What to eat today?

Vietnamese Snacks & Starters

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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.

75 minSouthern African Baking

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FutaliSweet potato groundnut mash

Futali is the rainy-season comfort dish of rural central Malawi, around Dedza and Kasungu, made when the sweet potatoes and pumpkins are in and the groundnut harvest is in the store. The vegetables are simmered in just enough salted water to cook them, then groundnut flour is beaten in, so the starchy liquid and peanut thicken into a soft, orange, savoury-sweet mash. It is eaten as a light lunch or breakfast on its own, or with a spoonful of tomato relish or greens on the side. Too much water is the mistake to watch for, making a soupy mash that never firms. Chef's tip: toast the groundnut flour in a dry pan for a couple of minutes first, for a deeper, roasted flavour.

40 minSouthern African Sides

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Barbecued garlic prawns

Prawns on the barbie are the true Australian Christmas and summer meal, cooked on the backyard barbecue from Perth to the Gold Coast with a cold drink in hand. Big raw king or tiger prawns are marinated in garlic, chilli, lemon and olive oil, then grilled quickly in their shells, which keeps them juicy. A common mistake is leaving them in the marinade too long; the lemon starts to cook them. Chef's tip: cut down the back of the shell and remove the vein but leave the shell on, so the marinade gets in and the prawns don't dry out.

21 min

Australian Fish

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Bánh khúcCudweed sticky rice dumplings

Long before sunrise, vendors walk Hanoi's Old Quarter with steaming baskets, calling out for xôi xéo and bánh khúc. These are soft green dumplings coloured and scented with rau khúc, a grassy, herbal cudweed, wrapped around mung bean paste and peppery pork belly, then rolled in sticky rice grains and steamed until the grains turn glossy. They are eaten hot from a scrap of banana leaf with a pinch of sesame salt, often on a cold winter morning. Look for frozen or dried cudweed at Vietnamese grocers. Chef's tip: keep the green dough thin but even; thick dough cracks and lets the filling escape.

120 min

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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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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

Russian Breakfast & Brunch

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Nasi timbelRice with fried chicken and tofu

Nasi timbel is the packed lunch of West Java: rice pressed tight into a banana leaf, which keeps it warm and fragrant until noon, served with turmeric fried chicken, fried tofu and tempeh, crisp salted fish, raw vegetables (lalapan) and a fiery sambal terasi. Sundanese restaurants in Bandung and Jakarta serve it as a lunch platter. The usual mistake is frying the chicken straight from raw, which browns the outside long before the bone is cooked; simmer it in the spice paste first. Chef's tip: roll the rice in the leaf while it is very hot and wrap it tightly, then let it rest for 10 minutes so it sets firm.

85 min

Indonesian Rice & Grains

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AyampacoLeaf-steamed chicken and palm heart

From Macas and the Shuar communities of Morona Santiago comes ayampaco: chicken with palm heart, garlic, culantro and spring onion wrapped in bijao leaves and cooked over the fire, so everything steams together into a fragrant, juicy bundle. It is a celebration dish at festivals and family gatherings, served with boiled cassava and a sharp chilli sauce. Banana leaves stand in for bijao at home. The usual mistake is packing the parcels too full, so the middle stays undercooked; keep them flat and check the chicken reaches 74 °C. Chef's tip: let the chicken marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so the garlic and herbs flavour it right through.

75 minAndean Chicken

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Ayote en mielSquash in spiced syrup

Nicaraguan grandmothers set a pot of ayote en miel on the stove on Holy Wednesday, so there is something sweet to share with neighbours right through Easter week, often alongside sweet green mango and coconut. Chunks of squash simmer in dark panela syrup with cinnamon, cloves and allspice until they are glossy and tender and the syrup tastes of caramel and spice. Stirring is the common mistake: a spoon breaks the soft squash into mush, so shake the pot instead. Chef's tip: leave the skin on the squash; it holds each piece together and turns soft enough to eat.

75 minCentral American Desserts

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MarraquetaCrusty split bread rolls

Chileans eat more bread than almost anyone, and in Santiago the bread is marraqueta (called pan batido or pan francés in other cities): a crackling, airy roll made of two twin halves, each scored deep so the whole thing breaks into four pieces. It is bought warm from the corner bakery for breakfast and for once, the evening tea, and filled with avocado, cheese or butter. The most common mistake at home is baking without steam: the crust comes out pale and leathery instead of thin and shattering. Chef's tip: press the oiled handle of a wooden spoon right down into each pair of balls, almost to the work surface; a shallow groove disappears as the roll rises.

