oil

In Lebanese homes loubieh bi zeit belongs to the 'bi zeit' family, vegetables cooked in olive oil and served cool, which turn up on the mezze table in summer and fill lunchboxes the next day. Flat runner beans or wide Romano beans are best: they soak up the garlicky tomato sauce and turn silky. It is eaten at room temperature with Arabic bread to mop the oil, and often with a few spring onions and radishes alongside. Chef's tip: cook the garlic only until it smells sweet before adding the beans; browned garlic turns the whole dish bitter.

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Lontong sayurRice cakes in coconut vegetable broth

In Jakarta, lontong sayur is what the morning carts sell before offices open: firm slices of pressed rice sitting in a thin, golden coconut broth with chayote, long beans and squares of tofu and tempeh. Betawi families also cook a big pot of it for Lebaran morning. Street versions often add dried shrimp to the spice paste; this one keeps the flavour with candlenuts, galangal and salam leaf instead. Serve with sambal, fried shallots and crackers. Chef's tip: cook the lontong the day before and chill it overnight; cold rice cakes slice cleanly and soak up the broth without falling apart.

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Mine friteFried noodles with vegetables and egg

Mine frite (fried noodles) arrived with the Hakka Chinese community of Port Louis and is now everyone's favourite, sold from food vans and stalls all over Mauritius and made at home for weekend lunches. Egg noodles are tossed in a very hot wok with garlic, cabbage, carrot, spring onion and soy sauce, then topped with an omelette in strips. It is usually eaten with a spoon of chilli paste and a pickled chilli. Chef's tip: dry the noodles well after boiling; wet noodles steam instead of frying and clump.

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Lamb tagine with prunes

Served at weddings, Eid gatherings and big family dinners in Fez and Marrakech, tagine lham bel barkouk is the sweet-and-savoury centrepiece Moroccans bring out for guests. Lamb shoulder braises slowly with saffron, ginger and cinnamon until it falls apart in a buttery-soft sauce, then it is crowned with glossy honeyed prunes, fried almonds and toasted sesame. Each mouthful moves from warm spice to deep fruit sweetness. Put it in the middle of the table with bread for scooping, or with couscous. Chef's tip: cook the prunes in a little of the sauce in a separate pan; poached apart, they stay whole and shiny instead of dissolving into the meat.

150 minMoroccanMeatGluten free
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LokmaFried yeast fritters in syrup

In İzmir and along the Aegean coast, lokma is the sweet of shared moments: families hire a lokma master with a big cauldron to fry hundreds of these golden balls on the street after a funeral or to mark an anniversary, handing them out to anyone passing by, and stalls sell them by the paper cup all year. Each fritter is a little ball of yeasted batter, crisp outside, hollow and soft within, soaked briefly in lemon syrup so it crunches before it melts. This home version needs no eggs or butter, and kids love squeezing out the balls. Eat them warm, on their own or with a sprinkle of cinnamon or crushed pistachios. Chef's tip: dip your spoon or fingers in a cup of water before each ball; the batter then slides off cleanly into round shapes instead of stringy tails.

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Mirchi ka salanGreen chillies in peanut sesame sauce

Mirchi ka salan comes from Hyderabad, where it's the classic partner for biryani at weddings and Sunday lunches. Fat, mild green chillies are fried until blistered, then simmered in a nutty gravy of roasted peanuts, sesame and dried coconut, soured with tamarind. The result is rich, tangy and only gently hot, with the chillies giving a fresh, grassy bite. It also tastes very good with plain rice, jeera rice or parathas and is even better the next day. Chef's tip: roast the peanuts, sesame and coconut separately and slowly; each browns at its own pace, and one scorched spoonful of sesame turns the whole gravy bitter.

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LohikeittoCreamy salmon soup

Lohikeitto is what Finns cook when they want something warming after a day outside, ladled up in Helsinki lunch cafés and in lakeside summer cottages alike. Chunks of salmon and potato simmer in a light fish stock with leek and allspice, then a little cream turns it pale and gentle and a big handful of dill makes it taste of summer. It takes about forty minutes and is served with dark rye bread and butter. The common mistake is boiling the salmon hard, which turns it dry and stringy; it only needs a few minutes at a bare simmer. Chef's tip: add the salmon last and switch off the heat with the lid on; the fish finishes in the hot soup and stays in juicy flakes.

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Mirchi vadaPotato-stuffed chilli fritters

In Jodhpur, the day often begins at a roadside kadhai: huge, mild green chillies stuffed with spiced potato, coated in gram-flour batter and fried until golden and blistered, then eaten hot with sweet milky chai. Stalls near the Clock Tower and Sardar Market make them all day, and during the monsoon the queues grow longer. The chilli adds a fresh, green bite more than heat, and the filling is tangy with amchur and fennel. A common mistake is frying in oil that is not hot enough, which makes the batter heavy and oily. Chef's tip: fry each vada once until pale gold, rest it for a few minutes, then fry it again for 1 minute just before serving—this is the stall trick for a crust that stays crisp.

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Poulet DGChicken with plantain and vegetables

Poulet DG, short for "poulet directeur général", earned its name in Yaoundé in the 1980s as a dish rich enough for the boss; now it is the centrepiece at weddings and Sunday lunches across Cameroon. Chicken is browned and simmered with tomato, peppers, carrots and green beans, then fried ripe plantain is folded in at the end, so every mouthful is savoury and sweet. The mistake is stirring the plantain in too early, when it breaks up and goes mushy; add it in the last few minutes. Chef's tip: choose plantains that are yellow with lots of black spots, ripe enough to caramelise but still firm.

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Mirza ghasemiSmoky aubergine with garlic and tomato

Mirza ghasemi comes from Gilan, the green, rainy Caspian province around Rasht, where it is eaten as a starter or a light lunch with bread or rice. Aubergines are charred whole until smoky and soft, then cooked down with a lot of garlic, turmeric and tomato, and finished by stirring in eggs so they set in soft streaks through the purée. It tastes smoky, sweet and garlicky, and is best scooped up with warm flatbread and pickles. Chef's tip: char the aubergines over a gas flame or under a hot grill until the skin is papery and black all over; a pale-skinned aubergine gives no smoke.

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Misal pavSprouted bean curry with bread rolls

Misal pav is Maharashtra's great street breakfast, eaten from Pune's old eateries to the hot, red misal of Kolhapur. Sprouted moth beans (matki) are cooked into a thick usal, then drowned at the table in a fiery, oily, thin curry called kat or tarri, and topped with crunchy farsan, raw onion, coriander and a squeeze of lemon. It comes with soft pav to mop it all up. Each person builds their own bowl, adding as much tarri as their tongue can take. Chef's tip: let the kat simmer until a red layer of oil floats on top; Pune vendors skim this 'tarri' off and spoon it over each bowl, and that oily, spicy film is the whole point of a good misal.

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Locro de papaPotato and cheese soup

Locro de papa is Quito's comfort soup, eaten on cold afternoons in the Andean highlands where nights drop near freezing. Potatoes are cooked until half of them dissolve into a thick, achiote-tinted broth, then finished with milk and cubes of fresh cheese that soften into strings. Bowls are crowned with avocado slices and served with ají (chilli sauce) on the side. Ecuador uses two potatoes, a floury one to thicken and a waxy one to hold its shape. Chef's tip: add the cheese off the heat; it should soften and go stretchy, not melt into an oily layer.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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