What to eat today?

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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

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Aam telMango pickle in mustard oil

In Bengal the summer of kal-baishakhi storms is also the season of aam tel, mango oil. Slices of hard green mango are salted and sun-dried until leathery, then sunk in mustard oil with roasted panch phoron and chilli and left to steep for a couple of weeks. The mango turns chewy, salty and sour; the oil turns golden, sharp and fruity, and that oil is the real treasure. A spoonful goes into jhalmuri (spiced puffed rice) on every Kolkata street corner, over plain rice with a fried egg or mashed potato, or into a bowl of panta bhat in the heat. The common mistake is not drying the mango enough: if it still feels wet when pressed, it will grow mould under the oil. Dry it until the slices are shrunken, leathery and bend without releasing juice. The pickle is ready when the oil has turned golden and smells strongly of mango and spice. Because the mango is salt-cured and acidic and stays fully under the oil in a dry jar, with no garlic, it keeps up to a year in a cool cupboard; in hot, humid weather keep it in the fridge. Chef's tip: no strong sun? Dry the salted slices in the oven at 60–70 °C with the door propped open, for 5–6 hours.

50 min

Malaysian Pasta & Noodles

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Bollitos pelonesBeef-stuffed corn dumplings in tomato sauce

Bollitos pelones are proper home cooking from central Venezuela: little balls of corn dough tinted with onoto, stuffed with a spoonful of spiced minced beef and simmered in a light tomato sauce until the dough firms. Mothers make them for school-day lunches with white rice, and they reheat well. The common mistake is stirring the pot, which breaks the balls apart. Chef's tip: give the pan a gentle shake instead of stirring, and don't touch them for the first 10 minutes.

75 min

Venezuelan Meat

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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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Boulettes chouchouChayote dumplings in broth

The boulette stalls of Port Louis's Chinatown and the night market at Rose-Hill steam trays of little dumplings to order, and diners point at what they want, then get a bowl of clear broth ladled over and a spoon of chilli on the side. Fish, crab and chicken boulettes are on offer too, but chayote ones are the favourite of many: grated chouchou bound with cornflour into soft, slightly bouncy, translucent balls that taste fresh and sweet. This version is fully vegetarian, with a vegetable broth flavoured with ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil. The mistake that ruins them is skipping the squeeze, because chayote is full of water and the balls slump into a puddle in the steamer. Chef's tip: wring the grated chayote in a clean tea towel until almost no more drips come out, then keep that juice to add to the broth.

75 min

Mauritian Soups

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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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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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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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Poudine maïsBaked maize pudding

Grandmothers in Mauritius made poudine maïs from whatever the pantry held, which is why it is still sold by the square in snack shops and at village fairs for a few rupees. Fine yellow maize meal is cooked in sweetened vanilla milk until thick, then baked until the top is freckled brown and the inside sets like a soft, sliceable custard with a faint grainy bite. It is eaten at room temperature or cold from the fridge with a cup of tea, never hot. Lumps are the usual problem, and they come from tipping the maize into hot milk all at once. Chef's tip: whisk the maize meal into the milk while it is still cold, then heat it slowly, and the pudding will be perfectly smooth.

60 min

Mauritian Desserts

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MbaipyCheesy polenta

Mbaipy (say 'mbai-PU') is Guaraní country cooking at its plainest: coarse corn flour stirred into milk and onion fried in oil until it thickens into a soft, spoonable porridge, finished with cubes of fresh cheese that melt into strings. In the Paraguayan countryside it is a cheap winter supper; cooks often stir in shredded chicken to make mbaipy so'o, but this is the meat-free version eaten on fasting days and in plenty of homes. Queso Paraguay is made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian mozzarella or fresh cheese if you need to. The usual mistake is tipping the corn flour in all at once, which makes lumps that never cook out. Chef's tip: let it sit, covered, off the heat for five minutes before serving; it firms up slightly and the corn swells fully.

