Featured recipe

Escalivada

Roasted aubergine, pepper and onion

The name comes from the Catalan escalivar, to cook in the embers, and in country masies across Catalonia the vegetables still go straight into the dying fire after a Sunday grill. Aubergines, red peppers and onions char black outside and turn smoky and soft within, then are peeled, torn into strips and dressed with nothing but olive oil, salt and a little garlic. Serve it warm or at room temperature with bread, beside grilled meat, or on toast. Chef's tip: wrap the roasted vegetables in a cloth or put them in a covered bowl for 15 minutes; the steam lifts the skins clean off.

What to eat today?

Around the world

Today's trip: Persian

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

Persian

Ash-e doogh

Yogurt soup with rice and chickpeas 60 minMore from Persian (131) →

This week's collection

Kid-friendly dinners537 recipes · a new collection every Monday

New this week

See all new →

Latest recipes

Chorba beida (Algerian white chicken soup)

Unlike the red chorba of the rest of the country, the 'white' chorba of Algiers has no tomato at all: chicken, onion and a cinnamon stick are cooked gently in butter, simmered with chickpeas and fine vermicelli, then thickened at the end with egg yolks and lemon. It is a classic of Ramadan tables in the capital, and is also cooked for guests at weddings and family gatherings. The soup is silky and pale gold, mild and comforting, with a soft lemony tang. Serve it with bread and a squeeze of extra lemon. Chef's tip: once the egg yolks are in, never let the soup boil; boiling is the common mistake that curdles it into scrambled threads.

60 min

Algerian Soups

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Devilled chicken

Few plates are more Colombo than devilled chicken, the sticky, fiery stir-fry born in the city's Sri Lankan-Chinese restaurants and now cooked in home kitchens for birthday parties, Saturday fried-rice nights and office lunch boxes. Bite-sized pieces of chicken are fried crisp, then tossed in a wok with wedges of onion, green capsicum and tomato in a glossy sauce of chilli flakes, ketchup and soy, so every piece is sweet, salty and hot at once. It is served with yellow fried rice or simply as a side to a rice-and-curry spread, and for a meat-free version you can devil button mushrooms or parboiled potato cubes in exactly the same sauce. Where most people go wrong is overloading the wok with vegetables, which then steam and go limp instead of staying crunchy. Chef's tip: separate the onion wedges into single petals before they hit the pan, so they char at the edges in under a minute.

45 min

Sri Lankan Chicken

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Djelbana (Algerian lamb and pea stew)

Spring markets in Algiers fill with sacks of fresh peas and violet artichokes, and that is the moment for djelbana, a light, pale stew of lamb, peas, artichoke hearts and potatoes cooked with onion, garlic and a little turmeric, finished with fresh coriander. Families serve it at lunch with plenty of bread to soak up the sauce; on meat-free days it is made the same way without the lamb. It tastes fresh, sweet and gently peppery rather than heavily spiced. Frozen peas and artichoke hearts are fine out of season. Chef's tip: add the peas only for the last 10 minutes; peas put in with the meat are the usual mistake and turn grey and mushy.

90 min

Algerian Curries

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jaffna crab curry

The shallow lagoons around Jaffna and the islands of Kayts and Delft produce big, sweet mud crabs, and the town's answer to them is a curry so dark and hot that visitors are warned before they order. Jaffna curry powder, heavy with roasted red chilli, coriander and fennel, is fried in sesame oil with onion and garlic, then loosened with tamarind and a little coconut milk so the sauce clings to every crack in the shell. A handful of moringa leaves wilted in at the end adds a grassy note, and the crab is eaten with the hands, sucked from the shell, alongside plain rice or puttu. A frequent misstep is boiling the crab hard for too long, which makes the meat dry and stringy. Chef's tip: crack the claws before cooking so the sauce soaks in and the meat is easy to reach at the table.

60 min

Sri Lankan Fish

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ayamase (ofada green pepper stew)

Ofada rice, the short, fragrant local rice from Ogun State, is almost always served in Lagos with ayamase, a stew so green and so hot it is sometimes called designer stew. Green bell peppers and green scotch bonnets are blended coarse, dried out in the pot, then fried in palm oil that has been bleached clear, with plenty of iru for a deep, funky savouriness. Assorted meat (beef, tripe and cow skin) and boiled eggs are folded in. Watery pepper is the mistake that makes it taste sour and raw, so boil the blended pepper dry before it meets the oil. Chef's tip: bleaching palm oil makes heavy smoke; open the windows, keep the lid nearby and never leave the pot.

120 min

Nigerian Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sri Lankan buryani

At a Sri Lankan Muslim wedding or a Friday gathering in Colombo's Maradana or Kandy's old town, buryani arrives on huge platters, each portion crowned with a leg of chicken, a halved boiled egg, fried cashews and sultanas. It is lighter and more perfumed than most mainland Indian versions, built on chicken marinated in yoghurt and warm spices, layered with long-grain rice, fried onions, mint and rose water, then sealed and steamed so the grains take on the aroma. It is never eaten alone: a sharp mint sambol, a sweet-sour pickle called achcharu and a bowl of raita-like salad are the expected companions. A frequent misstep is boiling the rice fully before layering, which leaves it mushy after the steaming. Chef's tip: drain the rice when it is about 70 percent cooked, still with a firm white core, because it finishes in the steam.

120 min

Sri Lankan Rice & Grains

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Karachi halwaCornflour halwa

Glassy, jewel-bright and chewy like a Turkish delight with more bite, Karachi halwa is the sweet that the city's mithai shops on Saddar and Tariq Road stack in orange, green and red slabs studded with cashews and melon seeds, and it travels well as a gift to family abroad. It is made from cornflour cooked with sugar syrup and lemon until it turns clear, then fed with ghee spoon by spoon until it shines and pulls away from the pan in one elastic mass. Across the border it is called Bombay halwa, and in Pakistan it is a staple for weddings, Eid and Diwali sweet boxes from the Hindu shops of Sindh. Lots of cooks lose their nerve and stop before the halwa has absorbed all the ghee and turned translucent, and it sets cloudy and sticky. Chef's tip: work the halwa with a flat wooden spatula and add the ghee only when the previous spoonful has disappeared; when the ghee starts to leak back out, it is done.