180 min

Chilean Breads & Parathas

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Badam ka halwaAlmond halwa

In Jaipur, badam ka halwa came out of the royal kitchens and now appears at winter weddings and on cold nights when someone wants a real treat. Soaked, peeled almonds are ground to a coarse paste and cooked slowly in ghee with milk, sugar and saffron until the halwa turns golden, glossy and leaves the sides of the pan. It is very rich, so a small bowl is enough. The common mistake is grinding the almonds too fine, which gives a pasty halwa instead of a soft, grainy one. Chef's tip: stop grinding when the almonds look like wet semolina and add the milk only during grinding, never water.

55 min

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Bachali kura pappuDal with Malabar spinach

Bachali, or Malabar spinach, climbs over back walls all across Telangana and Andhra, and its thick, glossy leaves go into this everyday pappu that turns up at lunch several times a month with rice, ghee and a pickle. The leaves give the dal a silky body and a faint lemony note. People often overcook it until the greens turn khaki; add them after the dal is soft and cook just long enough to wilt. Chef's tip: use the tender stems too, chopped small; they add a pleasant crunch.

35 min

Mauritian Chutneys & Dips

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Masala doodhSaffron nut milk

Late evening at Ahmedabad's Manek Chowk, milk sellers pour masala doodh from a height between two brass pots to cool and froth it, and on Sharad Purnima families set a pot of it under the full moon before drinking it chilled. It is richer and more fragrant than plain badam milk: a home-ground masala of almonds, pistachios, cardamom, nutmeg and a little black pepper is stirred into milk reduced with saffron and sugar. The common mistake is boiling it hard after the nut masala goes in, which makes it catch and taste scorched. Chef's tip: grind a jar of the masala in one go and keep it in the fridge; two teaspoons turn any glass of milk into a treat.

20 min

Indian Drinks

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Bagoong alamangFried krill paste

Across Luzon, a jar of ginisang bagoong sits in nearly every kitchen. In the hot months from March to May, when green mangoes are sour and crisp, it becomes the classic merienda: thin slices of unripe mango dragged through sweet, salty, garlicky shrimp paste, often shared on a porch in the afternoon. It is also the essential partner to kare-kare and the base of binagoongang baboy. Raw salted alamang (tiny krill or shrimp) is sold pink and wet; frying it with garlic, onion and tomato, then sugar and cane vinegar, turns it deep reddish brown, thick, glossy and rounded, with the briny punch still there. The raw paste is a raw-cured seafood, so this recipe always cooks it right through; pregnant people, babies, older people and anyone with weak immunity should only eat bagoong that has been fully sautéed and kept cold. Common mistake: high heat after the sugar goes in, which scorches it and turns the bagoong bitter. Keep it at a medium-low simmer. It is ready when the oil separates and shines on top and it smells toasty rather than fishy. Chef's tip: a few slivers of crisp pork belly fried first make it richer.

40 min

Filipino Chutneys & Dips

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BahoSteamed beef, plantain and cassava

Baho, also spelled vaho, is the dish Nicaraguan families plan a Sunday around, especially in Granada and Managua: beef marinated overnight in sour orange and garlic, then steamed for hours in a big pot lined with banana leaves on a bed of green plantain, ripe plantain and cassava. Everything comes out tender and fragrant with the leaves, and it is served with a crunchy, vinegary cabbage salad to cut through the richness. Marinate the beef in the fridge, never at room temperature. The mistake that ruins it is letting the pot boil dry, which scorches the leaves and the plantain at the bottom; top up the water every hour. Chef's tip: keep a few banana leaves back to tuck over the top, so the steam stays trapped inside the parcel.

250 minCentral American Meat

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MasikitaGrilled beef skewers

As the light fades in Mahajanga, Toliara and Antananarivo, the smoke from masikita grills drifts along the pavements, with vendors fanning glowing charcoal under rows of tiny skewers. In Madagascar they are made with zebu, the humped cattle that are central to life on the island; good beef rump or sirloin is the closest match at home. Small cubes are marinated with garlic, ginger, pepper and a little oil, threaded tightly and grilled fast, so the outside chars and the inside stays juicy. Eat them straight off the stick with sakay, a squeeze of lime and a cold drink, or with rice for dinner. Cutting the cubes too big is the common mistake: masikita should be bite-sized so they cook through in minutes. Chef's tip: soak wooden skewers for 30 minutes first so they don't burn before the beef is done.

30 min

Malagasy Meat

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Roti sardinSardine-filled bread rolls

Roti sardin is a Malaysian school-bag and teatime favourite: tinned sardines in tomato sauce mashed with onion, chilli and lime, rolled inside flattened white bread and pan-fried until golden. Mothers across Malaysia make them for bekal and they are sold at Ramadan bazaars. The common mistake is leaving the sardine filling wet, which soaks through the bread; cook it down until it is thick. Chef's tip: seal the rolls with a little beaten egg, then fry seam side down first so they hold together.

