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Bombil fry

Crisp fried Bombay duck

Bombay duck is not a duck at all but bombil, a soft, almost jelly-like fish landed in huge numbers at Sassoon Dock and the Koli fishing villages around Mumbai. Pressed flat, rubbed with chilli and rolled in semolina, it fries up with a shattering crust and a melting middle, and it turns up at Malvani restaurants and Koli homes as a starter or beside dal and rice. Chef's tip: press the opened fish under a weighted plate for 10 minutes before marinating; it squeezes out water so the crust stays crisp.

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Lubia pokhteSpiced pinto beans

On cold winter mornings in Tehran, steam rises from street carts selling lubia pokhte: pinto beans simmered with a pinch of salt until soft as butter, ladled into a cup with some of their cooking liquid and sprinkled with golpar, the citrusy ground seed of Persian hogweed, plus a squeeze of lemon. It is cheap, warming and filling. The mistake is salting the water at the start; add salt once the beans are tender or the skins stay tough. Chef's tip: skim the foam in the first 10 minutes and keep the beans at a lazy simmer, never a rolling boil, so they stay whole but creamy inside.

120 min

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Huevos a la copaSoft-boiled eggs in a glass

In Chilean homes, huevos a la copa are a weekday breakfast and a sick-day comfort: eggs boiled until the whites are just set and the yolks still runny, then scooped out of their shells into a small glass (the copa), broken up with a spoon, salted and eaten with warm marraqueta for dipping. The common mistake is timing from cold water, which makes the result unpredictable; lower the eggs into water that is already boiling. Runny yolks are not suitable for pregnant people, young children, older or vulnerable people; for them, boil the eggs for 9–10 minutes until fully set. If you need it gluten free, serve with gluten-free bread. Chef's tip: a tiny knob of butter stirred into the hot egg in the glass makes it silky.

8 min

Chilean Breakfast & Brunch

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Arrollado huasoRolled spiced pork belly

Arrollado huaso, the 'countryman's roll', is the pork belly roll of the Central Valley: a flat piece of pork belly spread with ají paste, garlic and cumin, rolled tight, tied and wrapped, then simmered for hours and sliced cold. It is the star of September fondas and Christmas tables, sliced thin with hot bread, pebre and boiled potatoes. The mistake that spoils it is a loose roll, which unwinds and cooks unevenly; tie it every 3 cm. Chef's tip: cool it overnight in its cooking liquid with a weight on top; it sets firm and slices into neat spirals. The pork must reach 71 °C in the centre, as the rolled-in surface is now inside.

190 min

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Lüdou zhouRice and mung bean congee

In Beijing and across the north, a pot of lüdou zhou is what families cook on hot summer mornings: plain rice and mung beans simmered until the beans split and the rice turns creamy, believed to cool the body. It is eaten with salty pickled vegetables, a fried dough stick or a spoon of sugar for children. The mistake is putting the rice and beans in together; mung beans need a head start or you get mushy rice with hard beans. Chef's tip: once it is cooked, leave it to stand off the heat with the lid on for 10 minutes; it thickens into a silky congee without extra stirring.

60 min

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IngohoBoiled and fried chicken stew

Among the Luhya of Kakamega, Bungoma and Vihiga, killing a chicken (ingoho) says a guest is honoured: a visiting in-law, a wedding party or a homecoming gets the cockerel, and the best pieces are carefully shared out by rank. The bird is cooked in two stages. First it is boiled whole or in big joints with only salt and onion, and a mug of that golden broth is often handed to the guest to drink; then the pieces are fried in a little oil and finished in a light onion-and-tomato gravy made with the same broth. The result is cleaner and simpler than a spiced stew, letting the deep flavour of a free-range bird come through, and it is eaten with obusuma (ugali) and bitter tsisaka or murenda greens. Don't throw away the boiling liquid, which is the commonest slip. Chef's tip: dry the boiled pieces well before frying, or they spit and never colour.

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Vary sosoaRice soup with greens

In Antananarivo and across the highlands, the day starts with a bowl of vary sosoa: rice cooked with plenty of water until the grains are soft and loose in their milky cooking liquid, wetter than plain rice but not as smooth as congee. Stalls serve it with kitoza (dried meat), eggs or a spoon of fiery sakay; this vegan version tops it with garlicky greens and homemade sakay chilli paste. The common mistake is stirring it like risotto, which makes it gluey; stir only now and then. Chef's tip: make the sakay the day before; the ginger and chilli mellow overnight in the oil.

