Featured recipe

Gogoși

Fried yeast doughnuts

Fairground stalls, seaside promenades in Constanța and every grandmother with a big frying pan produce gogoși, fat, golden rounds of yeast dough fried and rolled in sugar while still too hot to hold. They are an everyday treat rather than a feast-day one, eaten with a mug of milk or filled with plum jam, sour cherry jam or sweet cheese. The dough is soft and enriched with eggs, milk and butter, so the inside should be fluffy and the outside thin and crisp, never greasy. Where most people go wrong is the oil temperature: too cool and the doughnuts soak up fat, too hot and they brown before the centre cooks. Keep a thermometer in the pan and never leave hot oil unattended. Chef's tip: fry one test doughnut first and break it open, so you can adjust the heat before the whole batch.

What to eat today?

Around the world

Today's trip: Paraguayan

A new country every day, from every cuisine on the site.

Paraguayan

Ka'i ladrillo

Peanut molasses bricks 40 minMore from Paraguayan (27) →

This week's collection

Kid-friendly dinners537 recipes · a new collection every Monday

New this week

See all new →

Latest recipes

San da paoGlutinous rice balls in soybean flour

On Jinli Ancient Street and in the Kuanzhai Xiangzi alleys, san da pao vendors draw a crowd by hurling balls of hot glutinous rice dough at a wooden board hung with brass plates: bang, bang, bang, the "three cannons" of the name, before the balls drop into a tray of roasted soybean flour. Served with dark brown sugar syrup and sesame, they are a soft, chewy, nutty afternoon snack. They contain soya and sesame. Glutinous rice is very sticky, so cut the balls small for children. Chef's tip: work the steamed dough while it is still hot; once it cools it stiffens and will not stretch.

45 min

Chinese Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

ChauselaRice flour puris

Chausela is the puri of the Chhattisgarh plains, where rice rather than wheat fills the granary, and it turns up at Hareli, Pola and any Sunday breakfast with a sharp tomato chutney or a potato curry. The dough is scalded with boiling water so the rice flour holds together, and the puris fry up pale, soft and lightly crisp at the edges. The usual mistake is mixing the flour with cold water; it cracks as you roll and the puris split in the oil. Chef's tip: knead the dough while it is still warm, using the heel of an oiled palm, and keep it under a damp cloth so the rounds stay supple.

30 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

by KrazyBadal 0 views

NeureosCoconut and jaggery pastries

No Goan Catholic kuswar, the tray of Christmas sweets sent to neighbours, is complete without neureos, little crimped half-moons of crisp pastry stuffed with fresh coconut cooked down with jaggery, cardamom and a few raisins or cashews. Families gather in the week before Christmas to roll, fill and pinch them by the hundred, and they keep well in a tin until New Year. The common mistake is a wet filling: if the coconut mix is still moist when sealed the pastries burst in the oil, so cook it until it leaves the pan and cool it fully. Chef's tip: use a fluted pastry wheel to trim the edge after crimping, which gives the classic frilly finish and a tighter seal.

75 min

Indian Indian Sweets

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Nori tsukudaniSoy-simmered nori

When a pack of nori loses its crispness, Japanese cooks turn it into nori tsukudani, the jet-black, jammy seaweed paste sold in jars as "gohan desu yo" and spread over the rice in bento boxes up and down the country. It tastes of the sea, soy and a gentle sweetness. The common mistake is walking away: once the water has gone the paste catches on the bottom within a minute. Chef's tip: soak the torn nori before you heat it, so it melts into a smooth paste instead of leaving chewy shreds.

17 min

Japanese Sides

by KrazyBadal 0 views

OdiiRoasted peanut paste

A jar of odii sits in almost every northern Ugandan kitchen, made by roasting groundnuts, often with a handful of sesame, and grinding them to a paste. Thinned with a little salted water, it becomes a smooth, toasty, savoury spread for bread and roasted cassava, a dip for boiled sweet potatoes, or the starting point for malakwang and boo. Freshly made, it tastes far deeper than shop peanut butter. The error to avoid is under-roasting: pale nuts give a flat, beany paste, so take them to an even mid-brown. Chef's tip: add the water a teaspoon at a time while stirring; the paste will first seize and thicken, then turn silky, so keep going past that point.