20 min

Malaysian Fish

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MatbuchaCooked tomato and pepper relish

Matbucha came to Israel with Moroccan Jewish families, and it is on almost every Friday-night and Shabbat table among the salads served with challah, as well as in Jerusalem breakfast spreads. Ripe tomatoes and roasted peppers cook down slowly with garlic, chilli and olive oil for over an hour, until thick, sweet, jammy and spicy. Eat it as a dip, beside eggs or grilled fish, or spooned over beans. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 90 kcal and 8 g carbohydrate per portion. The pinch of sugar is optional, and a sweetener works too. The usual mistake is rushing it on high heat: it catches and tastes scorched instead of sweet. Chef's tip: stir more often in the last 20 minutes, when the sauce turns glossy and starts to spit; that's when it's nearly done.

110 min

Israeli Chutneys & Dips

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Shanghai cai fanRice with bok choy and pork

Cai fan, "vegetable rice", is what Shanghai grandmothers cook on cold winter days and what office workers buy steaming from the canteen: rice cooked in one pot with Shanghai bok choy and diced salted pork, enriched with a spoon of lard so every grain glistens. It goes into an insulated lunch tin piping hot. The common mistake is adding the greens with the raw rice, which turns them khaki and mushy; fry the stems first and stir the leaves in at the end. For a vegetarian version, use oil instead of lard, leave out the pork and add diced shiitake. Chef's tip: let the pot sit undisturbed on the lowest heat for the last 5 minutes to form a thin golden crust, guoba, at the bottom.

45 min

Chinese Rice & Grains

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Bánh da lợnSteamed layer cake

Bánh da lợn is piled up in glistening slabs at the dessert stalls of Bến Thành Market and on the trays of Saigon's afternoon sweet sellers. Thin layers of tapioca and coconut batter are steamed one at a time, alternating fragrant pandan green with nutty mung bean yellow, so every slice shows neat stripes and has a soft, bouncy, slightly springy bite. People peel the layers off one by one, especially children. Chef's tip: let each layer set until it turns translucent before pouring the next, or the colours run into each other.

100 min

Vietnamese Desserts

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TitiyasCoconut milk flatbread

Titiyas are the soft, slightly sweet flatbreads of Guam and the Marianas, cooked on a griddle and eaten warm at breakfast, with fiesta food or rolled round a piece of grilled meat. Flour titiyas are made with coconut milk, which keeps them tender and gives a faint coconut taste; there is also a corn version (titiyas mai'es). A common mistake is rolling them too thick; 5 mm cooks through without burning. Chef's tip: cook on a dry, medium-hot pan and wrap each one in a towel as it comes off so they stay soft.

30 minPacific Islander Breads & Parathas

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Bajre ki raabdiFermented pearl millet buttermilk porridge

In the villages of Haryana and the Rajasthan border, raabdi is drunk at midday in May and June to keep cool in the fields. Pearl-millet flour is stirred into buttermilk and left to ferment for a few hours, then cooked slowly until thick, cooled in a clay pot and thinned with more buttermilk and salt. It tastes tangy and earthy, a little like a savoury porridge you can drink. Ferment at warm room temperature (25–32 °C) for 4–6 hours: it should smell pleasantly sour with a few bubbles. Throw it away if you see pink, black or furry mould or it smells rotten or of nail varnish. The common mistake is cooking on high heat, which scorches the millet and leaves raw lumps. Chef's tip: keep the cooked raabdi in the fridge and drink it within 2 days, thinning each glass to taste.

35 min

Indian Drinks

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MazavarooChilli paste

Every Mauritian table has a little jar of something red, and mazavaroo is the fiercest of them: bird's-eye chillies crushed with garlic, ginger and salt, then loosened with oil so it keeps. A pinhead goes on a dholl puri, into a bowl of noodle soup or beside fried snacks from a Port Louis vendor, and a teaspoon is enough to wake up a whole pot of lentils. The flavour is sharp and bright rather than smoky, with a garlicky bite. Wear gloves, and keep your hands away from your eyes; the classic mistake is to blitz it in an open blender and breathe the spray. Chef's tip: this is garlic in oil, so keep it in a clean jar in the fridge with the oil covering the surface and use it within two weeks.

15 min

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NapolitainesJam shortbread sandwiches with pink icing

Pink, round and glossy, napolitaines sit in the front window of every pâtisserie in Port Louis and Quatre Bornes, and they come out at birthday teas, christenings and school fêtes. Two discs of tender, barely sweet butter shortbread are glued together with strawberry jam and dipped in a thin pink icing that sets to a crisp shell; the biscuit should crumble against the sweet glaze, not snap. The common mistake is baking them until golden: they must stay pale, or the shortbread turns hard and tastes toasted. Look for a vegetarian red food colouring, as many red colourings are made from cochineal insects. Chef's tip: chill the cut rounds for 15 minutes before baking so they keep their sharp edges and do not spread.