40 min

Malagasy Rice & Grains

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Arrope de chañarChañar fruit syrup

In the oases of the Atacama, from San Pedro to Toconao, the small brown fruit of the chañar tree is gathered in late summer, dried in the sun and boiled for hours into arrope, a molasses-like syrup with notes of dates and caramel. Grandmothers keep a bottle for winter coughs, but most of it ends up on toast, stirred into hot water or over mote (cooked wheat) and fresh cheese. Dried chañar is sold in northern markets and online; it needs no sugar at all. The classic mistake is walking away at the end, when the syrup thickens fast and scorches, turning bitter. Chef's tip: stop reducing when the syrup coats a spoon thinly; it sets much thicker as it cools.

240 min

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LyangchaFried milk sweets in syrup

Travellers on the road from Kolkata to Bardhaman stop at Shaktigarh for one reason: lyangcha, cylindrical sweets of chhena and khoya fried almost black and soaked in light syrup, sold hot from roadside shops and carried home in clay pots. The outside is caramelised and slightly chewy, the inside soft, juicy and milky. They are a winter and wedding favourite across Bengal. The common mistake is frying on high heat to get the dark colour quickly; the outside burns while the centre stays raw and the sweet splits in the syrup. Low, patient heat gives an even mahogany shell. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of sugar kneaded into the dough helps it darken evenly.

90 min

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Lynyvi varenykyLazy curd dumplings

Lynyvi varenyky, 'lazy dumplings', are the Ukrainian weekday breakfast for families who love varenyky but have no time to fill them: the curd cheese goes into the dough itself, which is rolled into a log, sliced and boiled for a few minutes. They come out soft, tender and lightly sweet, finished with melted butter and a spoon of sour cream, sometimes with jam. The mistake is adding too much flour to make the dough easier to handle, which makes the dumplings heavy; the dough should stay soft and a little sticky. Chef's tip: dust your hands and board rather than the dough, and boil one test dumpling first; if it falls apart, add just one more tablespoon of flour.

27 min

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Nasi liwet SoloCoconut rice with shredded chicken

In Solo (Surakarta), Central Java, nasi liwet sellers set out at dawn with baskets of rice cooked in coconut milk and fragrant salam leaves, served on a banana leaf with shredded chicken, a mild chayote stew in coconut gravy (sayur labu siam) and a hard-boiled egg, all topped with a spoon of thick coconut cream called areh. It is a soft, gentle, savoury breakfast. The usual mistake is boiling the coconut rice too fast, which scorches the bottom before the grains are soft. Chef's tip: once the liquid is absorbed, finish the rice on the lowest heat with a clean tea towel under the lid so it steams fluffy, not wet.

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AsierSweet dill pickled cucumbers

Late August in Danish allotments means the asie, a fat yellow-green cucumber left on the vine until its skin turns thick and its seeds big, and the smell of hot vinegar in every kitchen. The cucumbers are peeled, seeded and salted overnight, then sealed in jars with a sweet vinegar lage, dill crowns and mustard seeds. Asier are a fixture of the Danish table all winter: beside frikadeller, flæskesteg and roast duck at Christmas, sliced onto smørrebrød with liver pâté, and with boiled potatoes and brown gravy on any Tuesday. The pickle is crisp yet tender, sweet first and then sharply sour, with dill and mustard on the finish. Common mistake: skipping the overnight salting, which leaves watery, flabby asier that dilute the vinegar. The salt draws the water out so the cucumber stays firm. They are ready after two weeks, when the flesh has turned translucent and sweet-sour right through. Chef's tip: no asier? Use large, overgrown ridge or field cucumbers; ordinary salad cucumbers are too watery.

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Pain maisonCrusty bread rolls

Every morning in Port Louis, Mahébourg and Rose-Hill, the boulangerie or a man on a bicycle delivers bags of pain maison: small, round white rolls with a thin, crackly crust and soft middle, split and filled with butter and cheese, with chilli-spiked gâteaux piments, or with leftover curry. They're a simple lean dough baked very hot. The common mistake is under-baking because they look golden early; give them the full time so the crust stays crisp after cooling. Chef's tip: spray the oven walls with water as the rolls go in; the burst of steam makes the shiny, cracked crust.

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MaesilcheongGreen plum syrup

In early June, Gwangyang in South Jeolla holds its plum festival under hillsides of maesil trees, and across Korea families buy crates of hard green maesil plums to make maesilcheong. The plums are layered with an equal weight of sugar in big glass jars, and over 100 days the sugar draws out their juice into a tart, fruity amber syrup. It is the Korean kitchen's all-purpose sweetener: a spoonful in a marinade for bulgogi, in salad dressings and in kimchi, and diluted with cold water as a summer drink traditionally taken after a heavy meal. It tastes sweet, sour and almond-scented. Expect a little natural fermentation: a few bubbles and a trace of alcohol (well under 1%) are normal while the sugar dissolves, so keep the lid loose. The common mistake is wet fruit: any water left on the plums or stem scars can lead to mould, so dry them for hours. Ready when the plums have shrivelled and float, and the syrup is clear amber. Raw green plum stones contain compounds that release cyanide: never crush, bite or eat the stones, and remove the fruit after 100 days. No maesil? Use hard green apricots, with the same care. Chef's tip: use half brown sugar for a deeper colour and caramel note.