20 minEast African Chutneys & Dips

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chech bhajiJute leaf curry

Chech bhaji is a monsoon green in Chhattisgarh, picked from the jute plants that come up in field edges and village gardens, and cooked almost every week during Sawan. The leaves turn slippery as they soften, a bit like okra, and the cook reins that in with tomato and a little rice water left from washing the rice. It is eaten with plain rice and dal or bore baasi. The mistake to avoid is stirring it endlessly; the leaves go stringy and gluey, so stir only now and then. Chef's tip: frozen or dried molokhia leaves from an Arab grocery are the same plant and work well outside India.

25 min

Indian Vegetarian

by KrazyBadal 0 views

NuegadosCassava fritters in syrup

On Holy Week and at the patron-saint fairs of towns like Izalco and Suchitoto, women fry nuegados in big pans and ladle hot panela syrup over them to order. The fritters are made from mashed sweet cassava and egg, crisp outside and soft and stretchy inside, and the syrup is scented with cinnamon and cloves. Use sweet cassava, the kind sold fresh or frozen in shops; bitter varieties are not for home cooking. The most common mistake is a wet mash, which drinks up oil and falls apart; dry the cooked cassava well before mashing. Chef's tip: wet your hands or the spoon before shaping each fritter so the sticky dough drops cleanly into the oil.

50 minCentral American Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ambadyachi udda methiHog plum coconut gravy

Udda methi is a Goan Saraswat curry named for its two roasted seasonings, urad dal and fenugreek seeds, and in the monsoon months the best version is made with tart green hog plums, ambade. The plums simmer whole in a coconut gravy that is sour, a little bitter, hot and faintly sweet from jaggery, and it is eaten with plain rice on rainy days or at a Shravan meal. The common mistake is burning the fenugreek: it should be roasted only until reddish, because dark seeds make the whole pot bitter. Raw mango works in place of ambade outside the season. Chef's tip: crush each hog plum lightly with a pestle before cooking so the gravy can soak into the flesh around the stone.

45 min

Indian Curries

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ahmedabad chocolate sandwich

Manek Chowk is a jewellery market by day; at night its square fills with stalls, and among the pav bhaji and sandwich carts the chocolate sandwich is the one children beg for. Buttered white bread is packed with grated chocolate, sometimes with a layer of grated cheese for a salty edge, then toasted in a long-handled iron until crisp and dripping. Contains wheat and dairy, and the chocolate may contain soya and traces of nuts. If you add cheese, many cheeses are made with animal rennet; pick one labelled vegetarian. Chef's tip: toast it slowly over a medium-low heat, so the chocolate melts before the bread browns.

11 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tian shui mianSweet spiced soy noodles

Tian shui mian, "sweet water noodles", are a fixture of Chengdu's old snack houses around Wenshu Monastery, ordered at lunch in a small bowl alongside dumplings and wontons. The noodles are cut as thick as chopsticks, cooked chewy and served at room temperature, coated in thick spiced soy syrup, red chilli oil, pounded raw garlic and sesame: sweet first, then hot and garlicky. Chef's tip: simmer the sweet soy until syrupy; if it is thin it runs to the bottom of the bowl instead of clinging to the noodles.

45 min

Chinese Pasta & Noodles

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ye er baSesame sticky rice dumplings

Ye er ba, "leaf cakes", come from Xinjin on Chengdu's southern edge and are sold all over the city in snack restaurants and teahouses, including the busy tea gardens of People's Park, at breakfast and through the afternoon. Each dumpling is wrapped in a leaf, which keeps it moist and adds a faint green fragrance as it steams; the skin is soft and stretchy, the filling a sweet, nutty black sesame paste. Traditional fillings use lard; this version uses coconut oil and is vegan. It contains sesame. Chef's tip: keep the dough as soft as an earlobe; dry dough cracks and the filling leaks out.

60 min

Chinese Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chhena kheeriFresh cheese in sweet milk

Chhena kheeri is one of the dishes of the Jagannath temple's chhappan bhog in Puri, and Odia households make it for festivals, birthdays and the evening Rath Yatra meal. Soft, freshly made chhena is crumbled into milk that has been simmered down until creamy and sweet, then scented with cardamom and a little camphor in temple style, or simply nutmeg at home. The common mistake is adding the chhena too early and boiling it hard, which makes it rubbery; it should go in at the end and simmer only briefly. Chef's tip: crumble the chhena by hand into pieces the size of rice grains, so every spoonful has some.

