Featured recipe

Tandoori pomfret

Tandoori pomfret is a fixture of Mumbai's coastal restaurants and Koli fishing families' feasts, especially in the cooler months when silver pomfret is at its best. Whole fish are slashed, given a lemon-and-salt first marinade, then coated in thick yogurt with ginger-garlic, Kashmiri chilli, ajwain and garam masala and roasted until charred at the edges and juicy inside. Suitable as part of a balanced diet: high-protein fish with no batter. About 280 kcal and 6 g carbohydrate per portion; serve with onion-cucumber salad and mint chutney. The usual mistake is using runny yogurt, which slides off and steams the fish; strain it first. Chef's tip: a spoon of roasted gram flour (besan) in the marinade helps it cling and char.

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AmasiFermented milk with crumbly pap

Thick, tangy amasi was once soured in calabashes in Zulu and Xhosa homesteads, and it is still the drink-cum-meal that many South Africans crave on a hot afternoon, poured over crumbly pap as umvubo. At home it is easy and safe with pasteurised full-fat milk and a spoon of live cultured buttermilk as the starter; never use raw milk. Expect something like a pourable, sharper yoghurt with soft curds, cooling against the dry, crumbly maize. The common mistake is fermenting somewhere too warm, which makes the milk separate into watery whey and rubbery lumps. Chef's tip: once it has set, chill it for a few hours before eating; the cold firms the curd and rounds out the sourness.

40 min

South African Drinks

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Ají de fideosNoodles in red chilli with beef

Ají de fideos fills the market comedores of La Paz at lunchtime: spaghetti snapped into short pieces and simmered in a brick-red sauce of dried chilli, onion and tomato with chunks of beef and potato, all eaten with a spoon. It is warming, a little smoky and properly hot, perfect at 3,600 metres. The trap is adding the pasta too early, which leaves it bloated and the sauce gluey. Chef's tip: toast the broken spaghetti in a little oil until golden before it goes into the pot; it keeps its shape and adds a nutty flavour.

90 minAndean Pasta & Noodles

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Kapusta provansalCabbage and apple salad

Kapusta provansal has nothing to do with Provence: the grand name is a Soviet-era flourish for a bright marinated cabbage salad that turns up on festive tables from Moscow to Novosibirsk, especially at New Year and through the autumn when the cabbage is crisp and sweet. Coarsely cut cabbage, grated carrot, apple wedges and red cranberries are packed into a jar under a hot marinade of water, sugar, vinegar, sunflower oil, bay and allspice. By the next day it is crunchy, juicy, sweet and sour, with tart pops of berry and a gentle spiced warmth, and it sits happily beside boiled potatoes, kotlety, salted herring or roast chicken. The commonest mistake is slicing the cabbage very finely, which goes limp under the hot marinade; cut it into rough 3 cm squares and crush it only lightly with the salt. It is ready when the cabbage has turned slightly translucent but still snaps and the carrot has coloured the brine pale orange. Chef's tip: add a few strips of red pepper and a crushed garlic clove to the jar for colour and depth.

35 min

Russian Salads

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Lemon sevai (lemon rice noodles)

Sevai is pressed rice-flour vermicelli, and in Tamil Nadu and the Mysuru region the lemon version is a lighter alternative to lemon rice for a school lunch box. Today most homes use dried rice sevai, softened in hot water and steamed, then tossed with a turmeric tempering of mustard, dal, peanuts and green chilli and plenty of lemon. The common mistake is soaking the dry sevai too long, so it breaks into short mushy bits; it should be just pliable before it goes into the steamer. Chef's tip: toss with a fork, not a spoon, and lift rather than stir so the strands stay long.

22 min

Indian Pasta & Noodles

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Karnemelkse papButtermilk porridge

Karnemelkse pap, made with the buttermilk left over from Dutch farm churning, was breakfast and supper in the Netherlands for centuries, and many older Dutch people still remember it on cold winter mornings. Buttermilk is thickened with flour into a smooth, tangy porridge and eaten hot with stroop (syrup) or brown sugar. The common mistake is pouring cold buttermilk on flour and boiling hard, which splits the porridge into grainy lumps; mix a smooth paste first and keep the heat gentle. Chef's tip: stir constantly with a whisk, especially at the bottom of the pan, until it bubbles once, and it stays silky.

20 min

Dutch Breakfast & Brunch

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Tudou si bing (shredded potato pancakes)

In Shandong, Hebei and the northeast, these thin, lacy potato pancakes are a cheap street breakfast and a favourite filler for children's lunch boxes, crisp at the edges and soft in the middle. The potato is cut into very fine matchsticks, seasoned with spring onion, salt and a little white pepper, and bound with just enough flour to hold. The mistake is rinsing away all the starch and squeezing too hard: the shreds then won't stick together. Rinse once, drain, and squeeze lightly. Chef's tip: press the pancake thin with the back of a spatula as soon as it hits the pan; thin pancakes crisp right through and stay crisp longer in a box.

30 min

Chinese Snacks & Starters

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Sout ribbetjieSalt-cured grilled lamb ribs

Before fridges, Karoo farmers rubbed lamb ribs with coarse salt and coriander and hung them in the cool pantry; today the cure happens in the fridge, but the result is the same deeply savoury, almost bacon-like rib that crackles at the edges. At a farm braai near Beaufort West or Sutherland it goes on first, over low coals, because it needs an hour or more to render its fat and turn tender, and people pick at it with their fingers while everything else cooks. Serve it with stywe pap and tomato smoor, or with roosterkoek and a crisp salad. Rinsing too lightly is the usual mistake: rinse off the surface salt after curing, or the meat will be too salty to eat. Chef's tip: keep the coals low and patient; high heat sets the fat alight and blackens the outside long before the meat is soft.

