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Sayur lodeh

Sayur lodeh is everyday cooking in Central Java, made in big pots in Solo and Semarang kitchens and ladled over rice, with lontong rice cakes at Lebaran, or alongside opor and sambal goreng on festive tables. It's soupy rather than thick: a fragrant broth of coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass and lime leaf that carries chunks of aubergine, long beans, chayote and sweetcorn, plus tempeh and tofu to make it a meal. The flavour is mellow and slightly sweet, so the heat comes from sambal on the side. Chef's tip: keep the pot at a gentle simmer once the coconut milk goes in and stir now and then — a rolling boil splits the coconut milk into oily curds.

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Rajasthani kalmi vada

Kalmi vada gets its name from kalam, the Hindi word for pen: the fried chana-dal log is sliced into thin, slanted pieces that resemble pen nibs, then fried again until the slices are crunchy right through. In Jaipur and Ajmer, kalmi vadas are sold by weight from big trays, especially during the monsoon, and served with mint chutney and hot tea. The dal is ground coarse and spiced with whole coriander, fennel and chilli, so every bite crackles. The mistake to avoid is adding water when grinding; a wet mix won't hold its shape and absorbs oil. Chef's tip: let the first-fried logs cool completely before slicing, or they'll crumble under the knife.

55 min

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Peking duck (home style)

Beijing's famous roast duck is a banquet showpiece, carved at the table in restaurants near Qianmen and eaten in thin wheat pancakes with sticks of cucumber, spring onion and a smear of sweet bean sauce. Restaurants use hanging ovens and inflate the skin with air; at home a scald with boiling water, a sweet vinegar glaze and a night uncovered in the fridge get you most of the way there. The prize is the lacquered, glass-crisp skin, with the meat underneath still juicy. Serve it as the centrepiece of a family feast, followed by a simple soup made from the carcass. Chef's tip: dry the duck uncovered on a rack in the fridge for at least 12 hours; a dry skin is the whole secret.

240 min

Chinese Meat

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Mewari makki ki kadhi

In the Mewar region around Udaipur, maize is a staple crop, and in winter it even goes into kadhi. Instead of gram flour, cooks thicken sour buttermilk with fine maize flour, which gives a golden, slightly earthy, gently sweet kadhi with no pakoras in it. It is ladled over makki ki roti or bajra roti, or eaten with plain rice and a raw onion on the side. The tadka is simple but bold: ghee, cumin, fenugreek, crushed garlic and whole red chillies. The usual mistake is not stirring until it boils—the yogurt splits into curds and whey. Chef's tip: simmer it longer than you would a besan kadhi, at least 20 minutes, until no raw corn taste remains.

45 min

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Mageu

Mageu (also amahewu or mahewu) is a thin, sour, nourishing drink of fermented maize porridge, made in homes across Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zambia and Botswana and drunk by farm workers, schoolchildren and anyone needing a filling lift on a hot afternoon. A little wheat flour or a spoonful of the last batch starts the fermentation overnight. Commercial cartons are sold everywhere, but home-made tastes fresher. Chef's tip: let the porridge cool to lukewarm before adding the starter; too hot and it kills the fermentation.

25 minSouthern African Drinks

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Anhui bamboo shoots with ham

When the spring bamboo shoots push up through the hillsides of Huizhou, farmhouse kitchens braise them with chunks of the region's cured ham. The salty, deep-flavoured ham seasons the broth, and the shoots soak it up while keeping their crunch and gentle sweetness. Serve it as a side dish with rice and other plates, or as a light lunch by itself. Fresh bamboo shoots must be peeled and boiled before use, because raw shoots contain natural toxins; canned shoots are already cooked and only need rinsing. Chef's tip: taste the broth before adding any salt, as the ham often brings all the salt the dish needs.

60 min

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Doh khlieh

Doh khlieh is the cool, sharp side dish that sits next to jadoh on almost every Khasi table in Meghalaya. Tender boiled pork is chopped small and tossed with raw onion, ginger, green chilli and lime, so it is fresh and fiery rather than rich. In Shillong it is eaten at lunch and at gatherings, and some families add boiled pork brain, which this version leaves out. Chef's tip: chop the pork while it is still slightly warm; it takes up the lime and ginger much better.

60 min

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Mohan thaal

Mohan thaal, named after Krishna, is offered at temples on Janmashtami and fills sweet boxes at Diwali in both Rajasthan and Gujarat. It is coarse gram flour roasted in ghee until it turns golden and smells like roasted nuts, then set with cardamom syrup into a grainy, fudge-like slab and cut into diamonds. The texture comes from a step called dhabo: rubbing ghee and milk into the flour, then sieving it into tiny granules before roasting. The mistake most cooks make is cooking the syrup too long; the fudge sets rock-hard and crumbles when cut. Chef's tip: take the syrup off the heat at a firm one-and-a-half string stage, and stop stirring when the mixture pulls away from the pan's sides in one mass.