40 min

Paraguayan Vegetarian

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Mee sotongFried noodles with squid

Mee sotong is the dish people queue for at the Esplanade hawker stalls by Padang Kota in George Town, eaten in the evening breeze off the sea. Thick yellow noodles are fried in a deep red paste of dried chillies, shallots and garlic cooked down with tomato ketchup, sugar and tamarind until sweet, smoky and spicy, then tossed with tender squid in its own red sauce and a few bean sprouts. Chef's tip: fry the chilli paste patiently until the oil separates and it darkens; raw paste tastes harsh and flat.

30 min

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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

Australian Snacks & Starters

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MelkkosCinnamon milk pudding

Ask a Karoo grandmother what supper was on a cold winter night on the farm and melkkos often comes up: a pot of hot milk thickened with little crumbs of flour and butter, ladled into bowls and dusted heavily with cinnamon sugar. It was the cheap, filling meal made when the cow was milking well, eaten as a pudding or as the whole evening meal with a slice of bread. The texture is soft and slightly lumpy, like a loose rice pudding, with tiny tender dumplings scattered through a silky, faintly sweet milk scented with cinnamon stick. Too much heat is the thing to avoid: milk catches quickly on the base of the pot and a scorched taste runs right through it. Chef's tip: rub the butter into the flour until it feels like coarse breadcrumbs with a few pea-sized bits, because those bigger bits become the best little dumplings.

25 min

South African Desserts

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Merluzzo e patate for babiesCod and potato mash for babies

In Italy, fish is part of the svezzamento (weaning) plan from early on, and merluzzo con patate schiacciate, steamed white fish with crushed potato, is the lunch many Italian grandmothers make for babies from Milan to Palermo once they move on to soft lumps at around nine months. A spoon of good extra virgin olive oil replaces butter and salt, and the result is soft, mild and comforting. It contains fish and is free of milk, egg, gluten, nuts, soya and sesame. Chef's tip: steam the fish on top of the potatoes in the same basket for the last few minutes; one pan, and the fish never dries out.

25 min

Italian Fish

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Mermelada de ruibarboRhubarb jam

Rhubarb thrives in the cold, wet gardens of Aysén, around Coyhaique and Puerto Aysén, where it was planted by settler families and now grows almost wild beside the houses. Every summer the stalks go into big pots of jam, spread on warm sopaipillas or homemade bread at once (teatime) and given to visitors in jars. Use only the stalks: rhubarb leaves are poisonous and must be thrown away. The mistake most people make is boiling the jam too long, which turns it dull brown and stiff. Chef's tip: leave the chopped rhubarb in the sugar overnight; it releases its juice, so the jam cooks faster and keeps a pink colour and soft pieces.

45 min

Chilean Chutneys & Dips

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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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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

Chilean Breads & Parathas

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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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BekangFried fermented soybeans

Bekang is the Mizo name for soybeans boiled and left to ferment in leaves until sticky and strongly savoury, and fried bekang is one of the most loved sides on the Aizawl table, spooned over plain rice. To ferment your own, keep the wrapped, drained beans at 30–40 °C for 2–3 days: they are ready when coated in sticky white threads and smell of ammonia and nuts. Throw them out if you see black, green or pink mould or they smell rotten. The common mistake is frying on high heat until the beans scorch and turn bitter. Chef's tip: bought kinema, axone or natto work in place of homemade bekang.

17 min

Indian Sides

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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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MilcaoPotato bread

On Chiloé, where potatoes have been grown for thousands of years, milcao is the bread that comes with almost everything: it is buried in the curanto pit, boiled in broth, or pan-fried until crusty and eaten with honey or sugar in the afternoon. The dough is half grated raw potato and half mashed boiled potato. Islanders often press pork crackling into it; this version is plain and vegan. Forgetting to squeeze the raw potato is the mistake that makes milcaos fall apart in the pan. Chef's tip: let the squeezed potato juice stand for 5 minutes, pour off the water and scrape the white starch from the bottom of the bowl back into the dough; it is the glue that holds milcao together.

65 min

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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

Vietnamese Snacks & Starters

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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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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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Mirchi thechaPounded chilli, garlic and peanut relish

Thecha is the fiery pounded chilli relish of rural Maharashtra, from the Desh villages around Satara and Kolhapur, eaten with jowar bhakri and a raw onion at a farmhand's lunch and now a fixture of Pune's Marathi restaurants. Green chillies and garlic are blistered in a pan, then crushed with peanuts in a stone mortar. The common mistake is blending it smooth in a mixer; thecha should be coarse and rustic, so pound it or pulse briefly. Chef's tip: wear gloves or oil your fingers when handling this many chillies, and wash the pan straight away.