120 min

South African Meat

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Acar buahFruit pickle

In Penang, Nyonya households start filling big glass jars with acar buah a week before Chinese New Year, so there is always a dish to set out for visitors with tea, and to eat beside nasi lemak or curry through the fifteen days. Penang is nutmeg country, and candied strips of nutmeg fruit (buah pala) from the Balik Pulau orchards go in with green papaya, dried apricots and raisins, all coated in a rempah of chillies, shallots, garlic, galangal and candlenuts fried until the oil splits, then cooked with vinegar and sugar. A shower of toasted sesame and crushed peanuts finishes it. It is sticky, jammy, sweet-hot and tangy, with crunchy papaya against chewy fruit. Many cooks add a little toasted belacan to the rempah; it is left out here to keep it vegan. Common mistake: frying the rempah too briefly, which leaves it harsh and makes the pickle spoil faster; cook it slowly until dark red and the oil separates. It tastes best after two days in the fridge. Chef's tip: squeeze the salted papaya as hard as you can, or the pickle turns watery.

70 min

Malaysian Chutneys & Dips

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Kawa zbożowaRoasted grain coffee

In Polish kindergartens, school canteens and grandmothers' kitchens, kawa zbożowa is the breakfast "coffee" everyone can drink: a blend of roasted rye, barley, chicory and sometimes sugar beet that tastes toasty and malty with no caffeine at all. It is usually drunk milky and a little sweet alongside bread and butter. The common mistake is brewing ground grain coffee like espresso: it needs a few minutes of simmering to give up its flavour, or it tastes like weak tea. Chef's tip: let the pot stand off the heat for 2 minutes after simmering so the grounds sink, then pour gently and you won't need a filter at all.

7 min

Polish Drinks

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Akkha masoorWhole brown lentil curry

Akkha masoor is the dish that made the dhabas on the Kolhapur–Pune highway famous: whole brown lentils cooked into a rich, fiery onion, tomato and Kolhapuri-masala gravy, finished with a big knob of butter and eaten with jowar bhakri, tandoori roti or jeera rice. At home it is a weeknight dinner and a favourite on cold evenings. The lentils keep their shape while the roasted dry coconut and red chilli give a deep, nutty heat. The usual mistake is undercooking the onions; they must turn deep brown before the tomatoes go in, or the gravy tastes thin. Slow-cooker: cook everything except the butter on low for 6 hours, then stir the butter in at the end. Chef's tip: toast the dry coconut until it is the colour of a biscuit; it is the secret of the dhaba flavour.

60 min

Indian Curries

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KabichiFried cabbage and carrot

Hardly a weekday supper in a Nairobi flat goes by without a pan of kabichi next to the ugali: it costs little, uses one cabbage from the corner duka and is on the table in twenty minutes. Thin ribbons of cabbage meet onion, grated carrot, tomato and green pepper in a hot pan, staying sweet with a little bite and soaking up just enough tomato to turn rosy. Pair it with ugali and ndengu or beans, or roll it into a chapati. Most cooks go wrong by covering the pan and letting the cabbage steam to a grey, sulphurous heap; keep the lid off and the heat up. Chef's tip: salt the cabbage only at the very end, because salt pulls out water and stops it frying.

20 minEast African Sides

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Lajiao chao jidan (green chilli and egg)

Hunan home cooks in Changsha make this in ten minutes when there is nothing but eggs and long green chillies in the kitchen, and it is a standard dish at lunchbox shops: the chillies are dry-fried until blistered and smoky, then tossed with big soft curds of egg and a splash of soy. It is hot, so choose mild long chillies or green peppers if you prefer. The mistake is cooking the eggs with the chillies from the start, which makes them tough and grey; scramble them separately and combine at the end. Chef's tip: press the chillies against the hot dry wok with a spatula until they wrinkle and char in spots before any oil goes in. Contains egg and soya.

13 min

Chinese Vegetarian

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Acar timunPickled cucumber and carrot

Order sate at a Madurese stall in Java, or nasi goreng from a night-time warung tenda, and a little saucer of acar timun comes with it: cubes of cucumber and carrot, whole small shallots and a few green or red bird's eye chillies in a sweet, sharp vinegar dressing. It is also spooned beside martabak telur and served at kenduri feasts and weddings. It is cold, crunchy and refreshing, sweet first, then sour, with a sudden bite when you hit a chilli, and it cuts the richness of peanut sauce and fried rice. Make it fresh: it is at its best the same day. Common mistake: pouring the dressing on warm or cutting the cucumber too thin, which turns everything limp and watery; dissolve the sugar in warm water, then let it cool before mixing. It is ready after 10–15 minutes, when the shallots have lost their raw edge and the cucumber is lightly seasoned but still snaps. Chef's tip: leave the bird's eye chillies whole so guests can choose whether to eat them; slit one or two if you want the dressing itself to carry heat.

17 min

Indonesian Chutneys & Dips

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Su shi jin (mixed vegetable stir-fry)

Su shi jin means "vegetarian assortment", and it comes from the Buddhist kitchens of eastern China; today it is a staple of office lunchbox shops in Shanghai and Hangzhou. Crunchy wood ear mushrooms, strips of tofu skin, chewy wheat gluten (kao fu or mian jin), carrot, snow peas and bamboo shoot are stir-fried quickly and glossed with a light soy and ginger sauce. The mistake is adding everything at once, so the firm vegetables are raw and the snow peas overcooked; cook in order of hardness. Chef's tip: soak dried wood ear in cold water rather than hot; it plumps up crunchier.