60 min

Pakistani Indian Sweets

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sri Lankan patties

Patties are the short eat that marks a Sri Lankan celebration, made by the hundred for weddings, Avurudu New Year visits and Christmas open houses, and sold warm from bakeries in paper bags. The pastry is the clue to their identity: rich with butter, egg and coconut milk, rolled thin, folded into half-moons and crimped with a fork, then fried until blistered and flaky. Inside is a gently spiced mix of chicken, potato and leeks with a hint of cinnamon, and a vegetable filling of potato, carrot and leek is equally common when guests are vegetarian. It goes wrong when the filling is still warm when it meets the pastry, which then softens, tears and leaks in the oil. Chef's tip: rest the pastry in the fridge for half an hour before rolling, and press the edges with a fork dipped in flour so they seal firmly.

75 min

Sri Lankan Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Karela piazBitter gourd with onions

Bitter gourd divides every family in Punjab, but karela piaz is the version that wins over the doubters: the gourd is salted, squeezed and fried until its edges crisp, then tossed with almost as much browned onion as karela, so the sweetness of the onions softens the bitterness. In Lahore it is a summer dish, a staple of tiffin carriers and home lunches with chapati and a cooling bowl of raita, and some households pack it for long train journeys because it keeps well. The thing most people get wrong is skimping on the onions or rushing them; pale, half-cooked onions leave the dish harsh rather than mellow. Chef's tip: rub the slices with salt and a little turmeric, leave them for 30 minutes, then squeeze hard by the handful, which draws out much of the bitterness before cooking.

70 min

Pakistani Vegetarian

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jamaican pepper shrimp

Drive through Middle Quarters in St Elizabeth and women by the roadside will lean into the car window holding bags of bright red pepper shrimp, calling "pepa swimps!" The river shrimp are boiled whole in a fiery brine of scotch bonnet, pimento, garlic and salt, then left to soak up the heat, and eaten with the fingers, shells and all sucked clean. Large shell-on prawns make a fine substitute. The usual mistake is overboiling, which leaves the shrimp rubbery; they need only a few minutes before steeping off the heat. Discard any shrimp that smell of ammonia or have soft, slimy shells before cooking. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of annatto or paprika gives the deep red colour of the roadside bags.

25 min

Jamaican Fish

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Molasses with tahini

Upper Egypt grows the country's sugarcane, and its dark molasses, asal eswed or black honey, has found its way onto breakfast and supper tables from Aswan to Alexandria. Spooned over tahini and swirled together, it becomes a glossy, bittersweet, nutty dip that children love and grown-ups eat after a light evening meal, scooped up with warm aish baladi or fino. Many families eat it in winter, when they want something warming and filling. A frequent slip is stirring the molasses and tahini together completely; leave them swirled so each bite gets both. Chef's tip: stir the tahini jar thoroughly first; the thick paste at the bottom and the oil on top must be mixed, or the dip comes out stiff and dry.

5 min

Egyptian Breakfast & Brunch

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Grilled oscypek with cranberry

Walk down Krupówki street in Zakopane in any season and the smell of smoke and warm cheese leads you to the grills, where highlanders turn thick slices of oscypek until they are striped and soft. The real thing is a spindle-shaped, carved sheep's milk cheese smoked in mountain huts; grilled, it turns chewy and squeaky outside, salty and smoky within, and the sharp-sweet cranberry cuts through it perfectly. Oscypek is made with animal rennet, so for a vegetarian plate use a smoked sheep's or cow's cheese made with vegetarian rennet, firm enough to hold its shape. The usual slip is slicing too thin; the cheese then melts through the grill. Chef's tip: oil the pan, not the cheese, and don't move the slices until they release on their own.

15 min

Polish Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Rouz jerbi (Djerban steamed rice)

Djerba islanders cook rice the way the rest of Tunisia cooks couscous, in the top of a couscoussier: raw rice is mixed with small pieces of lamb, chopped spinach, a mound of herbs, chickpeas, tomato paste, harissa and spices, then steamed over boiling water until every grain is tender and stained red-gold. Rouz jerbi is a Friday and family-gathering dish on the island, served from one large platter. The rice stays separate and fluffy, the greens melt in, and the lamb picks up the scent of mint and tabil. Chef's tip: stir the rice from the bottom every 20 minutes; leaving it untouched is a common mistake, as the bottom turns soggy while the top stays hard.

100 min

Tunisian Rice & Grains

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chorbet hout (Sfax fish soup)

Along the coast around Sfax, a bowl of chorbet hout often opens the meal at Ramadan iftar, after dates and water: a red, peppery broth of tomato, harissa and caraway, thick with tiny bird's-tongue pasta and flakes of white fish, finished with a squeeze of lemon. Grouper, sea bream or mullet are the local choices, and any firm white fish works. The soup is warming and spicy with a fresh lift from parsley and celery, and goes well with bread and a brik. Chef's tip: poach the fish briefly, lift it out and only return the flakes at the end; leaving it to boil with the pasta is the common mistake, and it breaks into threads.

50 min

Tunisian Soups

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Osban (Tunisian stuffed lamb sausages)

Eid al-Adha in Tunisia means using every part of the sheep, and osban is how the tripe is honoured: cleaned pieces are sewn into pouches and packed with rice, chopped liver and lamb, chard, a big bunch of parsley and coriander, dried mint and harissa, then simmered in a red chickpea sauce and served over couscous. Families all over the country, from Tunis to the south, make a batch and freeze some for later. The filling cooks into a soft, herby, peppery sausage and the tripe turns tender. Buy tripe that the butcher has already cleaned and scalded, or use natural sausage casings for an easier version. Chef's tip: fill the pouches only two-thirds full and prick them with a needle; the rice swells as it cooks, and overstuffed osban burst, which is the most common mistake.

180 min

Tunisian Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Cabbage with peas

Of the twelve dishes on a Polish Christmas Eve table, this is the humblest and often the one people go back to for seconds. Sour, tangy sauerkraut is braised slowly with yellow split peas until the peas collapse into a soft, savoury mash that binds the cabbage, with dried mushrooms and golden onion for depth. Serve it warm next to pierogi or potatoes, and know that it tastes even better reheated the next day. The usual slip is adding salt before the peas are cooked, which keeps them hard; season only at the end, as the sauerkraut is salty anyway. Chef's tip: if your sauerkraut is very sour, rinse it once and squeeze it, keeping a little juice to adjust the sharpness later.

90 min

Polish Vegetarian

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kandahari tikkaGrilled lamb chunks

Kandahar's tikka houses pride themselves on doing very little to the meat: chunks of lamb, threaded on wide iron skewers with small pieces of tail fat between them, are rubbed with grated onion, salt and black pepper and grilled over fierce charcoal until the fat drips and flares. The result is smoky, juicy and peppery, with crisp edges and a clean lamb flavour, and it is served on hot naan with raw onion, tomato and a sharp green chutney. Over-marinating in onion is a common misstep, as the juice softens the surface into mush after a day; two to four hours is plenty. Chef's tip: let the skewers rest for 2 minutes on the naan before eating, so the bread soaks up the juices.