15 min

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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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Misutgaru drinkRoasted multigrain shake

Misutgaru is a fine beige powder of roasted grains and beans, usually barley, brown rice, glutinous rice, black beans and sesame, and Korean mums have shaken it into cold milk for rushed breakfasts for generations. It tastes like toasted cereal and a little like peanut butter, and it fills you up until lunch. The mistake is stirring the powder straight into a full glass, which leaves dry lumps floating on top; shake it in a jar or whisk it into a little liquid first. Honey is not suitable for babies under one. Chef's tip: add a few ice cubes to the jar before shaking, which breaks up any lumps and froths the drink.

5 min

Korean Drinks

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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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Batido de lechosaPapaya and orange shake

Lechosa is what Venezuelans call papaya, and on breakfast tables from Valencia to Puerto La Cruz it turns up as a batido beside arepas or empanadas, often blended with the oranges that are piled cheap in every market. It is thick, smooth and sunset-orange, tasting of honeyed papaya and bright citrus, and it fills you up until lunch. Some families blend it with milk instead of juice, which turns it into a creamy merengada. The common mistake with milk is letting it stand: papaya's natural enzyme starts to turn milk bitter within half an hour, so drink it straight away. Another mistake is scraping the seed cavity too hard; the black seeds and their slippery coating make the batido bitter and peppery. It is ready when there are no fibres left, it pours in a thick stream and the colour is an even orange. Choose papaya that is mostly yellow-orange and gives slightly under your thumb; a green-streaked one tastes flat and a little musky. Chef's tip: a few drops of lime juice cut through papaya's musky note and make it taste fresher.

5 min

Venezuelan Drinks

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Batida de cocoCoconut cachaça cocktail

Along the barracas of Salvador's beaches and at the June São João parties across Bahia, batida de coco comes out of the blender in jugs, poured into plastic cups and drunk while the forró plays. It is a drink for adults only that hides its strength well: creamy, cold and sweet like a coconut milkshake, with cachaça warming the finish rather than shouting. The texture should be thick but pourable, pale ivory, with a soft froth on top. The common mistake is blending the ice for too long, which leaves a thin, watery drink that separates into a fatty layer within minutes. Blend the liquids smooth first, then add the ice and pulse only a few times, until the noise from the blender goes quiet and smooth. It is ready when no lumps of ice rattle and the batida coats the side of the glass. Because it tastes so gentle, keep the cups small and drink responsibly. Chef's tip: chill the cachaça, coconut milk and tin of condensed milk overnight, and you will need less ice and get a richer, denser batida.

8 min

Brazilian Drinks

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Batido de mameyMamey milkshake

In Havana and all over the island, the cafeteria counter has a blender that never stops, turning out batidos of mango, guanábana, papaya and the favourite of all, mamey. The fruit has a rough brown skin and a soft, salmon-red flesh that tastes like sweet potato, pumpkin pie, almond and apricot at once, and blended with cold milk it makes a shake so thick it is almost a dessert. It is drunk mid-afternoon on hot days, at breakfast with toast, or at a kid's birthday party; Miami's Cuban cafés keep the tradition alive with frozen pulp. The common mistake is using a hard mamey, which tastes starchy and slightly bitter; the fruit must give like a ripe avocado when pressed and show deep red flesh when you scratch the skin with a fingernail. The batido is ready when it is smooth, pumpkin-orange and pours slowly in a thick ribbon. Frozen mamey pulp from Latin American shops is a good substitute; reduce the ice because the pulp is already cold. Chef's tip: a pinch of salt and a drop of vanilla bring out mamey's almond notes.