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Arroz e feijão amassadinho for babiesMashed rice and beans for babies

Rice and beans are on almost every lunch plate in Brazil, from São Paulo office canteens to family tables in Minas Gerais, and babies join in from about eight or nine months with an amassadinho, a soft fork-mashed version. The beans are simmered with a little onion, garlic and bay leaf for flavour instead of salt, bacon or stock cubes, then mashed into soft rice with their thick broth. It is creamy, earthy and filling. It is free of the major allergens: no milk, egg, gluten, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: mash the beans well and press them through a sieve the first few times; the skins are the part babies find hardest.

50 min

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MagayaSun-dried mango pickle

In Andhra Pradesh the pickle season opens around Ugadi, and long before the fiery avakaya is cut, many homes make magaya, the gentler mango pickle. Peeled raw mango is sliced thin and salted until it weeps a yellow brine (magaya ooru), the slices are dried in the hot April sun until leathery, then mixed back into the brine with mustard powder, chilli and fenugreek and sealed under a tempering of gingelly oil. After a week the slices are chewy and soft, tangy and salty, with a rounder heat than avakaya. It is eaten with hot rice and a spoon of ghee, stirred into curd rice, or turned into a raita-like magaya pachadi with yoghurt; the leftover brine is mixed into plain rice. The salt is about 10% of the peeled mango weight (100 g per kg), which, with the fruit's own acid, keeps it safe. Common mistake: drying the slices to hard chips, or too little so they stay wet and mould; stop when they bend without snapping. It is ready when the slices have softened, turned deep red-orange and the oil floats on top. Chef's tip: no sun? A dehydrator or oven at 50 °C dries the slices in 6–8 hours.

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Arroz con queso cruceñoCreamy baked cheese rice

Lunch tables in Santa Cruz and Beni regularly carry a dish of arroz con queso next to the grilled meat: rice cooked soft and stirred with milk, butter and plenty of crumbled lowland cheese, then baked until the top turns golden. Cruceño cooks serve it with fried plantain and a tomato salad. Local cheese is usually made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian mild Cheddar or a feta-style cheese if you need one. The most common mistake is draining the rice; it needs its starch to turn creamy. Chef's tip: hold back a third of the cheese and scatter it on top just before baking, so you get a melted core and a browned crust.

50 minAndean Rice & Grains

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ChigumuBanana maize cake

Chigumu is village baking from the Shire Highlands and the lakeshore near Mangochi: a thick batter of maize flour, overripe bananas and sugar poured into a greased pot, set on embers with more coals heaped on the lid, and left to bake slowly. The result is a dense, moist, golden loaf with a slightly gritty, cornbread-like crumb and a deep banana sweetness, cut into wedges for children after school or carried on journeys. An oven and a loaf tin give the same result at home. The usual mistake is using under-ripe bananas, which leave the cake dry and bland. Chef's tip: pick bananas with skins more black than yellow, and mash them to a liquid before adding the maize flour.

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Ash-e shalghamTurnip and rice soup

In Tehran and Mashhad homes, ash-e shalgham is the pot put on the stove when someone in the family catches a cold in the first frosts of winter. Turnips and rice are simmered together until the turnips melt and the rice thickens the soup, which ends up soft, sweet and peppery, with a fried-onion and turmeric base. Many families add a little lamb; this one is vegan. The usual mistake is using big, old turnips, which taste bitter and woody; choose small, heavy ones. Chef's tip: grate half the turnips and dice the rest, so the soup is creamy yet still has pieces to bite.

65 min

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Mămăligă cu laptePolenta with milk

In the villages of Romanian Moldavia, mămăligă cu lapte is the simplest country breakfast or supper: a firm mămăligă (cornmeal mush) is turned out, cut into cubes and dropped into bowls of milk, warm in winter and cold from the cellar in summer. The soft, sweet corn soaks up the milk like a homely cereal. The mistake is making the mămăligă too soft; it has to be firm enough to cut with a thread or knife, or it melts away in the milk. Chef's tip: add the cornmeal in a thin rain while whisking, then switch to a wooden spoon once it thickens, and you will never get lumps.

30 min

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MandocasCorn and plantain ring fritters

Maracaibo breakfasts often start with mandocas, chewy loops of corn dough sweetened with mashed ripe plantain and dark panela, fried until almost mahogany and eaten with butter, salty white cheese and a cup of coffee. They are sold hot from bakeries and street carts all over Zulia. Venezuelan white cheeses are usually made with animal rennet; feta-style or other vegetarian salty cheeses work. The mistake most people make is frying too hot: the panela darkens and turns bitter before the dough cooks through. Chef's tip: the riper the plantain, with black skin, the softer and sweeter the mandocas.