27 min

Afghan Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kammounia (Tunisian cumin beef stew)

Cumin, kammoun in Arabic, gives kammounia its name, and the dish uses it boldly: chunks of beef, or in many Tunis homes lamb's liver, simmer in a thick, dark sauce of garlic, tomato paste and a generous amount of ground cumin until the meat is tender and the sauce clings to it. It is everyday family food in Tunis and Sfax, scooped up with crusty bread or served alongside a salad and olives. The flavour is earthy, warm and garlicky with a gentle heat from harissa. The usual mistake is adding the cumin at the start and frying it hard, which makes it bitter; it goes in once the sauce is simmering. Chef's tip: add half the cumin at the start and the rest in the last 10 minutes; all of it at once risks a flat, slightly bitter sauce, while the late addition keeps the aroma bright.

90 min

Tunisian Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bkaila (Tunisian spinach and beef stew)

Tunisian Jewish families in Tunis, and those who carried the dish to Paris and Israel, cook bkaila for Rosh Hashanah and for Friday-night dinners: a heap of spinach is fried in olive oil for over an hour, until it shrinks to a dark, almost black, crumbly paste, then simmered for hours with chunks of beef, white beans, garlic and dried mint. The result looks dramatic and tastes deep and earthy, a little like a long-braised green sauce, with tender meat and creamy beans. It is eaten with couscous or bread, and is even better reheated the next day. Start the beans soaking the night before. Chef's tip: fry the spinach over a medium-low heat and stir often; turning up the heat to save time is the classic mistake, scorching the leaves so the whole pot turns bitter.

240 min

Tunisian Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fried vendace

Sielawa, the small silvery whitefish of the deep Masurian lakes, is a holiday treat in Mikołajki, Giżycko and the lakeside fish huts, sold freshly fried on paper plates with a lemon wedge and a slice of bread. The fish are so slender that, once floured and fried in butter, the fine bones become soft enough to eat and the skin turns golden and crunchy around sweet, delicate flesh. A cold cucumber salad or chips are the usual companions. Overcrowding the pan is the chief error: the fish steam instead of frying and the coating goes pale and soggy. If vendace is hard to find, smelt, small whiting or sprats work the same way. Chef's tip: dry the fish properly before flouring and fry in two batches, adding a little fresh butter and oil each time so it never burns.

25 min

Polish Fish

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Smoked eel

Fish smokehouses dot the shores of the Great Masurian Lakes, and an eel hot-smoked over alder, golden-skinned and glistening, is the prize of any summer trip to Węgorzewo or Ruciane-Nida. The flesh is rich, soft and smoky-sweet, and it is eaten cold on rye bread with grated horseradish and a squeeze of lemon. European wild eel is endangered, so buy farmed eel from a responsible fishmonger, ready gutted. This is a fully hot-smoked version: the fish is brined in the fridge and cooked through in the smoker. Smoked fish can carry listeria if it is not cooked through or kept cold, so it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system unless reheated until steaming. Many home smokers run the heat too low throughout, which leaves the eel smoky but undercooked. Chef's tip: ready hot-smoked eel from a lakeside smokehouse is the easy route; just serve it well chilled with the same garnishes.

240 min

Polish Fish

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fried Christmas carp

For many Polish families, Wigilia, the meatless Christmas Eve supper, is not complete without fried carp, bought live from market tanks in mid-December or, more often today, cleaned and cut into steaks at the fishmonger. The steaks are salted, floured and fried until the skin crisps and the white flesh turns sweet and juicy. Serve with boiled potatoes, sauerkraut with peas, or simply bread and a lemon wedge, after the beetroot barszcz. Keeping a scale from the Christmas carp in your wallet is said to bring money all year. Carp has a reputation for tasting muddy, and the usual culprit is skipping the salting and resting time. Ask the fishmonger to score the steaks finely so the small Y-shaped bones soften as they fry. Chef's tip: salt the steaks and leave them in the fridge for 20 minutes, then pat completely dry; the flesh firms up and the flour clings in a thin, even crust.

40 min

Polish Fish

by KrazyBadal 0 views

BulzPolenta balls with sheep's cheese

Shepherds in the Apuseni mountains and the sheepfolds above Sibiu made bulz from what they had in the hut: stiff mămăligă pressed in the hand around a lump of salty sheep's cheese, then pushed into the embers until the outside crisped and the cheese melted. At home it bakes in the oven and comes out with a golden shell and a molten, tangy middle, usually with a spoon of sour cream and sometimes a fried egg on top. Telemea, brânză de burduf and caș are often made with animal rennet, so for a vegetarian bulz use a feta-style or other salty white cheese labelled vegetarian. The usual slip is cooking the mămăligă too soft, so the balls slump and leak; it should be thick enough to hold a wooden spoon upright. Chef's tip: wet your hands with cold water before shaping so the hot cornmeal does not stick.

45 min

Romanian Vegetarian

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pumpkin millet porridge

Autumn in central Ukraine means piles of grey-skinned pumpkins in every yard, and the first thing many grandmothers make with them is this golden breakfast porridge. Diced pumpkin is simmered until it collapses, then millet and milk are added and the pot is left to cook down into something thick, creamy and faintly sweet, finished with butter and a spoon of honey. In villages around Cherkasy and Vinnytsia it was once baked for hours in the clay stove; a heavy pan on a low heat gives a very similar result. Serve it hot in deep bowls, with extra honey and a few raisins for children. The usual slip is skipping the rinse: millet carries a bitter dust, and only washing it in several changes of hot water takes it away. Chef's tip: choose a dense, deep-orange pumpkin such as butternut or a Ukrainian 'muscat' type; watery Halloween pumpkins make a thin, pale kasha.

50 min

Ukrainian Breakfast & Brunch

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Djouzia (walnut and honey nougat)

Shops in old Constantine wrap djouzia in twists of paper and sell it by weight, a soft, pale caramel-coloured nougat of honey, whipped egg white and plenty of walnuts. It is chewier and darker than white Provençal nougat, with a deep honey flavour and the slight bitterness of walnut skins. Djouzia is a gift sweet, carried to weddings and offered with coffee to visitors, and keeps for weeks. A sugar thermometer makes it reliable. Chef's tip: cook the honey syrup to 125 °C; syrup that is pulled off too early is the most common mistake, and the nougat stays sticky and will not set enough to cut.