5 min

Cuban Drinks

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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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Bellam paramannamRice and moong dal jaggery pudding

Bellam paramannam is the naivedyam of Telangana and Andhra homes, cooked for Sankranti, Ugadi, Varalakshmi Vratam and almost any puja, a soft rice-and-moong pudding sweetened with jaggery and glossed with ghee. Its colour is a warm caramel and its taste deeper than a sugar kheer. The classic mistake is adding jaggery to milk that is still on a high boil, which can split it; take the pot off the heat, let it stop bubbling, then stir the jaggery in. Chef's tip: roast the moong dal in a spoon of ghee until it smells toasty before cooking; it gives the paramannam its homely flavour.

45 min

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Bhopali mutton pasandeMarinated mutton escalopes

Pasande come from the Nawabi kitchens of Bhopal, where boneless leg of mutton is cut into thin slices and beaten flat, then marinated in yogurt, raw papaya, ground fried onion and spices and cooked low until meltingly tender. They are made for Eid, weddings and dawats and eaten with sheermal or rotis. This dish contains mutton: marinate it in the fridge and cook it until the meat reaches 71 °C and is fork-tender. The common mistake is cooking on high heat, which seizes the thin slices and toughens them. Chef's tip: beat the slices between cling film with a rolling pin to an even 5 mm; even thickness means every piece is tender at the same time.

100 min

Indian Meat

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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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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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Beni shogaRed pickled ginger

Beni shoga is the bright pink tangle you see on Osaka street food: piled beside yakisoba, scattered on okonomiyaki, folded into takoyaki batter and heaped on a bowl of gyudon at lunchtime. Kansai cooks make it in early summer, when umeboshi plums finish salting and leave behind red umezu, the salty, sour, shiso-coloured plum vinegar that both cures and dyes the ginger. The result is crunchy, sharp and salty, with a clean ginger heat and none of the sweetness of sushi gari. Young summer ginger gives the most tender threads; mature ginger works but is hotter and more fibrous, so cut it thinner. If you cannot find red umezu, use rice vinegar with salt and a slice of raw beetroot for colour (see the note). The common mistake is skipping the salting and drying: wet ginger dilutes the umezu and turns soft and dull. Squeeze it and let it dry so it drinks up the vinegar. It is ready when the threads are evenly rosy right through and taste salty-sour rather than raw. Chef's tip: save the pink vinegar left in the jar; a spoonful in potato salad or rice for onigiri is excellent.

20 min

Japanese Chutneys & Dips

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MohalaSaffron and cardamom griddle bread

Mohala is a thick, spongy flatbread from the UAE, cooked on a flat pan for breakfast in Emirati homes, especially during Ramadan and on winter mornings. The yeasted batter is scented with saffron and cardamom and turns golden underneath and full of holes on top, like a giant crumpet. It is eaten warm with date syrup, honey, or salty cheese and tea. The mistake is a batter that has not risen enough; it should be bubbly and doubled, or the bread is dense. Allow about 1½ hours including rising. Chef's tip: cook it covered over a low heat; the lid steams the top so you never need to flip it.

45 minGulf Arabian Breads & Parathas

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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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Mojito en cocoFlaked fish in coconut sauce

Around Lake Maracaibo, 'mojito' means not a cocktail but a home dish of poached fish flaked into a sofrito of peppers, onion and ají dulce and finished with coconut milk. Families serve it at weekday lunch with white rice and tostones. Any firm white fish works. The common mistake is leaving bones in the flakes. Chef's tip: flake the fish with your fingers rather than a fork, so you can feel and remove every pin bone.

45 min

Venezuelan Fish

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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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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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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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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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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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Bhang ki chutneyRoasted hemp seed chutney

In Kumaon every kitchen keeps a jar of hemp seeds, and this tangy chutney is ground fresh to go with rotis, aloo ke gutke and festive pakodas all through the year. It uses hulled, food-grade hemp seeds sold for cooking, which are not psychoactive at all; they simply taste like a cross between sesame and toasted pine nuts. The seeds are dry-roasted, ground with mint, chilli and the juice of the big hill lemon, and loosened with a little water. The usual mistake is roasting the seeds too dark, which turns the chutney bitter and grey. Chef's tip: grind in a mortar or with short pulses and stop while it still has some texture; a perfectly smooth paste loses the pleasant crunch.