75 min

Mauritian Baking

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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

Mauritian Curries

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Mava ni boiFish-shaped milk sweets

At Parsi weddings and navjotes in Surat, Navsari and Mumbai, the boi, a fish, is a symbol of good luck, and a tray of small pink mawa fish travels with the sagan gifts. There is no fish in them at all: they are a simple sweet of fresh mawa cooked with sugar, tinted the palest pink and pressed into carved fish moulds, with a raisin or a silver ball for the eye. The common mistake is cooking the mawa too long, so it turns crumbly and cracks in the mould instead of taking a clean imprint. Chef's tip: lightly grease the mould with ghee and dust it with a pinch of icing sugar so each fish slips out with sharp scales and fins.

35 min

Australian Snacks & Starters

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Meen pollichathuFish wrapped in banana leaf

Meen pollichathu belongs to the backwaters of Alappuzha and Kumarakom, where karimeen (pearl spot) is caught in the lagoons and served wrapped in banana leaf at toddy shops, houseboats and Syrian Christian Sunday lunches. The fish is rubbed with chilli and turmeric, briefly pan-fried, then wrapped with a thick masala of shallots, ginger, garlic, tomato, curry leaves and a little coconut milk and cooked on a pan until the leaf chars. Suitable as part of a balanced diet: high-protein fish with no flour. About 320 kcal and 9 g carbohydrate per portion; serve with a small portion of red matta rice or vegetables. The usual mistake is skipping the first light fry, which leaves the skin soft and lets the fish fall apart in the parcel. Sea bream or pomfret work well. Chef's tip: cook the masala until it is almost dry, or the parcel steams instead of roasting.

55 min

Indian Fish

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Dim simsPork and cabbage dumplings

The dim sim was invented in Melbourne in the 1940s by a Chinese-Australian cook and is now sold at every fish-and-chip shop and footy ground in Victoria, steamed or deep-fried and splashed with soy sauce. Much bigger and chunkier than Cantonese siu mai, it is filled with minced pork, cabbage and onion in a thick wrapper. This recipe contains pork. A common mistake is a dry, crumbly filling; mix the pork until sticky and add a little water. Chef's tip: steam them first, then deep-fry if you want the crunchy version, so the middle is surely cooked.

60 min

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Menthi avakayaFenugreek mango pickle

In East Godavari kitchens menthi avakaya is the mango pickle for people who love bitterness: instead of a mustard-heavy masala, it is built on fenugreek seeds roasted until golden and ground, with red chilli, salt and a tempering of mustard seeds and asafoetida in gingelly oil. Families make it in the hottest weeks of May, when the mangoes are at their sourest, and it is traditionally eaten through the summer with hot rice, ghee and a dal. The fenugreek gives a toasty, almost maple-like aroma and a pleasant bitter edge that sits against the sour mango and the chilli heat. The salt is about 9% of the mango weight, and the pickle keeps for a year under oil in a dry jar. Common mistake: roasting the fenugreek too dark; it turns acrid, and that bitterness spreads through the whole jar. Roast it slowly until golden and fragrant, then let it cool before grinding. It is ready after two or three days, when the mango has darkened, the fenugreek smell has mellowed and oil sits on top. Chef's tip: grind the fenugreek only when completely cold, or it turns pasty and clumps.

53 min

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MerengadaStrawberry milk shake

Ask for a batido in Venezuela and you get fruit blended with water; ask for a merengada and it comes with milk, frothy and pale. The name is said to come from the old habit of beating in a little egg white like a meringue, which few cooks do now. Every panadería and fuente de soda from Maracaibo to Barcelona has a row of fruits on the counter, and strawberry from the Andes of Mérida, banana and guava are the favourites, ordered with a cachito or a pastelito at breakfast or as an after-school treat. A good merengada is cold, light and foamy, tasting clearly of fruit, not just of sweet milk. The common mistake is too little ice and too much milk, which gives a thin, warm drink with no froth. Blend the fruit with part of the milk first until perfectly smooth, then add the ice and the rest of the milk and blend hard. It is ready when a thick layer of pink foam sits on top and no fruit pieces are left. Banana or guava (strain the guava for seeds) work the same way. Chef's tip: frozen strawberries make it frostier; cut the ice by half if you use them.

5 min

Venezuelan Drinks

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MermezLamb and chickpeas in harissa sauce

Mermez is a Tunis home dish closely tied to Ramadan, when a pot simmers through the afternoon to break the fast at sunset, often after a bowl of chorba. Lamb on the bone is stewed with chickpeas in a bright red sauce of tomato paste, harissa, garlic and Tunisian tabil spice (coriander and caraway), and the broth is mopped up with crusty khobz tabouna. The usual mistake is adding the harissa at the start and letting it scorch with the meat; fry it briefly with the tomato paste over a gentler heat instead. Slow-cooker option: after step 4, cook on low for 7 hours. Chef's tip: mermez tastes even better the day after, when the chickpeas have drunk in the spiced sauce.