55 min

Algerian Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jamaican green banana porridge

Green banana porridge is the breakfast many Jamaicans remember from their grandmothers' kitchens in St Mary and St Ann, where bananas are cheap and plentiful and the porridge was said to "build you up" for the day. Unripe bananas grated or blended with water cook into a smooth, silky porridge with a gentle, earthy flavour, sweetened with condensed milk and scented with nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla. The common mistake is not whisking as it heats; the starch thickens suddenly and goes lumpy within a minute. Peel the green bananas with oiled hands or gloves, because the sap stains. Chef's tip: blend the bananas with the water until completely smooth before they go into the pot, which makes it far easier to keep lump-free.

30 min

Jamaican Breakfast & Brunch

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Trini curry duck

Curry duck is the dish of the riverside lime in south and central Trinidad, cooked in a big iron pot over a wood fire while friends cool off in the water. The duck is chopped small, marinated in green seasoning, then "burnt" into a curry paste fried until almost black, which gives the sauce its dark colour and deep, slightly bitter edge. It's served with rice, dhal and sada or paratha roti. A common mistake is serving it before the duck has fully broken down: duck is chewy and needs long, slow cooking. Chef's tip: spoon off the yellow duck fat that rises during cooking and keep it for roasting potatoes.

130 min

Trinidadian Curries

by KrazyBadal 0 views

CervelatGrilled sausage

The cervelat, a short, fat, smoked sausage of beef and pork, is called Switzerland's national sausage, and it is what every Swiss child grills on a stick over a campfire on 1 August, National Day, on school trips and on mountain hikes: the ends are cut into a cross so they curl open like a flower as they cook, and it is eaten with bread and mustard. This sausage contains pork. Cervelat is bought ready-cooked and smoked; grilling heats it through and crisps it. A common mistake is grilling over flames, which burns the skin black before the inside is hot. Chef's tip: grill over glowing embers and turn often until the scored ends open out; heat until piping hot, 71 °C.

15 min

Swiss Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

KanchembaFried buckwheat fingers

In the Thakali villages of Thak Khola, kanchemba is what is fried when visitors arrive in the afternoon or when the family gathers on a winter evening, and it has since become a favourite snack in Thakali restaurants in Pokhara and Kathmandu. The buckwheat dough is seasoned with turmeric, chilli and a little onion, rolled into thick fingers, then deep-fried until crunchy outside and soft and nutty in the centre. A punchy dipping achar of tomato, chilli, garlic and roasted timur comes alongside, and the pair is eaten with a bowl of salty butter tea or a glass of hot water. The trouble usually starts when the fingers are too thick, so the middle stays pasty while the outside darkens. Chef's tip: keep the fingers no thicker than your own, and fry at a moderate heat so they cook through before they brown.

40 min

Nepali Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Date squares

Date squares are on the tea table in every Canadian church hall and school bake sale, called carrés aux dattes in Quebec and matrimonial cake in the West. A buttery oat crumble is pressed into a tin, spread with a soft date filling and covered with more crumble, then baked until golden. They keep for days and freeze well. A common mistake is spreading the dates while hot onto loose crumb, which makes the base soggy; press the base firmly. Chef's tip: add a strip of orange zest to the dates for a brighter flavour.

60 min

Canadian Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mors

Northern Russia picks cranberries and lingonberries from the bogs in autumn, and many of them end up as mors, a tart, crimson drink served from a jug at family dinners and offered in cafes and canteens from Arkhangelsk to Siberia. Unlike kissel it is thin and refreshing, made by pressing out the raw berry juice, cooking the skins in water and then combining the two so the fresh vitamin-rich juice is never boiled. Honey goes in last, once the liquid has cooled a little, to keep its flavour. Where most people go wrong is boiling the pressed juice along with the pulp; keep it aside until the end. Honey is not for babies under one year old. Chef's tip: serve it cold with ice in summer or warmed gently in winter; it is good both ways.

20 min

Russian Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Salted saffron milk caps

Northern Russians rank ryzhiki, the orange saffron milk caps of the pine woods, above almost every other mushroom, and salted ones from around Arkhangelsk once travelled to the tsar's table. Salted, they keep their bright colour, turn firm and juicy with a clean, resinous taste, and are served with thin onion rings, sunflower oil and hot boiled potatoes; for non-vegans a spoon of sour cream is classic. Old cellars dry-salted them raw for months; this safer fridge version blanches the caps briefly and keeps them in a measured brine in the fridge, ready in about a week. Only use mushrooms identified by an experienced forager or bought from a trusted seller. Where most people go wrong is guessing the salt; too little lets spoilage start, so weigh it. Chef's tip: the caps bruise green where handled, which is normal, so don't worry when the edges darken.

30 min

Russian Basics

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kancha aamer tok dalGreen mango lentil dal

When the first hard, green mangoes fall from the trees around Rajshahi in April and May, cooks slice them into the dal pot, and the result is the most refreshing bowl of the hot season. Tok dal is deliberately thin, almost like a soup, with soft red lentils and slices of green mango that turn tender and tangy, finished with mustard seed and dried chilli crackling in mustard oil. It is eaten poured over plain rice, often as the last thing before a light fish or vegetable curry, because the sourness is meant to cool the body in the heat. Adding the mango at the start leaves it mushy and the dal overly sour, so it goes in once the lentils are soft. Chef's tip: taste the mango first; very sour fruit may need a pinch more sugar to balance it.

35 min

Bangladeshi Curries

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Eggplant rolls

Every birthday buffet in Russian flats seems to have a plate of these little rolls, brought out with the herring and the salads: thin strips of fried aubergine wrapped around a sharp garlic and cheese filling with a slice of tomato peeking out. The aubergine is silky, the filling creamy and punchy, and the tomato keeps it fresh. They are a cold starter, so make them an hour before guests arrive and keep them chilled. Where most people go wrong is frying thick slices in lots of oil, which leaves them greasy and stiff; slice thin, salt them, pat dry and fry in a shallow film of oil. Many hard cheeses use animal rennet, so pick a vegetarian one. Chef's tip: press the fried slices between paper towels while still warm; they shed surprising amounts of oil.

40 min

Russian Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Beet salad with garlic

Grated beetroot with garlic is about as everyday as Russian cooking gets: something from the school canteen, the work buffet and the Sunday table alike, served in a small bowl beside cutlets, boiled potatoes or black bread. This dressed-up version adds chopped prunes for sticky sweetness and toasted walnuts for crunch, all bound with a spoon of mayonnaise. It tastes earthy, sweet and bright with garlic. Buy ready-cooked beetroot (not pickled) to keep it a fifteen-minute job, or boil your own the day before. The usual slip is grating the beetroot fine and leaving it in its juice, which makes the salad watery and purple-grey; grate coarsely and squeeze lightly first. For a lighter dish use thick yoghurt or sour cream in place of mayonnaise. Chef's tip: toast the walnuts; raw ones taste bitter against the beet.