15 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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BhaturuStuffed fermented wheat bread

Bhaturu is the breakfast bread of the Kangra and Kullu valleys, made from wheat dough left to ferment overnight with a little old starter or curd until it is light and sour, then rolled out, sometimes stuffed with a spiced lentil filling, and baked on the griddle. It is eaten hot with ghee, a tangy chutney or the madra left from the night before, and is a fixture at village fairs. Ferment it somewhere warm (25–30 °C) for 8–10 hours; it should smell pleasantly sour and be bubbly. Discard the dough if it smells of nail varnish, turns pink, grey or fuzzy, or has a slimy feel. The common mistake is rolling it thin like a chapati, which loses the soft crumb; keep it as thick as your little finger. Chef's tip: cook it on a medium, not fierce, tawa so the centre bakes through before the outside burns.

60 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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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

Mongolian Snacks & Starters

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EezgiiCaramelised milk curd

Eezgii is a summer dairy food of the Mongolian countryside, made in herding families' gers when there is milk to spare: the milk is curdled with a little sour whey or yoghurt, then cooked down slowly over the stove for hours until the curds turn golden brown and caramelised in their own fat and sugar. The pieces are dried and eaten as a toasty, sweet-salty snack with milk tea through the winter. A common mistake is turning up the heat to speed it up, which burns the bottom; low heat and frequent stirring are key. Chef's tip: a heavy, wide pan gives the most even browning.

190 min

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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

Vietnamese Snacks & Starters

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Bhure chawalRice with ghee and sugar

Bhure chawal is about as simple as Haryanvi village cooking gets: steaming rice tossed with plenty of desi ghee and bura, the fine, fluffy sugar sold in Haryana, and sometimes a few chopped nuts. It is the treat grandmothers make after the evening milking, at a new daughter-in-law's first meal, or on cold nights when something sweet is needed fast. Use fragrant, well-cooked rice and good ghee, as there is nothing to hide behind. The common mistake is adding the sugar to lukewarm rice, so it stays gritty instead of melting into the ghee. Chef's tip: no bura? Blitz ordinary sugar to a powder and add a pinch of cardamom.

25 min

Indian 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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BinatogBoiled hominy with coconut

Binatog is an afternoon snack sold from bicycle carts that ring their way through the side streets of Manila, especially around Tondo and Sampaloc, the vendor scooping steaming white corn from a big tin can into small cups. The kernels are plump, chewy and nutty, piled with snowy grated coconut and finished with salt or sugar to taste, so everyone gets it the way they like. It is simple, filling and naturally vegan. Dried white hominy (pozole corn) has already been treated with lime, which gives the chewy, popped kernels; if you can only find canned hominy, rinse it and warm it for 10 minutes instead. Chef's tip: keep the kernels at a gentle simmer; a hard boil splits them before they become tender.

120 min

Filipino Snacks & Starters

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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

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Bilahi chutneySweet-sour tomato chutney

Bilahi is the Assamese word for tomato, and this glossy red chutney, sweet with jaggery and warmed with nigella and dried chilli, closes a festive Assamese meal, especially at weddings and on Bihu, as the sweet-sour last course before curd and sweets. Everyday cooks in Jorhat and Guwahati make a quick batch in winter when tomatoes are cheap. The mistake to avoid is adding the jaggery too early, which scorches before the tomatoes have broken down. Chef's tip: a few dates or raisins added with the jaggery give the chutney a deeper, jammy sweetness.

25 min

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Bir pletokSpiced ginger drink

Bir pletok was the Betawi answer, in old Batavia, to the beer and wine drunk by the Dutch: a red, warming spice drink with no alcohol at all, served at weddings, at Lebaran open houses and in the evenings at Jakarta's Setu Babakan cultural village. 'Pletok' is said to be the popping sound it made when shaken in a bamboo tube to raise a foam. Ginger, lemongrass, pandan, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom are simmered with chips of secang (sappanwood), which turns the liquid deep ruby. It tastes hot and peppery from the ginger, perfumed from the pandan, sweet and lightly woody, and is drunk warm or with ice. The common mistake is skimping on ginger or slicing it thin and boiling briefly; you need plenty, bruised, and a slow simmer to draw out the heat. It is ready when the liquid is a clear ruby red and the ginger burn catches at the back of your throat. Secang chips are in Indonesian shops; dried hibiscus flowers give a similar red, slightly sourer. Keeps 5 days in the fridge. Chef's tip: shake each serving hard in a closed jar before pouring to get the foamy head.