100 min

Tunisian Meat

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MesuFermented bamboo shoot pickle

Lepcha and Nepali households in Sikkim shred tender bamboo shoots in the monsoon, when they push up fresh, and pack them tightly into glass jars or hollow bamboo to sour for one to two weeks. The finished mesu is eaten as a sharp pickle with rice and dal through the rest of the year. A common mistake is leaving shoots above the brine, which invites mould; press them down hard so the liquid always covers them. Keep the jar at 20–28 °C out of direct sun and taste from day 7: it is ready when pleasantly sour and pale yellow. Discard the batch if you see fuzzy, pink or black mould, if it smells putrid rather than sour, or if the shoots feel slimy. Chef's tip: short of time, buy ready-fermented bamboo shoot from a Northeast or Asian grocer and go straight to the tempering.

40 min

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Methi gajarCarrots with fenugreek leaves

When the long red Delhi carrots and bunches of fresh methi fill the winter markets of Haryana and Punjab, this quick dry sabzi turns up beside every plate of rotis and dal. The slight bitterness of the fenugreek leaves and the sweetness of the carrots balance each other, helped along by a pinch of sugar and a squeeze of lemon. It takes about 25 minutes. The common mistake is adding the methi too early, which makes it bitter and dark. Chef's tip: rub the chopped methi with a little salt and squeeze it after 10 minutes; this tames the bitterness without losing the fragrance.

27 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Bandar ladduGram flour and jaggery balls

Bandar laddu is named after Bandar, the old name of Machilipatnam on the Andhra coast, and it is the sweet families carry home after a trip there, offer at Sankranti and give at weddings. Gram-flour pearls are fried, then pounded with jaggery syrup and ghee until the mixture turns dense, smooth and fudgy, unlike the grainy besan laddu of the north. The common mistake is not cooking the jaggery syrup far enough: it needs to reach the soft-ball stage, or the laddus slump and turn sticky. Chef's tip: pound the mix while it is still warm, in batches, in a heavy mortar or food processor, until it clumps when pressed.

60 min

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Agua de tuna (prickly pear drink)

Late summer is tuna season across the central highlands, from Hidalgo and the Estado de México down to Puebla's Teotihuacán valley, and that is when the big vitroleros in markets and taquerías turn shocking pink. Agua de tuna is just the cactus fruit blended with water, lime and a little sugar, strained, and poured over ice with lunch. Red tunas give a vivid colour and a taste between watermelon and pear; green ones make a paler, more herbal drink. It should be light and thirst-quenching, never syrupy. The commonest mistake is blending too long: the hard seeds crack and the agua turns gritty and slightly bitter. Pulse briefly, just enough to free the pulp, then strain well. It is ready when the liquid runs smooth through the sieve and tastes clearly of fruit with only a lift of lime. Handle unpeeled tunas with tongs or gloves: even 'cleaned' ones keep tiny glochids. Chef's tip: chill the peeled fruit before blending; cold pulp keeps its colour bright and needs less ice to dilute it.

15 min

Mexican Drinks

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Daechu-cha (jujube tea)

Boeun county in North Chungcheong is famous for its large, sweet jujubes, harvested each October and sold at a lively autumn festival. Once dried, they become daechu-cha, the deep amber tea Korean traditional teahouses in Insadong and Jeonju serve from late autumn to early spring, topped with pine nuts. Long, slow simmering with ginger and a stick of cinnamon draws out a flavour like dates, caramel and baked apple; pressing the softened flesh through a sieve gives the tea its velvety, almost soup-thick body. It is traditionally drunk to warm up on cold nights. The common mistake is simply boiling whole jujubes and straining: the skins stay sealed, the tea comes out thin and pale, and most of the sweetness is thrown away. Slit each jujube, simmer until the flesh slides off the stone, then mash the pulp through the sieve. It is ready when the liquid has reduced by about half, is dark amber and lightly coats a spoon. Keep it covered in the fridge for up to 5 days and reheat gently. Chef's tip: a few slices of fresh ginger added in the last 20 minutes give a brighter heat than ginger boiled for the whole time.

110 min

Korean Drinks

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OgokbapFive-grain rice

Ogokbap is cooked across Korea for Jeongwol Daeboreum, the first full moon of the lunar year, when families share five-grain rice with nine kinds of dried namul and crack nuts to wish for good health. Sticky rice, millet, sorghum, black soybeans and adzuki beans cook together into a chewy, purple-tinged rice with a nutty, gently sweet flavour. It is good any time of year beside soup and banchan. The usual mistake is putting the adzuki beans in raw with the rice: they stay hard while the rice turns soft, so parboil them first. Chef's tip: keep a little of the adzuki cooking water for the rice, as it gives ogokbap its lovely rosy colour.