30 min

Chinese Vegetarian

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Smokie pasuaSausage with kachumbari

Glass-fronted carts on Nairobi corners, outside schools and matatu stages, keep a tray of smokies warm in water all day, and 'pasua' means the vendor splits one down the middle and packs it with kachumbari. Kenyan smokies are smoked sausages usually made from pork and beef, so check the pack if you avoid pork; beef-only and chicken versions are sold too. They come already cooked, and the job is to heat them through until piping hot, then pile in the cool, sharp tomato-onion salad and a squirt of chilli or tomato sauce for a snack that crunches, snaps and drips. Cutting all the way through is the common slip: the smokie falls apart and the filling spills. Chef's tip: salt the kachumbari onions for a few minutes and squeeze them before mixing, which tames their bite the way the street vendors' do.

10 minEast African Fast Food

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Sri Lankan rice and curry lunch packet

Across Colombo at midday, office workers unfold a lunch packet: rice wrapped in a banana leaf or waxed paper with a little of everything around it. This vegan version is the one the rice-and-curry shops call "veg packet": coconut-milk parippu (red lentil dhal), a dry potato curry, a crisp mallung of chopped greens and fiery pol sambol. Chicken or fish curry is often added, but the vegetables alone make a full meal. The mistake is packing the dhal runny, which soaks the whole parcel; cook it thick enough to hold on a spoon. Chef's tip: wilt the banana leaf over a flame for a few seconds so it folds without splitting and gives the rice its scent.

75 min

Sri Lankan Rice & Grains

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BooCowpea leaves in peanut paste

Ask someone from Lira or Kitgum what home tastes like and many will say boo, the leaves of the cowpea plant, picked young from the same fields that give the beans. Slow-cooked until they are dark and silky, then thickened with groundnut paste, they turn into a mellow, slightly bitter, deeply savoury green sauce with none of the tartness of malakwang. It is everyday food, eaten with kalo, posho or sweet potatoes. Fresh, frozen or dried cowpea leaves are sold at African grocers; kale or spring greens stand in well. Chef's tip: a pinch of bicarbonate of soda in the first boil softens tough leaves quickly and keeps their colour; any more than a pinch makes them soapy.

40 minEast African Sides

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Cheese pimiento sandwich

Cheese pimiento is the orange spread every Filipino child knows from school baon, birthday party trays and afternoon merienda in Manila: grated cheese mashed with mayonnaise, chopped pimiento and a little sugar, spread thick on soft white bread with the crusts cut off. The mistake is grating the cheese too coarsely, which gives a lumpy spread that tears the soft bread; grate it finely and let it soften for a few minutes in the mayonnaise. Many processed and cheddar cheeses are made with animal rennet, so choose one labelled vegetarian. Chef's tip: a spoon of evaporated milk makes the spread silkier and easier to spread on soft bread. Contains milk, egg (mayonnaise) and gluten.

10 min

Filipino Snacks & Starters

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Passionfruit sponge

The passionfruit sponge is the star of the Australian country show cake table and every Sunday afternoon tea, made from the vines that cover back fences from Sydney to the Sunshine Coast. Two airy, fatless sponges are filled with whipped cream and topped with a tangy passionfruit icing. A common mistake is knocking the air out when folding in the flour; use a light hand and a big metal spoon. Chef's tip: beat the eggs and sugar for a full 8–10 minutes until thick enough to hold a trail.

55 min

Australian Baking

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Ensaladang talbos ng kamote (sweet potato leaf salad)

In Filipino provinces from Pampanga to Leyte, the tender tips of sweet potato vines grow by every house, and this quick salad of blanched leaves, ripe tomato and red onion in sukang Iloko vinegar sits beside fried fish or rice in baon and family lunches. The leaves turn silky and mild, and the vinegar keeps it fresh in a closed tub. The mistake is boiling the leaves for minutes until they turn dark and slimy; thirty seconds is enough. Chef's tip: plunge the leaves into iced water straight from the pot, so they stay bright green until lunchtime.

13 min

Filipino Salads

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LapenaPigeon peas in sesame paste

Lapena comes out for Christmas, weddings and the days when relatives arrive in Gulu from Kampala: dried pigeon peas boiled until soft, then cooked slowly in roasted sesame paste until thick, earthy and nutty, with a faint bitterness from the sesame that balances the sweetness of the peas. Some families mash it smooth, others keep the peas whole; both are eaten with kwon millet bread, rice or boiled cassava. Dried pigeon peas are sold as toor or arhar (whole, not split) in Indian grocers. The common mistake is adding salt before the peas are tender, which keeps the skins tough. Chef's tip: if you can only find light tahini, toast it in a dry pan for a minute or two until it darkens to get closer to Acholi sesame paste.

120 minEast African Curries

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A-geiTofu pockets filled with glass noodles

A-gei is the breakfast that people ride the MRT to Tamsui for. On Zhenli Street, below Aletheia University, small shops have been making it since the 1960s: a big square of fried tofu is cut open, stuffed with glass noodles simmered in soy and a light broth, sealed with a cap of fish paste, steamed until set, and served in a pool of sweet chilli sauce, often with a bowl of fish-ball soup. The name comes from the Japanese aburaage, fried tofu. It is soft, savoury and slurpy. Contains soy, fish and wheat. Chef's tip: pack the noodles in firmly; loose filling soaks up the sauce and the pocket collapses.