50 min

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Maneuljjong bokkeumGarlic scape stir-fry

In late spring Korean markets sell thick bundles of garlic scapes, the curly green shoots of the garlic plant, and they become maneuljjong bokkeum, a sweet-salty, glossy banchan that keeps for days and is a dependable dosirak side. The scapes taste of mild garlic and stay pleasantly snappy. The common mistake is glazing them too early, before they are tender, so the syrup burns and the scapes stay woody. Chef's tip: fry the scapes in oil first until they turn bright green and slightly blistered, then add the sauce and toss for only a minute.

13 min

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Mannaya kashaSemolina porridge

Mannaya kasha is the breakfast of every Russian childhood, served in kindergartens and at home: semolina simmered in milk into a smooth, soft porridge, with a melting knob of butter and a spoon of jam or berries in the middle. The famous mistake, joked about by generations of children, is lumps; they form when semolina is tipped in all at once, so rain it in slowly while stirring. Chef's tip: for a thick porridge use 3 tablespoons of semolina per 250 ml of milk, and for the runny kindergarten style use 2; it thickens a lot as it cools, so take it off the heat a little thinner than you want.

12 min

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Mantuun buuzSteamed bread buns

Mantuun buuz are plain steamed buns, cousins of the Chinese mantou, served in Ulaanbaatar homes and canteens alongside meaty stews and stir-fries to soak up the sauce. The yeasted dough is shaped into rounds or rolls and steamed until pillowy and snow-white. They freeze well and reheat in minutes over steam. A common mistake is lifting the lid as soon as the timer goes; leave them 5 minutes off the heat so they don't collapse. Chef's tip: knead until really smooth, which gives a glossy, wrinkle-free surface.

45 min

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Asal-o-khamehClotted cream and honey on flatbread

On Friday mornings in Tehran and Isfahan, families queue at the bakery for hot barbari or sangak, then come home to a treat: thick clotted cream, called khameh or sarshir, drizzled with honey and scooped up with the warm bread, alongside glasses of black tea. The mistake is serving it with cold bread; the warmth is what softens the cream into the honey. Honey is not suitable for babies under one. Chef's tip: let the cream sit out for 10 minutes and spread it first, then drizzle the honey in a thin stream so you get sweet ribbons rather than a puddle.

8 min

Persian Breakfast & Brunch

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Marquesa de chocolateNo-bake chocolate icebox cake

In Caracas homes the marquesa is the cake you make for a birthday when nobody wants to switch on the oven: plain tea biscuits dipped in vanilla milk and stacked with a rich chocolate cream, then chilled until it slices like a torte. Older recipes fold in raw egg yolks; this one uses whipped cream instead, so it is safe for everyone. The usual mistake is soaking the biscuits too long, so the cake slumps. Chef's tip: dip each biscuit for one second, then let the cream do the softening overnight.

35 min

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Aval kanji for babiesRice flake porridge for babies

In Tamil homes from Madurai to Chennai, aval (flattened rice, the same poha sold in every kirana shop) is one of the first grains a grandmother reaches for when a baby turns six months. The flakes are dry-roasted until they smell like puffed rice, ground to a fine powder and simmered with water into a thin, pale porridge with a gentle toasted flavour, usually given as a mid-morning feed. For babies it is made with no salt, sugar, jaggery or honey. It is free of the major allergens: no milk, egg, gluten, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: roast a whole cup of aval at once, grind it and keep the powder in a dry jar for up to two weeks, so each feed takes five minutes.

15 min

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Sept cariSeven vegetable curries

Weddings, Cavadee and the days after a Tamil or Hindu prayer end with guests sitting in rows while volunteers walk past with buckets, spooning rice and seven little curries onto each banana leaf. There is no meat, egg or fish: soft yellow dholl, sweet crushed pumpkin, glossy tamarind aubergine, chayote, green banana with mustard seeds, butter beans in tomato and a curry of cabbage and potato, each with its own texture so the leaf never tastes the same twice. At home it looks daunting, but the trick is a shared base of onion, garlic and ginger prepared once and a cooking order that lets the sturdy curries wait while the delicate ones go last. The usual mistake is to tip curry powder into the pan and add the vegetables straight away, which leaves a dusty, raw taste; fry it with a splash of water until the oil runs red-brown first. Eat it with your right hand if you like, and finish with a spoon of pickle or chatini on the side. Chef's tip: everything except the pumpkin and green banana reheats beautifully, so cook the dholl, beans and cabbage the evening before and the feast day becomes a two-hour job.

180 min

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