75 min

Indian Indian Sweets

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lolly cakeNo-bake malt biscuit log

Lolly cake is the no-bake treat every New Zealand child helps make for birthday parties and bake sales, a log of crushed malt biscuits bound with butter and condensed milk, studded with chewy, brightly coloured fruit lollies (fruit puffs) and rolled in coconut. Sliced into rounds, it shows off the colours. A common mistake is crushing the biscuits to dust; leave some small chunks for texture. Many fruit lollies contain gelatine, so choose gelatine-free ones to keep it vegetarian. Chef's tip: wrap the log tightly in cling film and twist the ends so it chills into a neat cylinder.

20 min

New Zealand Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chhena jhiliFried cheese patties in syrup

Chhena jhili comes from Nimapara near Puri in Odisha, where sweet shops fry these flat, oval chhena patties all day for pilgrims heading to and from the Jagannath temple. They are soft and spongy, golden-brown outside and creamy within, soaked in a thin syrup scented with cardamom, and are eaten at Rath Yatra, weddings and any good-news visit. The common mistake is using dry, crumbly chhena; it should be moist enough to press into a smooth patty without cracks, so hang it for no more than 30 minutes. Chef's tip: fry in ghee rather than oil for the true Odia flavour, keeping the heat gentle so the outside stays golden, not dark.

80 min

Indian Indian Sweets

by KrazyBadal 0 views

ChhangbanPounded sticky rice cakes

Chhangban are soft, chewy cakes that Mizo families make from steamed sticky rice pounded in a wooden mortar, traditionally for Christmas, Chapchar Kut and visits from relatives. They are eaten warm, dipped in sugar, or toasted the next day with a mug of black tea. The mistake people make is pounding cold rice: it will not come together, so work while it is steaming hot. Chef's tip: wet the pestle or your hands with salted water so the rice does not stick.

60 min

Indian Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chhurpi ko jholCheese curry

Soft chhurpi is the fresh, crumbly cheese that Sikkimese and Darjeeling hill families make by souring leftover buttermilk, and on cold, misty evenings it goes into this thin, fiery soup that is drunk from a bowl alongside rice. The broth is little more than tomato, onion, chilli and coriander, so the cheese has to be good: ricotta-like and mild. The most common mistake is boiling hard once the cheese is in, which makes it rubbery and the soup grainy; keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: if you cannot find chhurpi, drain fresh ricotta or crumble homemade paneer while it is still soft.

23 min

Indian Soups

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chicharrón cochabambinoPork fried in chicha

Cochabamba's Sunday chicharrón is pork, cooked the slow way: big chunks of pork rib and shoulder simmered in chicha, the valley's fermented corn drink, with garlic and cumin until the liquid evaporates and the meat fries golden in its own fat. It is eaten with mote (big white corn), boiled potatoes and llajwa. Chicha contains alcohol, and some remains after cooking, so this dish is for adults; for an alcohol-free version use unsweetened apple juice with a splash of cider vinegar. The common mistake is rushing the last stage over a high heat, which burns the outside before the inside is tender. Chef's tip: once the liquid has gone, turn the pieces only every few minutes so a real crust can form.

150 minAndean Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vellarikka pachadiCucumber yogurt curry

Vellarikka pachadi is one of the cooling yogurt dishes on the Kerala sadya, the banana-leaf feast served at Onam and weddings, and it turns up at everyday lunches across Thrissur and Kottayam too. Diced cucumber is softened briefly, then folded into thick yogurt with a paste of coconut, green chilli and crushed mustard seed, and finished with mustard seeds and curry leaves crackled in coconut oil. Coconut and curd carry the flavour, so it needs only a pinch of salt: about 0.25 g salt per portion. The usual mistake is adding the yogurt to hot cucumber, which splits it; let the cucumber cool first. Serve with rice and a dry vegetable thoran. Chef's tip: grind the coconut paste with a few raw mustard seeds; their gentle pungency is what makes a pachadi taste of Kerala.

20 min

Indian Sides

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 18 of 7,762 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 161 of 863