80 min

Taiwanese Snacks & Starters

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Khajur pakDate and nut fudge

Kutch grows some of India's best dates, and in Bhuj and Anjar homes khajur pak is the sweet made for Diwali boxes and for Ekadashi and other fast days, since it needs nothing but dates, ghee, nuts and coconut. The dates melt in warm ghee into a sticky paste, the nuts give crunch, and the log is rolled in poppy seeds and sliced into neat coins. The common mistake is cooking the dates too long, which dries them out so the log cracks when you slice it. Chef's tip: for a harder winter version, swap a third of the soft dates for chopped kharek (dry dates) soaked overnight in a little milk.

30 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Ellu sadam (sesame rice)

In Tamil homes ellu sadam is cooked on Saturdays and temple days, and it is one of the variety rices that keeps best in a school lunch box, because the dry sesame powder soaks up the oil and does not spoil the way coconut rice can. The powder is roasted from black sesame, urad dal and dried red chillies, ground coarse and tossed through plain rice with a nutty gingelly oil tempering. The usual mistake is roasting the sesame too hard: it turns bitter within seconds, so take it off as soon as it starts to pop and smell toasty. Chef's tip: pound the powder rather than blitzing it to dust, so you keep a little crunch from the dal.

20 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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Frozen Christmas pudding

In the heat of an Australian December, many families swap the steamed pudding for a frozen one, ice cream packed with fruit, nuts and chocolate and set in a pudding basin so it still looks the part on the Christmas table in Brisbane or Perth. It is made days ahead and turned out just before serving. A common mistake is letting the ice cream melt too much while mixing, which makes it icy when refrozen; soften it only until stirrable. Chef's tip: soak the fruit in orange juice the night before so it stays soft when frozen.

30 min

Australian Desserts

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Kothamalli sadam (coriander rice)

Chennai mothers turn a big bunch of coriander into this bright green rice when they want a lunch box that looks fresh and smells of the market. The leaves and stems are ground with green chilli, coconut, ginger and a little tamarind, then fried in oil until the raw grassy smell goes and the paste turns a deeper green. The mistake is adding the paste and the rice together: the paste stays raw and the rice goes dull and sour. Cook the paste first until it leaves the sides of the pan. Chef's tip: keep the coriander stems; they carry more flavour than the leaves and grind into a smoother paste.

25 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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Khatta meatMutton in sour pomegranate gravy

Khatta meat is a pride of Jammu's Dogra kitchens, cooked for family gatherings and the winter wedding season: mutton on the bone simmered slowly in mustard oil with fennel and dry ginger, then soured with ground anardana (dried pomegranate seeds) or lemon. The gravy is thin, tangy and deep red, eaten with plain rice. It has no curd or tomato; the sourness comes from the pomegranate alone. The common mistake is adding the anardana early, when it turns bitter during the long cook; stir it in for the last ten minutes. Chef's tip: grind the anardana fresh and soak it in a little hot water first, then strain, for a clean, fruity sourness without grit.

95 min

Indian Meat

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RosinbollerCardamom raisin buns

In Norway, rosinboller are what a parent bakes on Sunday so the week's lunch boxes have something sweet, and what fills the tables at every school dugnad and bake sale. The dough is enriched with milk and butter and scented with freshly ground cardamom, and the buns are pulled apart soft and golden. The common mistake is using hot milk: anything above blood heat kills the yeast and the buns stay flat. Chef's tip: crush the cardamom seeds yourself just before mixing; the pre-ground powder loses most of its perfume.

42 minScandinavian Baking

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KhuriBuckwheat crepes with cheese

Khuri is a Sikkimese tea-time and breakfast dish from the buckwheat-growing villages of the north, where the thin grey-brown crêpes are filled with fresh cheese sharpened with chilli and spring onion, then rolled and eaten warm. It is often served with a fiery tomato achar. The batter needs to be thin enough to swirl, and the common mistake is flipping too early, before the edges lift by themselves, which tears the crêpe. Wheat flour in the batter helps it hold together, so these are not gluten free. Chef's tip: rest the batter for 20 minutes so the buckwheat hydrates and the crêpes come out supple rather than brittle.

45 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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Vagem refogadaSauteed green beans

In São Paulo and Rio, the marmita (lunch tin) that workers carry from home almost always has arroz, feijão, a protein and a simple legume refogado, and green beans cooked with garlic, onion and tomato are one of the most common. Refogar means to sauté gently in oil before the vegetables cook in their own steam. The common mistake is boiling the beans until army-green and floppy; they should stay bright and keep a little snap. Chef's tip: blanch for just 3 minutes, then finish in the pan, so they still taste fresh when reheated at work.

22 min

Brazilian Sides

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BusheraSoured sorghum drink

In the hills of Kigezi around Kabale, a calabash of obushera is offered to visitors and carried to the fields in the afternoon; the same drink, left for days, becomes beer, but the everyday family version is drunk young and contains no meaningful alcohol. Sorghum flour is cooked into a thin porridge, cooled, then left overnight with a spoonful of sprouted sorghum flour to sour gently, so it tastes tangy, malty and refreshing, a little like a drinking yoghurt made from grain. Drink it chilled on its own or with roasted groundnuts. The mistake people make is leaving it out too long: after a day it starts to fizz and turn alcoholic, so taste it, then chill it. Chef's tip: sweeten only just before serving, as sugar added early speeds up the ferment.