15 min

Russian Salads

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vitamin salad

"Vitamin" salad was the bright spot on every Soviet stolovaya tray, scooped from a steel tray beside the cutlets and buckwheat, and it is still how many Russians start a light lunch. Fresh white cabbage, carrot and green apple are rubbed with salt and sugar, then dressed simply with sunflower oil and vinegar, so it tastes crisp, juicy and sweet-sour. It goes with almost anything hot and is a good way to use half a cabbage. A common mistake is skipping the squeeze: crushing the cabbage with salt for a minute or two softens it and draws out juice that becomes part of the dressing. Grate the apple last so it does not brown. Chef's tip: unrefined, toasted-seed sunflower oil gives the true canteen flavour; a splash goes a long way.

15 min

Russian Salads

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Smoked omul

On the shingle beaches of Listvyanka, at the edge of Lake Baikal, women sell omul still warm from the smoke, the fish split open, threaded onto alder sticks and set around a fire until the skin turns bronze and the flesh pulls away in moist, salty flakes. Omul lives only in Baikal, so at home use small whitefish, trout or mackerel, gutted and split. A short brine in the fridge seasons the fish, then it is hot-smoked in a kettle barbecue or a lidded smoker until cooked right through. Serve it warm or cold with boiled potatoes, black bread and spring onions. The usual slip is smoking over flames rather than smouldering chips, which chars the skin before the inside is done. Chef's tip: let the brined fish dry in the fridge, uncovered, for an hour: the tacky surface takes the smoke far better.

120 min

Russian Fish

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pomor-style cod

Along the White Sea coast near Arkhangelsk, the Pomors lived on cod, and this is how a fisherman's household turned a fillet into a whole supper: fish laid over sliced potatoes and buttery onions, then covered with beaten egg and milk and baked until set and golden, like a savoury fish custard. It is soft, mild and filling, and is eaten with pickled mushrooms, sauerkraut or a green salad. Where most people go wrong is using raw potato slices, which take far longer than the fish; par-boil them first. Chef's tip: salt the cod lightly 15 minutes ahead in the fridge, it firms up and does not leak water into the egg.

50 min

Russian Fish

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Herring with potatoes

This is the simplest and best-loved Russian zakuska, on every table from a Moscow kitchen to a Siberian railway compartment: fillets of salted herring with steaming boiled potatoes, rings of raw onion, dill and a drizzle of unrefined sunflower oil that smells of toasted seeds. The contrast of cold, silky fish and hot, floury potato is the whole point, and black bread goes alongside. Salted herring is cured but not cooked, so buy ready-salted fillets from a good fishmonger or deli (made from previously frozen fish), keep them in the fridge, and note that it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. A common mistake is serving the herring straight from very salty brine; taste it and soak it in milk or cold water first if needed. Chef's tip: use unrefined sunflower oil, its nutty smell is what makes the dish.

30 min

Russian Fish

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mimosa salad

Named for the fluffy yellow mimosa flowers sold on every Moscow street corner for Women's Day on 8 March, this Soviet-era party salad is crowned with a snowfall of grated egg yolk. Underneath are layers of tinned salmon or saury, potato, carrot, onion and egg white, each with a little mayonnaise, so a spoonful is soft, rich and gently fishy. It is made ahead for birthdays and holidays and served chilled. Use shop-bought mayonnaise, which is made with pasteurised egg. A common mistake is mashing the fish with all its oil, which makes the bottom layer soggy. Chef's tip: grate the yolk straight over the salad at the very end, on the finest side of the grater, for the fluffiest flowers.

60 min

Russian Salads

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Maple syrup pie

Tarte au sirop d'érable closes many a family meal in Quebec at Easter and through the sugaring season, a cousin of the sugar pie made with real maple syrup. The filling of syrup, cream and egg bakes into a soft, trembling, caramel-brown layer that tastes deeply of maple. Slice it thin; it is rich. A spoonful of crème fraîche or plain whipped cream cuts the sweetness. A common mistake is skipping the blind bake, which leaves a soggy base. Chef's tip: take the pie out while the centre still wobbles like jelly; it sets as it cools and over-baking makes it weep.

70 min

Canadian Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Skyr

Skyr has been made in Iceland since the Viking settlers arrived: skimmed milk soured with a spoonful of the last batch, set with a drop of rennet, then strained until very thick, high in protein and mildly sour. Icelanders eat it every day with milk or cream and berries, or whisked into a drink, and skyrkaka is a favourite cheesecake. You need a few spoonfuls of plain shop skyr with live cultures as a starter. A common mistake is skipping the long, slow set; rushed skyr is thin and grainy. Chef's tip: strain it in the fridge overnight and stir it smooth before serving. Rennet is traditionally animal; use vegetarian rennet.

50 minScandinavian Basics

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Grenadian nutmeg ice cream

Grenada, the Spice Isle, grows much of the world's nutmeg, and in St George's ice cream parlours the local favourite is a rich egg-custard ice cream scented with freshly grated nutmeg. The flavour is warm and almost floral, nothing like the dusty jar spice, and it is lovely with fried plantain or a slice of black cake. The common mistake is overheating the custard so the eggs scramble; take it off the heat as soon as it coats a spoon. Chef's tip: grate the nutmeg straight into the hot milk and let it steep for 20 minutes before making the custard, so the flavour runs all the way through.

40 minCaribbean Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kancha gollaFresh cheese balls with cardamom

Natore, a quiet district town north of the Padma, is known throughout Bangladesh for one sweet, and a visit there is incomplete without a clay pot of kanchagolla to carry home. Kancha means raw, and the name is a joke at the sweet's expense: unlike rasgulla or chomchom, it is never boiled in syrup but simply kneaded fresh chhana with sugar, warmed in a pan for a few minutes and rolled into soft balls scented with cardamom. The texture is moist and faintly grainy, the taste milky and gently sweet, best eaten within a day or two. Cooking the mixture too long is what most home cooks get wrong; it turns dry and crumbly, more like sandesh. Chef's tip: make the chhana from full-fat milk and squeeze it only lightly, so plenty of moisture stays in for that melting Natore texture.