70 min

Korean Rice & Grains

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Bihari aloo bhujiaFried potato sticks

In Bihar, aloo bhujia is not the packaged snack but the everyday matchstick-potato fry that sits beside dal, bhaat and chokha on the lunch plate, cooked in mustard oil with panch phoron and a slit green chilli. Patna households make it most days of the week because it takes twenty minutes and pleases everyone. The common slip is crowding the pan and stirring too much, which turns the sticks to mash; give them room and toss gently. Chef's tip: soak the cut potatoes in cold water for 10 minutes and dry them well; washing off surface starch keeps the sticks separate and lightly crisp.

25 min

Indian Sides

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MotohoFermented sorghum porridge

Highland mornings in Lesotho can be bitterly cold, and a mug or bowl of warm motoho, thin enough to sip and pleasantly tangy, is how many Basotho families in Maseru and the mountain villages start the day. Sorghum meal is mixed with warm water and a spoonful of starter from the last batch, left overnight by the stove to sour, then cooked into a smooth, pourable porridge with a yoghurt-like tang and a nutty, toasty flavour. Some sweeten it with sugar; others drink it plain with bread. If you have no starter, make one two days ahead with sorghum and water, as below. Chef's tip: keep the ferment warm but not hot; a pot left right on the stove gets too sour and too thin, so a spot nearby is perfect.

30 minSouthern African Breakfast & Brunch

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BatagorFried fish dumplings with peanut sauce

Batagor, short for bakso tahu goreng (fried fish-ball tofu), is the crunchy cousin of siomay and a favourite after-school snack sold from glass-sided carts outside Jakarta's schools and along Jalan Pecenongan's evening food strip. Tofu squares and wonton skins are stuffed with a mackerel and tapioca paste and deep-fried until golden and crackly, then snipped up and covered in a spicy peanut sauce, kecap manis and lime. The contrast of crisp skin and soft, bouncy fish is the whole point. Contains fish, peanuts, soy, egg and wheat. Chef's tip: fry the tofu side with the fish paste facing down first; it seals the filling so it doesn't puff away from the tofu.

60 min

Indonesian Fish

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Pineapple gojjuSweet and sour pineapple gravy

Pineapple gojju turns up on banana leaves at Kannada weddings, housewarmings and Ugadi feasts, where its bright sweet-sour-hot taste cuts through the rice, saaru and payasa. Ripe pineapple is simmered with tamarind and jaggery, then thickened with a roasted paste of sesame, coconut, chilli and lentils until glossy. It is eaten in small spoonfuls with rice or chapati, or as a relish on the side. The usual mistake is adding the jaggery too early and boiling it hard, which makes it sticky and dull; let the pineapple soften first. It keeps for 4 days in the fridge. Chef's tip: toast the sesame seeds separately and add them last, so they stay nutty and you can hear them crackle.

40 min

German Breakfast & Brunch

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Bathua raitaChenopodium leaf yogurt

Bathua (chenopodium or lamb's quarters) grows wild in the wheat fields of western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana in winter, and from December to February families blanch it and stir it into yogurt as a cooling raita beside paratha, dal or bajra roti. The leaves are boiled briefly, chopped and folded into whisked yogurt with roasted cumin, black salt and a little green chilli, so it tastes earthy, tangy and fresh. It is suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 90 kcal and 7 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is adding the greens while they are still hot or wet, which makes the yogurt thin and grainy; squeeze them dry and cool them first. Chef's tip: grind half the blanched leaves to a paste so the raita turns an even pale green.

15 min

Indian Sides

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ButterbrotRye bread with cheese and vegetables

Every German schoolchild knows the Pausenbrot: two slices of rye or mixed-grain bread spread with good butter, closed around a slice of cheese, wrapped in paper and eaten in the mid-morning break, with a few cucumber or apple slices on the side. Adults take the same Butterbrot to work. The common mistake is spreading cold, hard butter, which tears the bread and leaves bare patches that let any wet filling soak in. Many Gouda-style cheeses use animal rennet, so choose one marked vegetarian. Chef's tip: butter right to the crust on both slices; the butter is a waterproof layer that keeps the bread fresh until lunchtime.

10 min

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Batido de trigoPuffed wheat shake

Havana cafeterías and Miami ventanitas blend this for breakfast on the run: puffed wheat, cold milk, sugar and ice whizzed into a thick, frothy shake that tastes like a malted milk with toasted cereal. It is one of the most loved Cuban batidos, and quick to make at home. The common mistake is using sweetened, honey-coated cereal, which makes it cloying; plain puffed wheat lets the toasty grain flavour come through. Chef's tip: blend the puffed wheat with half the milk first until completely smooth, then add the ice, so you don't get soggy flecks of cereal.