30 minEast African Drinks

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Tōge no kamameshiChicken and mushroom pot rice

At Yokokawa Station in Gunma, at the foot of the Usui Pass, travellers have bought tōge no kamameshi since 1958: a little clay pot of rice cooked in soy-seasoned dashi and crowded with chicken, shiitake, bamboo shoot, burdock, a sweet chestnut, a dried apricot and a quail egg. It tastes just as good at room temperature on a train. The seasoning includes mirin, a sweet rice wine that bubbles away as it cooks; for alcohol-free, use 1 tbsp sugar instead. The common mistake is lifting the lid while the rice cooks, which lets the steam out and leaves the grains hard. Chef's tip: simmer the chicken and mushrooms first and use that liquid to cook the rice, so every grain tastes of them.

70 min

Japanese Rice & Grains

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ÄggostEgg cheese

Äggost, egg cheese, belongs to the farm kitchens of Västergötland and Halland in west Sweden, where it is made for Christmas, Easter and midsummer tables and the leftovers become breakfast with cloudberry or lingonberry jam. Eggs and milk are heated until soft, sweet curds form, which are drained in a holed mould so they keep its pattern. It is creamy, mild and slightly sweet. The common mistake is rushing the heat: boiling the milk too hard makes rubbery curds, so keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: this version sets the curds with buttermilk, not rennet, so it is suitable for vegetarians; drain it overnight in the fridge for the firmest slice.

45 minScandinavian Breakfast & Brunch

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Verkadalai sadam (peanut rice)

Peanut rice is the filling variety rice that Tamil and Kannada parents send when the school day ends with games: roasted peanuts, dry coconut, sesame and red chillies are ground into a coarse powder and tossed through rice in a curry leaf tempering. It tastes a little like a savoury peanut brittle, and it stays good at room temperature for hours. The mistake is grinding the peanuts too long; they turn into peanut butter and the rice clumps. Pulse in short bursts and stop while it is still sandy. Chef's tip: keep a few whole roasted peanuts aside and add them at the end for crunch.

23 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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ManaguNightshade greens

Market women in Kisii and Kakamega sell managu in thick bunches, and in the hills it is the green that goes with ugali at almost every family dinner. The leaves of cultivated African nightshade are soft and pleasantly bitter, a bit like a stronger spinach, and here they are blanched, then cooked down with onion and tomato into a soft, savoury heap. At home many families stir in a spoon of cream at the end; to keep it vegan, use coconut milk as below; buy managu fresh or frozen from African grocers and never gather wild nightshade, as some kinds are poisonous. Using the boiling water as a sauce is a common error: always drain the first boil, or the dish stays harsh. Chef's tip: squeeze the drained leaves firmly in your fist before frying so the tomato flavour soaks in instead of being watered down.

30 minEast African Sides

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Menthya soppu bath (fenugreek leaf rice)

In Bengaluru and Mysuru, a "bath" is a one-pan rice dish seasoned with its own roasted spice powder, and menthya soppu bath is the winter version, made when bunches of fresh fenugreek are cheap. Unlike Tamil variety rices, the rice is cooked right in the masala with the leaves, tamarind and a touch of jaggery, so it comes out soft, tangy and gently bitter. The common mistake is using too much methi stalk, which makes the rice harshly bitter; strip the leaves and use only the softest stems. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of jaggery and a squeeze of tamarind balance the bitterness better than extra salt.

40 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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Ägg och kaviarBoiled eggs with fish roe spread

Open any fridge in Stockholm or Gothenburg and you'll find a blue tube of kaviar, a salty, smoky, slightly sweet spread of smoked cod roe, and at breakfast it goes on halved boiled eggs on crispbread or buttered bread. It's a combination Swedes love from childhood, eaten every day and at Easter. The kaviar is smoked and pasteurised, so it is safe for most people; boil the eggs fully for pregnant people and young children. The common mistake is over-boiling the eggs to a grey, chalky yolk; 8 minutes gives a set yolk that's still bright and slightly fudgy. Chef's tip: plunge the eggs into iced water straight away; they peel cleanly and the yolks stay sunny yellow.

15 minScandinavian Breakfast & Brunch

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Capsicum rice (capsicum bath)

Every Bengaluru darshini has its own capsicum bath, and at home it is a favourite for office lunch boxes because the peppers stay crunchy until noon. Green peppers are sautéed just until glossy, then tossed with rice and a freshly roasted powder of coriander seeds, chana dal, dry coconut and red chillies. The mistake is cooking the peppers until soft; they release water and the rice turns soggy, so keep them bright and crisp. Chef's tip: add the powder to the hot oil off the heat for a few seconds before the rice goes in; it blooms the spices without burning the coconut.

35 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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KitozaSmoked dried beef strips

Butchers in the Highland markets of Antananarivo and Ambositra hang long, dark strips of kitoza above smoky fires, and households grill a few pieces each morning to eat with a bowl of soft rice. The meat is lean, cut with the grain, seasoned with salt, garlic, ginger and pepper, then dried until it is chewy and concentrated; a quick grill before serving gives it a smoky, salty crust. This home version uses beef in place of zebu and, for safety, cooks the strips to 71 °C in the oven before drying them slowly at a low heat. It is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. The common mistake is cutting the strips too thick, which leaves them leathery outside and damp inside. Chef's tip: half-freeze the beef for an hour so you can slice it in even 5 mm strips.