60 min

Bangladeshi Indian Sweets

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lac-Saint-Jean blueberry pie

Around Lac-Saint-Jean in Quebec the low wild blueberries ripen in August, and the region is so proud of them that locals are nicknamed bleuets. Every church supper and roadside casse-croûte there sells a deep tarte aux bleuets with a flaky top crust and a dark, jammy filling that holds when sliced. Wild berries are smaller and more intense than cultivated ones and frozen wild berries work well. Serve slightly warm with vanilla ice cream or a jug of cream. A common mistake is skimping on the cornflour, which leaves a soupy filling. Chef's tip: let the pie cool for at least three hours so the juices set; cut it hot and the filling runs all over the plate.

100 min

Canadian Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Maple cream

Crème d'érable is sold in little jars in every Quebec market from Jean-Talon to the Beauce farm stands, and despite the name there is no cream in it: pure maple syrup is boiled to the soft-ball stage, cooled without stirring and then beaten until it turns pale and creamy. It is spread on toast, crêpes and warm bagels. Patience and a thermometer are the whole trick. The common mistake is stirring the syrup while it cools, which sets off large grainy crystals instead of a smooth cream. Chef's tip: use a light, golden syrup; dark syrups taste stronger but can stay runny.

65 min

Canadian Chutneys & Dips

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kancha aam makhaSpiced green mango

Outside every school gate in Bangladesh during the hot months, a vendor with a glass box on his cart sells green mango makha: unripe mango sliced paper-thin and squeezed by hand with salt, sugar, chilli and a splash of mustard oil, handed over in a cone of newspaper with a toothpick. Makha means mixed by hand, and the hand matters, as the squeezing bruises the mango so it softens and drinks in the seasoning. It tastes sour, sweet, salty and hot all at once, with the sharp nose-burn of raw mustard oil, and it is eaten as an afternoon snack in April and May, especially around Pohela Boishakh. Slicing the mango too thick is the error that leaves it hard and bland in the middle. Chef's tip: stir in a spoon of kasundi, Bengali mustard relish, for the version the street sellers call kasundi makha.

10 min

Bangladeshi Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Shoti bread

Every Kakhetian village has a bakery where the baker leans into a round, pit-like tone oven and slaps long, pointed loaves onto its hot clay wall; the bread comes out crackly at the tips and soft in the middle, and it is bought warm every morning in Telavi and Sighnaghi. Shoti is just flour, water, yeast and salt, so the shape and the blast of heat do the work. At home a pizza stone or an upturned heavy baking tray, heated for a long time, gives a good copy. A common mistake is a dry, stiff dough; it should be soft enough to stretch into a long canoe without tearing. Chef's tip: spray the oven walls with water as the bread goes in; the burst of steam gives the blistered, glossy crust of the tone.

50 min

Georgian Breads & Parathas

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kancha kola bhortaGreen banana mash

Green cooking bananas are cheap all year in Bangladeshi markets, and in homes from Comilla to Kushtia they are boiled whole and turned into a pale, gently starchy bhorta that is more filling than it looks. The flesh is mashed while warm with raw onion, green chilli, coriander and a generous splash of mustard oil, so it tastes mild and earthy with a sharp, nose-tingling finish. It is a weekday lunch with rice and dal, food for someone recovering from illness, and a regular on the bhorta platter during the Pohela Boishakh meal. Peeling the bananas before boiling makes them waterlogged and gluey, so they go into the pot in their skins. Chef's tip: mash while still warm; cold green banana goes hard and lumpy and won't absorb the oil.

25 min

Bangladeshi Chutneys & Dips

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jamaican sweet potato pudding

Once baked in Dutch pots with coals heaped on the lid, Jamaica's sweet potato pudding gave rise to the saying "hell a top, hell a bottom, hallelujah in the middle", and it is still a Sunday and Christmas favourite in homes across the island. Grated sweet potato, coconut milk, a little flour-free cornmeal and spice bake into a dense, moist slab with a soft, custardy layer on top. People often cut it hot, but it needs to cool for at least an hour to set. Chef's tip: grate the sweet potato on the fine side of the grater; coarse shreds make a grainy pudding.

110 min

Jamaican Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jamaican pumpkin rice

Along the north coast between Montego Bay and Ocho Rios, pumpkin rice turns up beside escovitch fish and steamed vegetables at Sunday lunch, the soft orange squash melting into the grains as they cook. Coconut milk, a sprig of thyme, scallion and a few pimento berries give it a gentle, savoury sweetness, and a whole scotch bonnet adds fragrance without much heat as long as it stays unburst. The common mistake is cutting the pumpkin too small, so it vanishes completely; 2 cm cubes partly melt and partly hold. Serve it with stew peas, jerk tofu or fried plantain. Chef's tip: rinse the rice until the water runs nearly clear, or the starch and pumpkin turn the pot sticky.

40 min

Jamaican Rice & Grains

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jamaican gungo pea soup

Gungo peas ripen around December, so this soup belongs to the Christmas season in Jamaica, when the same peas also go into the festive rice and peas. Fresh or frozen green pigeon peas give a nutty, earthy broth that coconut milk, thyme and pumpkin turn rich and golden, and flour dumplings make it a meal. A common mistake is boiling the coconut milk hard for the whole time, which makes it split and oily; add it once the peas are soft and keep the pot at a simmer. Dried pigeon peas work too: soak them overnight and allow an extra 40 minutes. Chef's tip: blitz about a quarter of the soup and stir it back in for body while keeping plenty of whole peas.

100 min

Jamaican Soups

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guda cheese

Tush shepherds make guda in summer huts high above the Alazani valley, pressing sheep's-milk curd into bags sewn from sheepskin, where it ripens into a crumbly, pungent cheese that travels down to Telavi markets in autumn. You cannot copy the sheepskin at home, but you can make a firm, salty sheep's-milk cheese and ripen it in a cloth in the fridge for two to three weeks, which gives a similar sharp, grassy bite. Traditionally the milk is set with animal rennet; vegetarian (microbial) rennet works the same way. A common mistake is cutting the curd before it gives a clean break, which leaves a soft, wet cheese that sours instead of ripening. Chef's tip: grate aged guda over hot ghomi or khinkali; its strong flavour goes a long way.

120 min

Georgian Basics

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mushrooms on ketsi

Every Tbilisi tavern has its sizzling ketsi, a shallow clay dish heated on the fire, and mushrooms baked in one with butter and a crust of melted sulguni are among the most ordered starters, brought to the table still crackling. In autumn, Georgian cooks use wild oyster mushrooms or field mushrooms; cups set gills up hold the butter like little bowls. A common mistake is overcrowding the dish, which makes the mushrooms steam instead of browning. Chef's tip: salt the mushrooms only after the first 10 minutes, so their juices stay inside and they cook in their own butter. Sulguni is usually made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian cheese.