5 min

Cuban Drinks

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Huangmen jimifanBraised chicken rice

Huangmen jimifan began in Jinan, in Shandong, and spread to thousands of little clay-pot shops across China where office workers queue at noon for a bubbling pot of chicken braised dark and glossy with shiitake, ginger and green pepper, eaten over plain rice. It reheats perfectly in a work microwave. The common mistake is using breast, which goes dry and stringy in the braise; bone-in thigh stays juicy. Chef's tip: caramelise the rock sugar in the oil before the chicken goes in, which gives the sauce its amber colour without extra dark soy.

45 min

Chinese Chicken

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Mishri mawaSweet milk flakes

Mishri mawa is the pride of Jaipur's old sweet shops near Johari Bazaar: full-fat milk boiled down slowly with sugar and a little alum until it splits into tiny, sparkling grains, then set loosely so it breaks into soft flakes that melt on the tongue. It is bought for Diwali, weddings and when guests arrive from far away. Unlike kalakand, it is very white and only lightly set, with saffron and cardamom. The common mistake is letting the milk catch at the bottom; even a little scorching turns it beige and smoky. Chef's tip: use a wide, heavy pan and scrape the base and sides with a flat spatula every minute once the milk has halved.

115 min

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Khao kai jiaoThai omelette over rice

When there is no time for anything else, Bangkok office workers, students and taxi drivers eat khao khai jiao: eggs beaten with fish sauce and poured into very hot oil so they puff into a lacy, golden, crisp-edged omelette, slid onto a mound of jasmine rice with a squirt of chilli sauce. It is also the omelette mothers put in school lunch boxes. The common mistake is oil that is not hot enough, so the egg sits flat and greasy instead of ballooning up. For a vegetarian version, season with light soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Chef's tip: beat in a squeeze of lime and a spoon of water until very frothy; the air and steam make it puff dramatically.

10 min

Thai Rice & Grains

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BelgramiChewy fresh cheese sweet

Belgrami belongs to Udwantnagar in Bihar's Bhojpur district, where sweet makers have cooked it for generations and travellers buy boxes on the way through. Fresh chhena is cooked down with sugar until it firms into a dense, slightly chewy, pale cream block with a gentle caramel note, then cut into pieces. It keeps for days, which makes it a favourite gift at weddings and Chhath. The common mistake is stopping too early: it must cook until the mass pulls into one lump and no longer sticks to the pan, or the pieces stay soft and weep. Chef's tip: use chhena from full-fat cow's milk and hang it for an hour, so it is dry enough to cook down quickly.

105 min

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LongganisaGarlic pork sausages

Every Philippine province has its longganisa, from the garlicky, sour sausages of Vigan to the oregano-scented ones of Lucban and the sweet, sticky Pampanga style; this homemade skinless (hubad) version sits between them. These pork sausages are fried until caramelised, then packed into the baon (packed lunch) with sinangag garlic rice and a fried egg. The common mistake is frying them hard from raw, which burns the sugar before the pork is cooked; simmer them in a little water first. Chef's tip: roll the mixture in baking paper and chill overnight, and the sausages slice and fry far more neatly.

45 min

Filipino Meat

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Bellam avakayaSweet raw mango pickle

In the Godavari districts of coastal Andhra, the same May afternoon that produces a jar of fiery avakaya usually produces a second jar of bellam avakaya for the children and anyone who likes it sweet. The mangoes are hacked into chunks with their skin and the hard shell of the stone still attached, then tossed with chilli, mustard powder, salt and plenty of grated jaggery. Over three or four days the jaggery melts into a dark, glossy syrup that clings to every piece. It tastes sweet first, then the mustard catches the nose and the chilli warms the back of the throat; the mango stays firm and sour. Eat it with pesarattu, dosa, chapati or curd rice. The salt is about 8% of the mango weight and the fruit is acidic, so it keeps all year under oil in a dry jar. Common mistake: cutting the mangoes wet or leaving sap and water on them; any moisture invites mould, so dry each piece with a cloth. It is ready when no jaggery grains remain and a film of oil rises to the top. Chef's tip: wipe off the milky sap at the stalk end before cutting; it stings the skin and tastes bitter.

45 min

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TovveToor dal with green chilli

Tovve is the plainest dal of the Udupi temple kitchens and of Kannada homes along the coast: toor or moong cooked soft, seasoned with green chilli and ginger and finished with a sizzling ghee tempering. There is no tomato, no onion and no masala, so it is the first dal children eat and what families cook for a light dinner or after a fast, with rice, a spoon of ghee and a lemon pickle. Its flavour depends on a well-cooked dal, so it must be soft enough to fall apart when stirred. The usual mistake is adding salt before the dal is tender, which keeps it grainy. Chef's tip: whisk the cooked dal hard for 30 seconds before tempering; the smooth, creamy texture is what makes tovve taste of more than its few ingredients.