175 min

Malagasy Meat

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Brazo de reinaSponge roll with dulce de leche

The 'queen's arm' sits in the glass cabinet of every Chilean bakery: a light sponge rolled around a thick layer of manjar (Chilean dulce de leche) and dusted with icing sugar. At home it is the cake for a birthday tea or an unexpected visitor, because it bakes in 10 minutes. The common mistake is overbaking: a dry sponge cracks as you roll it. Take it out the moment it springs back. Chef's tip: roll the sponge up in a sugared tea towel while it is still hot and let it cool that way; it remembers the shape and won't crack when you fill it.

35 min

Chilean Baking

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Agra dalmothFried lentil snack mix

Agra is famous for two sweets and one namkeen, and dalmoth is the namkeen: soaked masoor and chana dal fried until crunchy and tossed with chilli, black salt, dry mango and a little sugar, sold in big tins near the Taj and packed for every train journey. It is eaten with tea in the afternoon and handed round to guests at Diwali. The dal is fried dry, without any batter coating. The common mistake is frying the dal straight from soaking water; any moisture makes the oil spit dangerously and the dal chewy, so dry it on a cloth for at least an hour. Chef's tip: fry the masoor and chana separately, as they need different times to turn crisp.

50 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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Pudina pulao (mint pulao)

Mint pulao turns up in tiffins from Hyderabad to Delhi in summer, when mint grows like a weed on balconies, and it is a lunch box that still smells fresh at one o'clock. Basmati is fried with whole spices and onion, then cooked in water coloured with a paste of mint, coriander, green chilli and ginger. The mistake is boiling the mint paste for a long time before the rice goes in, which turns it khaki and bitter; add it, stir for a minute, and get the rice in. Chef's tip: a squeeze of lime in the cooking water keeps the green colour brighter.

35 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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Koinar saagKachnar leaf greens

In Jharkhand's spring, as the kachnar (Bauhinia) trees put out pale tender leaves, Santhal, Munda and Oraon families gather them for koinar saag, a slightly tangy, earthy green cooked with lots of garlic in mustard oil and eaten with rice and dal or with madua roti. Some households dry the leaves to use through the summer. The usual mistake is using older, darker leaves, which stay tough and fibrous however long you cook them. Chef's tip: blanch the leaves first and squeeze them hard; it softens the faint astringency and the saag absorbs the garlic oil better.

25 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Vegetable pulao

This is the plain, comforting pulao that gets packed for small children all over India, from Kolkata to Bengaluru: no chilli heat, just whole spices, a little fried onion and plenty of carrot, beans and peas. It is just as good warm or at room temperature, with a pot of raita or a few potato wedges alongside. The mistake is stirring the rice once the water goes in, which breaks the grains and makes it gluey; cover the pan and leave it alone. Chef's tip: cut the vegetables the size of a pea, so a child's spoon gets rice and vegetables in every bite.

35 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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Agua de chilacayoteFig-leaf squash drink

When the big, mottled chilacayote squashes ripen at the end of the rains, cooks in Oaxaca's valleys and the Mixteca of Puebla turn them into a drink you eat with a spoon. The flesh is cooked with dark piloncillo and cinnamon until it falls into translucent threads, then cooled and loosened with water; in Oaxaca it is ladled out of clay jars at fairs, weddings and the Day of the Dead, often with a little pineapple. It tastes like cinnamon-scented panela, with soft, slightly crunchy strands that slide up the straw. The usual mistake is boiling it to mush; overcooked flesh goes cloudy and the strands disappear. Simmer gently and stop when the threads separate easily with a fork but still have a little bite. It is ready when the syrup is amber and the strands look glassy. Chilacayote is hard to find outside Mexico; spaghetti squash is the best substitute and gives the same threads. Keeps 3 days in the fridge. Chef's tip: grate a little orange zest into the pot in the last minute to brighten the piloncillo.

60 min

Mexican Drinks

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Urulaikizhangu roast (Tamil potato roast)

In Tamil lunch boxes, curd rice almost always comes with this: small cubes of boiled potato roasted slowly in a cast-iron pan with sambar powder, chilli and curry leaves until they are dark, crusty and chewy at the edges. It is a dry side, so it does not leak into the rice, and it tastes as good cold as hot. The mistake is stirring all the time; the potatoes need to sit undisturbed against the hot pan for a few minutes at a time to build the crust. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of rice flour scattered over in the last few minutes makes the coating even crisper.

35 min

Indian Sides

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Ají amarillo pasteYellow chilli paste

In Lima's markets ají amarillo is sold fresh all year, and most Peruvian cooks keep a tub of this paste in the fridge the way others keep tomato purée: it is the golden base of causa limeña, ají de gallina, papa a la huancaína, chupe and the sauce for tiraditos. The chillies are seeded, de-veined and blanched in three changes of water, which tames the heat and the raw grassiness, then peeled and blended with oil into a thick, silky, saffron-orange paste. It tastes fruity and sunny, almost like apricot and passion fruit, with a rounded, medium heat. Abroad, buy whole frozen ají amarillo from Latin grocers; dried ají mirasol, soaked, gives a darker, earthier paste. Common mistake: skipping the peeling; the thin skins leave papery flecks and a bitter edge. It is ready when it is completely smooth and holds a soft peak like thick hummus. This is a low-acid paste: keep it in the fridge for a week or freeze it, never on the shelf. Chef's tip: freeze it in an ice-cube tray; one cube is about a tablespoon, just right for a pot of ají de gallina.