25 min

Georgian Vegetarian

by KrazyBadal 0 views

PloyesBuckwheat griddle cakes

Ployes come from the Acadian villages of the Madawaska in north-west New Brunswick, on the border with Maine, where they are eaten at almost every meal in place of bread. The batter of light buckwheat flour, plain flour and baking powder is poured onto a very hot dry griddle and cooked on one side only, until the top is covered in tiny holes. Roll them with butter and molasses, or use them to mop up a stew. Chef's tip: let the batter rest 5 minutes so the bubbles start; without them you get flat pancakes instead of the lacy holes.

20 min

Canadian Breads & Parathas

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tklapi soup

Tklapi are thin sheets of plum purée dried on boards in the late-summer sun around Kutaisi, rolled up and hung from rafters for the winter; dissolved in hot water, they turn into a sharp, fruity base for soups and sauces. This Imeretian Lenten soup is made in the cold months when fresh fruit is gone, thickened with walnuts and lifted with coriander, mint and garlic. If you cannot find tklapi, use dried sour plum leather or a mix of tkemali sauce and prunes. A common mistake is boiling the soup hard after the walnuts go in; they turn oily and the soup splits. Chef's tip: soak the tklapi in hot water first and rub it through a sieve, so the soup is smooth and free of stones or skins.

40 min

Georgian Soups

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Amra chutneyHog plum chutney

Barisal is famous for its amra, the green, tart hog plums that pile up on market stalls from August to October, and every household there turns some of the harvest into a glossy, jammy chutney. The fruit is scored so the jaggery syrup can soak in, then simmered with panch phoron, dried chilli and a little turmeric until the flesh is soft around the hard, spiny stone. Sweet, sour and gently hot, it is served at the end of a wedding feast or a festive lunch, a spoonful eaten with the last of the rice, and children suck the stones clean. Cooking it too hard reduces the syrup to toffee once it cools, so stop while it still runs off the spoon. Chef's tip: if you can't find hog plums, sour green plums or a firm green mango cut into chunks make a good stand-in.

40 min

Bangladeshi Chutneys & Dips

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bak chor meeMinced pork noodles

Queue at almost any Teochew noodle stall in a Singapore kopitiam before work and the order you hear most is a bowl of bak chor mee, dry, with extra vinegar. Springy flat mee pok is tossed at the bottom of the bowl in black vinegar, chilli paste, soy and a spoon of pork lard, then crowned with loosely poached minced pork, slices of pork liver, fish balls and sweet braised mushrooms, with a small bowl of clear pork soup on the side. It should taste sour first, then hot, then rich, and the noodles must stay bouncy rather than soft. Where most home cooks go wrong is cooking the noodles in one long boil: they turn limp and soak up the sauce instead of carrying it. Chef's tip: blanch the noodles twice, plunging them into cold water in between, which is how the hawkers get that al dente snap.

45 min

Singaporean Pasta & Noodles

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fondue chinoise

Despite its name, fondue chinoise is a fixture of the Swiss Christmas and New Year table: a pot of simmering broth set on a burner in the middle of the table, into which everyone dips paper-thin slices of beef on long forks, cooks them for a few seconds and eats them with a spread of sauces, rice or potato chips, pickles and salads. It came to Switzerland via travellers to Asia in the 20th century. The broth is often made with white wine; this one uses stock only. A common mistake is slicing the meat thick, which takes too long and tightens. Chef's tip: half-freeze the beef for an hour so it slices paper-thin. Cook each slice until no longer pink, then eat; never use the same fork for raw and cooked meat.

45 min

Swiss Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Svanetian salt

In the stone-towered villages of upper Svaneti, salt was precious and families stretched it by grinding it with garlic and the spices that grow on their slopes: blue fenugreek, coriander seed, dried dill seed, marigold and hot pepper. The result is a fragrant, damp, greenish salt that every Svan kitchen keeps in a jar, rubbed on potatoes, stirred into soups or sprinkled on tomatoes and cucumbers. A common mistake is using fine table salt, which turns to paste; coarse salt grinds the garlic and dries it at the same time. Chef's tip: spread the finished salt on a tray and let it dry for a day before jarring, so it keeps for months.

20 min

Georgian Basics

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bein montJaggery coconut rice pancake

When the November nights cool down for the Tazaungdaing festival, food stalls outside pagodas in Yangon and Mandalay start cooking bein mont in small, lidded iron pans with embers piled on top, so the cake bakes from above and below at once. The batter is rice flour sweetened with dark jaggery, so it cooks into a thick, springy, brown pancake with a crisp base, studded on top with shreds of coconut and sliced peanuts; some vendors still scatter poppy seeds, the bein that may have given the snack its name. It is eaten warm in wedges with hot green tea. High heat is what usually goes wrong: the base scorches while the centre stays raw, so keep the flame low and the lid on. Chef's tip: a small cast-iron pan finished under the grill copies the charcoal top heat at home.

45 min

Burmese Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Imeretian cheese

Imeruli kveli is the everyday cheese of western Georgia: in Kutaisi's Green Bazaar it sits in wet white wheels, mild and milky with a faint sourness, ready to be grated into khachapuri, sliced with tomatoes and herbs, or stretched into sulguni. Families in Imereti make it in a morning from the day's milk. Traditionally it is set with animal rennet; use vegetarian (microbial) rennet for a vegetarian cheese. A common mistake is heating the curd too hard, which squeezes out the moisture and gives a rubbery cheese instead of a soft, springy one. Chef's tip: make a double batch, keep one wheel fresh for eating and leave the other in brine for two or three days, which gives it the saltier bite that bakers prefer for khachapuri.

70 min

Georgian Basics

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Barley water

Ask for 'barley' at any drinks stall in a Singapore kopitiam and you get a tall glass of cloudy, faintly sweet barley water, the drink older relatives swear by on the hottest afternoons because it is said to cool the body. Home cooks simmer pearl barley for an hour with knotted pandan leaves, and in Teochew and Cantonese households chunks of winter melon go in as well for a gentle, cucumber-like sweetness. The result is light and clean, ideal beside a plate of chicken rice, char kway teow or anything greasy and salty. The usual mistake is boiling it hard, which turns the liquid starchy and slimy instead of smooth and pale; keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: don't throw away the softened barley grains; spoon some into each glass, as the stalls do, or eat them warm with a little rock sugar as a light dessert.