40 min

Vietnamese Snacks & Starters

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Bhapa ilishSteamed hilsa in mustard

When the monsoon brings hilsa up the Padma and Hooghly rivers, Kolkata households cook bhapa ilish, the fish steamed in a pungent paste of mustard seeds, green chilli and mustard oil in a closed tiffin box. It is the star of Jamai Sasthi and of any rainy-season Sunday, served with plain rice. The fish is rich and tender, with a nose-tingling mustard heat. Suitable as part of a balanced diet: high in protein and omega-3 fats, with no starch in the dish itself. About 340 kcal and 4 g carbohydrate per portion; keep the rice portion modest. The usual mistake is grinding the mustard seeds too long or with warm water, which turns the paste bitter; grind briefly with cold water, a pinch of salt and a green chilli. Hilsa is bony, so eat slowly and warn guests. Chef's tip: drizzle raw mustard oil over the top just before closing the box; it gives the true Bengali aroma.

40 min

Indian Fish

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Bò bíaJicama and sausage rice paper rolls

Bò bía carts park outside the schools of Chợ Lớn, Saigon's Chinatown, every afternoon, and the vendor rolls each one to order: sweet stir-fried jicama and carrot, crisp slices of lạp xưởng (Chinese pork sausage), toasted dried shrimp and ribbons of omelette, wrapped with basil and lettuce in soft rice paper and dipped in hoisin sauce loosened with peanut butter. It is a cousin of Chinese popiah and a favourite after-school snack. Chef's tip: dip the rice paper for only a second or two; it keeps softening as you fill it.

40 min

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Mochenye yablokiFermented apples

In the villages of central Russia, around Ryazan, Tula and Kursk, late autumn meant packing an oak barrel with whole Antonovka apples between layers of blackcurrant and cherry leaves, then pouring over a brine of water, salt, honey and a little rye flour. A month later, in the cold of the cellar, they had become mochenye yabloki: still crisp, very juicy, tart and lightly sweet, with a faint fizz on the tongue and an aroma close to cider. Through the winter they come out with roast goose or duck, on the zakuski table beside sauerkraut and salted cucumbers, and as a snack with tea. Like any lactic ferment they produce a trace of alcohol, well under 1% while young. The most common mistake is using soft, sweet dessert apples, which go mealy and fall apart; choose hard, sour, late-season apples without a single bruise and pack them tightly. They are ready when the brine is cloudy and smells pleasantly sour and a slice tastes tangy right to the core. Chef's tip: lay a clean cabbage leaf on top under the weight; it keeps the apples down and catches any surface yeast.

50 min

Russian Sides

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BettarazukeSweet koji-cured daikon

Every 19 and 20 October, the lanes around Takarada Ebisu Shrine in Nihonbashi fill with stalls for the Bettara-ichi, Tokyo's old pickle fair, where vendors hold up whole daikon dripping with rice koji and passers-by try not to get 'bettari', sticky. The pickle has been an Edo favourite since the 1700s: daikon salted, then buried in amazake, the sweet porridge that koji makes from rice. It tastes mild, sweet and fresh, with a clean crunch and a faint fermented, sake-lees perfume, which makes it a favourite with children and a pause between salty dishes. Bettarazuke is low in salt and acid, so it lives in the fridge from start to finish. The common mistake is adding the daikon while the amazake is still warm: it cooks the surface and softens the crunch, so cool it fully. It is ready when the daikon is translucent at the edges, juicy, and the koji coating tastes sweet with a light tang. Chef's tip: make the amazake in a rice cooker on keep-warm with the lid ajar and a cloth over it, so it holds about 60 °C; a thermometer helps the first time.

55 min

Japanese Chutneys & Dips

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Besan chillaGram flour pancakes

Across North India, besan chilla is the answer when the tiffin needs packing in fifteen minutes: a pourable gram flour batter studded with onion, tomato, chilli and coriander, cooked thin on a tawa, then rolled up with chutney or ketchup. It is naturally egg-free and filling. The common mistake is a thick batter, which gives a heavy, raw-tasting pancake; it should flow like single cream. Chef's tip: spread the batter with the back of a ladle in quick circles from the centre outward, and cover the pan for the first minute so the top steams set.

25 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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Mochai kottai kuzhambuField bean gravy

Across Tamil Nadu, from Madurai to Tirunelveli, mochai kottai kuzhambu is a winter and weekend curry: dried field beans and small brinjals stewed in a thick tamarind and sambar-powder gravy with shallots and garlic. It is cooked in a big batch, because everyone agrees it tastes better the next day, and eaten with rice, a spoon of sesame oil and appalam or a simple keerai. The beans turn creamy and the brinjal melts into the sauce. Dried field beans must be soaked and boiled until completely soft; never eat them undercooked. The usual mistake is adding the tamarind before the beans are tender, because acid stops them softening. Slow-cooker: boil the soaked beans hard on the hob for 10 minutes first, then cook everything on low for 6 hours. Chef's tip: fry the brinjal in the oil before the gravy goes in, so it holds its shape instead of dissolving.

85 min