40 min

Indonesian Drinks

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Bohar bhajiFlower bud curry

For a few weeks each spring, Raipur's markets sell small heaps of bohar, the young buds of the lasoda (Cordia) tree, and they are one of the most prized and pricey vegetables in Chhattisgarh. Cooked with onion, chilli and a spoon of curd, they have a pleasant, slightly sticky bite and an earthy taste, and families eat them with rice and dal for as long as the season lasts. People often skip the boiling step; without it the buds stay gummy and slightly bitter. Chef's tip: if you cannot find bohar, the same masala works with tender lasoda (gunda) fruit from Indian grocers, which is the same tree.

30 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Mote pilloHominy with egg and spring onion

In Cuenca's old cafés mote pillo arrives at breakfast or with the late-afternoon coffee, a plate of fat white hominy kernels fried in achiote butter and folded through with just-set egg and crumbled fresh cheese. The kernels stay chewy and nutty, the egg soft and glossy, and a big cup of black coffee or a slice of grilled cheese bread is all it wants beside it. The usual mistake is leaving the eggs on the heat until they dry into rubbery crumbs; pull the pan off while they still shine. Traditional queso fresco is often set with animal rennet; choose a cheese labelled vegetarian if that matters to you. Chef's tip: dry the drained mote on a tea towel first, so it fries and colours in the butter instead of steaming.

25 minAndean Breakfast & Brunch

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MotogoSoured sorghum porridge

In Botswana, motogo is the soft breakfast porridge made from mabele (sorghum meal), stirred in water until smooth and then soured with a splash of madila or maas, thick cultured milk, and sweetened with sugar. It has a gentle tang and a slightly earthy, nutty flavour, quite unlike oat porridge. The common mistake is adding the sour milk while it is still bubbling, which splits it; take the pot off the heat first. Chef's tip: for an even smoother motogo, soak the sorghum meal in the cold water for 20 minutes before cooking.

28 minSouthern African Breakfast & Brunch

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Naengchae jokbalCold sliced pork trotter

Busan's Jokbal Alley in Bupyeong-dong, beside Kkangtong Market, is where braised pork trotter was first served cold as a salad, a summer trick that spread across Korea. The pork trotters are simmered for hours in soy, ginger and spices until the skin turns sticky and tender, chilled, sliced thin and tossed with cucumber, shredded jellyfish and a nose-tingling dressing of Korean mustard, vinegar and garlic. It is evening food, shared from a big platter. Chef's tip: slice the meat only once it is fully cold; warm trotter meat tears instead of cutting into clean slices.

190 min

Korean Meat

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BlåbärssoppaBilberry soup

Swedes have drunk blåbärssoppa for generations, warm on a winter morning and cold from a cup after the Vasaloppet ski race, where skiers are handed it at every station. It is a thin, deep purple soup of bilberries or blueberries, sweetened and thickened just enough with potato starch to coat the tongue. The common mistake is boiling the soup after adding the starch: it turns stringy and then thins out again, so take it off the heat as soon as it thickens. Chef's tip: wild bilberries give a far deeper colour and flavour than cultivated blueberries, and frozen ones work perfectly.

15 minScandinavian Soups

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Paruppu urundai kuzhambuLentil dumpling gravy

Paruppu urundai kuzhambu is a Sunday-lunch treat in Tamil homes from Chennai to Coimbatore: coarse balls of soaked chana and toor dal, spiked with fennel, chilli and shallot, dropped raw into a bubbling tamarind gravy where they steam and firm up. The dumplings come out soft inside and soak up the sour, spicy sauce, and the crumbs that escape thicken the gravy. Serve it with plain rice, a spoon of sesame oil and a vegetable poriyal. The usual mistake is stirring as soon as the balls go in, which breaks them; leave them alone until they float and feel firm. Chef's tip: drop one test ball in first; if it cracks, knead a spoon of rice flour into the mixture before shaping the rest.

65 min