65 min

Singaporean Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tarragon lemonade

Tarkhuna is the emerald-green soda that every Tbilisi child knows, sold from street fountains since the early 1900s and still poured in tall glasses at cafés on Rustaveli Avenue. The bottled kind is coloured; the home version gets its green from blitzing fresh tarragon with lemon and syrup, giving an aniseedy, sweet-sour fizz. A common mistake is boiling the tarragon, which dulls the colour and turns the flavour stewed. Chef's tip: blitz the herb into cool syrup and strain it straight away; the drink stays vivid green for a day in the fridge.

20 min

Georgian Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

KamaRoasted grain flour with kefir

Kama is a uniquely Estonian food: a fine flour of roasted barley, rye, oats and peas, sold in every Tallinn supermarket, stirred into kefir, buttermilk or yogurt with a little sugar or honey and berries. It was once farmers' food for the fields; today it is a fast, filling breakfast and the flavour of Estonian ice creams and sweets. If you can't find kama, roast equal parts barley, rye and oat flour with a little pea flour in a dry pan until nutty. A common mistake is eating it at once; give it a few minutes to thicken. Chef's tip: stir in the kama, leave for 5 minutes, then add the berries, so it thickens like a mousse.

5 minBaltic Breakfast & Brunch

by KrazyBadal 0 views

KapamaPork, chicken and sauerkraut feast pot

In the stone houses of Bansko, beneath the Pirin mountains, kapama is the dish of the winter holidays, carried to the table in its clay pot at Christmas, New Year and the masked Kukeri carnival. Pork shoulder, chicken on the bone and fresh pork sausage are layered with sauerkraut, rice and paprika, then sealed and baked for hours until the meat falls apart and the rice has soaked up the tangy, smoky juices. Old cooks seal the lid with a rope of dough; this version uses foil under a tight lid, which keeps it gluten free. Serve with extra sauerkraut and pickled peppers. The usual slip is lifting the lid too often, which lets out the steam and dries the top layer. Chef's tip: taste a strand of the sauerkraut first and rinse it only if it is very salty; its sourness is the backbone of the dish.

295 min

Bulgarian Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jamaican red pea soup

Saturday in many Jamaican homes means a big pot of red peas soup, thick enough to stand a spoon in and finished with chewy spinner dumplings. Outside Rasta households it usually carries pig's tail or salted beef; this is the ital version, where coconut milk, pimento, thyme and a smoky handful of browned onion do the savoury work. Dried kidney beans must be soaked and then boiled hard for at least 10 minutes before simmering, as undercooked red kidney beans are toxic, and many cooks spoil the soup by adding salt too early, which keeps the skins tough. Serve it on its own as a full meal. Chef's tip: mash a ladleful of cooked beans against the side of the pot near the end to give the soup its creamy body without any flour.

140 min

Jamaican Soups

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jamaican soursop juice

Soursop punch is a Sunday-dinner drink in Jamaica, made when a ripe, soft soursop comes from the market or a yard tree, and it is also sold in bottles at roadside juice stands. The white, custardy pulp tastes of pineapple, banana and strawberry all at once, and blended with milk, nutmeg and vanilla it becomes thick and creamy. The common mistake is blending the black seeds, which taste bitter and should not be eaten; always pick them out by hand. Chef's tip: use a fruit that gives softly all over when pressed, like a ripe avocado.

20 min

Jamaican Drinks

by KrazyBadal 0 views

AasmiFried rice flour nests with syrup

Aasmi is the most delicate sweet on the Sinhala New Year table, a crisp, cream-coloured nest of tangled rice threads drizzled with pink syrup, and making it is a skill that village women in the Kandy and Kurunegala districts are rightly proud of. The batter gets its unique, almost glassy crispness from the slippery sap of davul kurundu leaves, a wild relative of laurel sometimes sold dried or frozen in Sri Lankan shops, which binds the rice flour and coconut milk. It is poured in a fine stream into hot oil to form a lace, folded while still soft and fried until crisp but still pale, then decorated with lines of thick sugar syrup. If you cannot find the leaves, a little tapioca starch helps the batter hold, but the lace will be softer. The usual error is frying until golden: aasmi should stay pale cream, so keep the oil moderate. Chef's tip: test the batter with one thread first; it should fall in a smooth, unbroken stream.

100 min

Sri Lankan Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

AboboiBambara beans in palm oil

Bambara beans, round and speckled, are one of West Africa's oldest crops, and in Accra they become aboboi: simmered for a long time until creamy, then finished in red palm oil fried with onion and pepper. Street sellers dish it out in the evening, often with gari sprinkled on top for crunch and sometimes with fried fish; this version keeps it meat-free and lets the earthy, chestnut-like beans shine. It is filling, protein-rich and costs little. Dried Bambara beans are sold in African and Asian shops; black-eyed beans cook faster if you cannot find them. Don't add salt before the beans are soft, or the skins stay hard however long they cook. Chef's tip: soak the beans overnight and use a pressure cooker if you have one, as unsoaked Bambara beans can take three hours and still stay hard, which is the most common disappointment.

125 min

Ghanaian Vegetarian

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Singapore breakfast fried bee hoon

Before office hours in Toa Payoh or Ang Mo Kio, the economy-rice stalls already have a steel tray of pale-brown fried bee hoon on the counter, and people point at it, then add a side or two from the trays beside it: a fried egg, fried tofu, braised cabbage, a curry potato. The noodles themselves are kept deliberately simple, springy and lightly savoury from soy sauce, threaded with cabbage, carrot and crunchy bean sprouts, then finished with a spoon of sambal chilli. Because it is plain, every strand needs to be seasoned evenly and still separate. The usual mistake is over-soaking the vermicelli, which then clumps and breaks in the wok; soak it only until bendy. Chef's tip: toss the noodles with tongs or chopsticks in a lifting motion rather than stirring with a spatula, so the soy coats every strand without breaking it.

25 min

Singaporean Pasta & Noodles

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Salt and pepper squid

Late at night in Temple Street, or at a seafood restaurant on Lamma Island after a ferry ride, someone at the table always orders the jiu yim squid: tender pieces under a thin, shattering coat, wok-tossed with a heap of fried garlic, chilli and spring onion and showered with a peppery spiced salt. It is crunchy, salty and a little fiery, ideal with a cold soft drink or as one of several dishes with rice. Squid cooks in seconds. The most frequent mistake is crowding the oil, which drops its temperature so the coating turns soggy and the squid goes rubbery while you wait; fry in small batches. Chef's tip: score the inside of the squid in a criss-cross pattern so it curls up and catches more of the salt.

25 min

Hong Kong Fish

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 72 of 7,762 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 222 of 863