40 min

Peruvian Basics

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Dousha bao (red bean buns)

All over China, from Beijing breakfast stalls to Shanghai school bags, dousha bao are the sweet buns people grab in the morning and tuck into a lunch box for later: fluffy white yeasted dough wrapped around smooth red bean paste and steamed until springy. They freeze beautifully, so families make a big batch on Sunday. The mistake is opening the steamer lid as soon as the timer goes; the sudden cold makes the buns wrinkle and collapse. Turn off the heat and wait five minutes before lifting the lid. Chef's tip: chill the bean paste and roll it into balls before wrapping; a firm filling is much easier to seal neatly.

55 min

Chinese Baking

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Ajmeri kadhi kachoriDal kachori in spiced kadhi

In Ajmer, near the dargah and in the lanes around Naya Bazaar, the breakfast crowd orders kadhi kachori: a crisp moong dal kachori broken open on a leaf plate and drowned in hot, thin, spicy kadhi, then topped with green chutney, sweet tamarind chutney and raw onion. The kachori soaks up the kadhi but keeps some crunch at the edges. The kadhi here is thinner and hotter than Gujarati kadhi, without sweetness. The common mistake is letting the kadhi boil hard before the gram flour cooks, which splits it; stir until it comes to the boil. Chef's tip: make the kachoris a day ahead and re-crisp them in a low oven, so only the kadhi is cooked fresh.

90 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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Insalata di pastaCold pasta salad

When Milan's offices empty onto park benches in July, the schiscetta (the Milanese word for a packed lunch tin) usually holds pasta fredda: short pasta dressed with olive oil, sweet cherry tomatoes, little mozzarella balls, black olives and torn basil. It is made the night before and tastes best at cool room temperature, never fridge-cold. The common mistake is rinsing the cooked pasta under the tap until it is icy and then dressing it: the starch closes up, the oil slides off and the salad tastes flat. Many mozzarellas are made with animal rennet, so look for one labelled vegetarian, or use cubes of a vegetarian cheese. Pack it with an ice pack and take it out of the bag 20 minutes before eating. Chef's tip: toss the drained, still-warm pasta with half the oil and the salted tomatoes straight away so it drinks up their juice.

27 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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AkibiyeCreamy taro with fermented soybean

Akibiye is Sumi Naga comfort food from Nagaland: colocasia boiled until it melts into a thick, creamy stew, flavoured with chilli and axone, the fermented soybean that gives Naga cooking its deep savour. It is eaten with rice, especially in winter. For homemade axone, keep boiled soybeans wrapped in leaves at 30–40 °C for 3–5 days until sticky and pungent, then dry or use fresh; discard if black, green or pink mould appears or it smells rotten. The mistake is handling raw taro with bare hands, which itches; wear gloves or oil your hands. Chef's tip: bought axone, kinema or natto work well.

45 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Empal gepukSweet spiced fried beef

Empal gepuk is a Sundanese speciality from Bandung in West Java: beef simmered in coconut water and spices with palm sugar until the liquid is gone, pounded (gepuk) to loosen the fibres, then fried until the edges are crisp and sweet. Because it is dry and keeps for days, it is a classic in Indonesian bekal lunchboxes with rice, sambal and raw vegetables. The common mistake is cutting the beef with the grain, which makes it stringy; slice it across the grain before pounding. Chef's tip: pound gently with a pestle just until the slices fan out, then fry quickly; too long in the oil and they turn hard.

120 min

Indonesian Meat

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Kombu tsukudaniSoy-simmered kelp

Japanese home cooks hate waste, so the softened kelp left over from making dashi is saved in the freezer until there is enough to simmer down into tsukudani, a dark, chewy relish named after Tokyo's Tsukudajima island, where fishermen first preserved their catch in soy. A teaspoon goes into the middle of an onigiri or on top of the rice in a weekday bento, and it lasts a week in the fridge. The common mistake is boiling it hard from the start: the kelp turns slimy and the sauce scorches before the strips are tender. A splash of vinegar early on softens the kelp so it cooks evenly. Chef's tip: stop when only a spoonful of glaze clings to the pan, because the relish thickens a lot more as it cools.

40 min

Japanese Sides

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Konnyak jorimBraised konjac

Konjac, the grey, jelly-like block made from a root called devil's tongue, has almost no calories, and in Korea it is braised in sweet soy until glossy and chewy, a popular dosirak banchan that never wilts. Its texture is the point: bouncy, with a savoury glaze clinging to every scored cube. The common mistake is skipping the blanch, which leaves konjac's slight fishy smell from the alkaline water it is set in. Chef's tip: score a shallow criss-cross on the cubes or tear them with a spoon rather than cutting, and the sauce grips the rough surfaces.

25 min

Korean Sides

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Kopi tubrukBoiled coffee with sugar

From the warung kopi of Yogyakarta and Solo to the night-shift stalls of Surabaya, kopi tubruk is the everyday coffee of Java: powder-fine robusta and sugar spooned into a glass, hit with boiling water, stirred once and left alone while the grounds sink. It comes out black, thick and strong, with a toasty, slightly chocolatey bitterness and often plenty of sugar, drunk early with fried snacks and again late at night over long talk. The grounds sit as a muddy layer at the bottom and stay there. The common mistake is drinking or stirring too soon: the cup is gritty and harsh. Wait four or five minutes, until the crust on top sinks and the surface turns clear and dark, then sip gently and stop before the sludge. It is ready when the foam has collapsed and a thin oily sheen shows on top. This is a strong, high-caffeine coffee; one glass is plenty, and it is not for children. Some sellers add a slice of ginger or a pinch of cardamom. Chef's tip: grind the beans as fine as for espresso or finer; coarse grounds float and never settle.

7 min

Indonesian Drinks

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Aloo bhindiPotato and okra stir-fry

Aloo bhindi is the sabzi that Delhi children are happiest to find in their dabba with soft phulkas: okra fried until its edges crisp, potato cubes browned alongside, and sliced onion cooked sweet, all dusted with amchur and cumin. The single big mistake is washing the okra and cutting it wet, which releases slime that never cooks off. Wash it, dry every pod with a cloth and wait half an hour before slicing. Chef's tip: add the salt only at the very end; salt draws moisture out of the okra and makes it sticky.

35 min

Indian Sides

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AmadumbeBoiled taro

Market women in Pietermaritzburg and along the KwaZulu-Natal north coast sell amadumbe by the bucket, hairy brown corms that look unpromising until boiled and peeled to reveal dense, creamy white flesh with a nutty, almost chestnut-like flavour. They are eaten hot as a starch with a stew, cold as a snack, or simply split and buttered; this vegan version dresses them in oil warmed with spring onion and chilli. Peeling them raw is the mistake to avoid, because the sap irritates the skin and leaves your hands itching. Always cook taro right through: undercooked corms taste scratchy in the throat. Chef's tip: boil them in their skins and slip the skins off while still warm, when they come away cleanly with a small knife.

40 min

South African Sides

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AlkubusSteamed wheat bread

In Kano, Katsina and Sokoto, alkubus is a breakfast bread you steam rather than bake: a soft yeasted wheat dough set in small cups or tins over boiling water until it puffs into fluffy, slightly sticky domes. It is eaten warm, pulled apart and dipped into groundnut oil with yaji, the peanut and chilli spice mix, or with a bowl of miyan taushe or other soup. The common mistake is lifting the lid during steaming; the rush of cold air makes the breads sink and turn dense. Yaji contains peanuts. Chef's tip: wrap the pot lid in a tea towel so condensation can't drip back and leave wet craters on the tops.

95 min

Nigerian Breads & Parathas

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Alle belleCoconut-filled pancake rolls

Alle belle are the tea-time sweet of Goan Catholic homes: soft, lacy pancakes, sometimes tinted with a little green from pandan or turmeric leaf, rolled up around a sticky filling of fresh coconut and dark palm jaggery (godd). They appear at feast-day teas, at village fairs and in school tiffin boxes, and they contain egg in the batter. The common mistake is a thick batter, which gives heavy pancakes that crack when rolled; it should pour like single cream and spread thinly with a swirl of the pan. Chef's tip: cook the filling until it is sticky but still soft, then add a pinch of salt, because the salt makes the palm jaggery taste richer.

45 min

Indian Desserts

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Aloo sadekoSpiced potato salad

Sadeko means marinated, and aloo sadeko is the sharp, tingly potato salad served in every khaja ghar, the little snack houses round Asan Tole and New Road, as afternoon khaja beside beaten rice and a cup of tea. Cool boiled potatoes are dressed with mustard oil heated with fenugreek seeds until they turn dark and nutty, then timur (Nepal's numbing Sichuan pepper), green chilli, toasted sesame and lots of lime. Contains sesame and mustard. Chef's tip: fry the fenugreek seeds until reddish-brown, not black; burnt fenugreek makes the whole bowl bitter.

30 min

Nepali Snacks & Starters

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Aloo pitikaMashed potato with mustard oil

Aloo pitika is the first thing on many Assamese lunch plates, a rough mash of boiled potato sharpened with raw mustard oil, onion, green chilli and coriander, eaten with the first mouthfuls of rice and dal. Guwahati families make it daily, and in winter it may be mixed with roasted aubergine or a boiled egg. The usual mistake is making it smooth like a Western purée; it should be coarse and hand-mashed so the onion and chilli stay crunchy. Chef's tip: use pungent kachi ghani mustard oil and rub it in last, so its heat hits the nose.

25 min

Indian Sides

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Nasi bakarGrilled banana-leaf rice with chicken

In Jakarta, nasi bakar parcels are sold from warung grills at lunchtime and in office canteens: rice cooked with coconut milk, lemongrass and salam leaves, filled with spicy shredded chicken (ayam suwir) and lemon basil, wrapped in banana leaf and grilled until the leaf chars and the rice crisps at the edges. Small dried anchovies (teri) are the other classic filling. The common mistake is wrapping the parcels loosely, so they fall open on the grill; fold them tight and pin with toothpicks. Chef's tip: grill until the leaf is blackened in patches; the smoke perfumes the rice inside.

65 min

Indonesian Rice & Grains

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Sana hua nimbuLemon and radish with curd

On sunny winter afternoons in Kumaon, families sit on the rooftops and make a big bowl of sana hua nimbu to share: segments of the giant hill lemon (galgal) mashed with radish, curd, jaggery and green salt pounded with hemp or coriander. It is sweet, sour, salty and crunchy all at once, and is eaten with fingers straight from the bowl. Ordinary lemons or a mix of lemon and pomelo work well. The common mistake is leaving in the pith and seeds, which make the whole bowl bitter. Chef's tip: mix just before eating; once it sits longer than 20 minutes the radish weeps and the curd thins.

15 min

Indian Salads

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