65 min

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Ghevar

During the monsoon festival of Teej and through Raksha Bandhan, Jaipur's sweet shops stack golden, honeycomb discs of ghevar in their windows. The batter is little more than flour, chilled ghee and ice-cold water, poured into hot ghee in thin streams so it foams into a lacy round. It is then soaked in syrup and finished with rabri, sliced pistachios and a pinch of saffron. Married daughters traditionally receive it from their mothers' homes during Teej. The most common mistake is batter that is too warm or too thick; it fries into a heavy pancake instead of a web. Chef's tip: whisk the ghee with ice cubes until it is white and fluffy before adding flour, and keep the batter bowl in a tray of ice water while frying. A narrow, deep pan, or a metal ring set in a saucepan, gives the sides that help the batter build up.

90 min

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Vegetable romazava

Romazava is often called the national dish of Madagascar: a light, gingery broth of several kinds of leafy greens (brèdes) and tomato, ladled over a big plate of rice. In Antananarivo it usually includes zebu beef; this vegetable version keeps the essential leaves, especially brèdes mafana (paracress), whose flowers and leaves make the mouth tingle. Spinach, watercress and mustard greens work well outside Madagascar. Chef's tip: add the greens in order of toughness and stop as soon as they are tender; romazava should taste fresh and green, not stewed.

45 min

Malagasy Soups

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Koba akondro

Koba is the street sweet of Madagascar's highlands, sold in thick slices from huge logs wrapped in banana leaves at markets and taxi-brousse stops around Antananarivo and Antsirabe. Koba ravina is a dense block of ground peanuts, rice flour and brown sugar; koba akondro adds ripe banana and is softer. This home version makes small parcels that steam in an hour and a half instead of a whole day. Chef's tip: wrap the parcels tightly; loose parcels let water in and the koba turns sticky instead of firm.

120 min

Malagasy Desserts

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Miso katsu (Nagoya pork cutlet with red miso sauce)

Dark soybean miso, such as the hatcho miso made in nearby Okazaki, gives Nagoya food its deep brown colour and rich, slightly bitter flavour. Miso katsu is the city's best-known way to use it: a fried pork cutlet covered in a thick, sweet miso sauce. It is served in lunch restaurants on a bed of shredded cabbage with rice and miso soup, or sliced over rice as a bowl. The sauce is glossy and savoury, a little like a darker, sweeter barbecue sauce. Chef's tip: snip through the strip of fat and sinew along the edge of each chop every 2 cm before coating it, so the cutlet stays flat in the oil and cooks evenly.

40 min

Japanese Meat

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Nga thongba

In the Imphal Valley fish comes from Loktak Lake and the paddy-field ponds, and nga thongba is how most Meitei families cook it on an ordinary weekday. It is a thin, gently spiced curry with potatoes, finished with a big handful of herbs such as maroi nakupi (a local chive) and coriander, so it smells green and fresh. It is eaten with sticky or plain rice, alongside a chilli chutney. Chef's tip: lightly fry the fish first so it stays in neat pieces in the thin gravy.

45 min

Indian Fish

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Lasary voatabia

Lasary voatabia is the fresh tomato relish served beside the rice at almost every Malagasy meal, from Antananarivo's highland homes to the coast. Tomatoes and spring onion are chopped very small, sharpened with lime or vinegar and a little sakay (chilli), and spooned onto the rice to wake up broths like romazava. It is juicier and finer than a salad. Chef's tip: chop the tomatoes very small, almost to a pulp at the edges; the juice is meant to soak into the rice.

10 min

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Papad ki sabzi

Papad ki sabzi comes from Rajasthan's dry interior, where fresh vegetables were scarce and pantries relied on sun-dried staples. Roasted papads are broken into a hot, spiced yogurt gravy at the last minute, so they soften but keep a little chew. Marwari households still make it on days when the vegetable basket is empty, eating it with bajra roti or phulka and a little ghee. Because it's ready in minutes, it's also a favourite for unexpected guests. The common mistake is adding the papads too early: they swell and turn to mush. Chef's tip: go easy on the salt, because papads are already well salted; season after tasting with the papad in.

20 min

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Kanpur khoya and suji laddu

Kanpur's best-known sweet is a crumbly, rich laddu sold in brown paper boxes near the city's busy crossings and taken home as a souvenir from the city. It is made by roasting semolina slowly in ghee until it smells like warm biscuits, then mixing in browned khoya, sugar and plenty of cashews, giving a soft, melt-in-the-mouth bite with tiny pieces of crunch. Families make a batch for Diwali or Raksha Bandhan and keep it for a week. The biggest mistake is adding the sugar while the mixture is still hot; it melts and the laddus collapse into flat puddles. Chef's tip: if the mixture feels too dry to bind, sprinkle in warm milk a teaspoon at a time rather than adding more ghee.

45 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Bolo polana

Bolo polana takes its name from the old Polana district of Maputo and is a celebration cake in Mozambique, made for birthdays and Christmas, built on two of the country's great crops: cashew nuts and potatoes. Ground cashews and mashed potato make it dense, fragrant and very moist, with orange zest to lift it. It shows the Portuguese baking tradition meeting local ingredients. Chef's tip: grind the cashews in short pulses with a spoon of the sugar; ground alone, they turn to cashew butter.

90 minSouthern African Baking

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Ajvar

Every September the smell of charring peppers drifts over courtyards from Leskovac in southern Serbia to Strumica in North Macedonia, as families roast crates of long red babura peppers on wood stoves and spend a whole Sunday stirring the pulp into ajvar for the winter shelves. A little roasted aubergine softens the flavour, and long cooking with sunflower oil turns it into a glossy, sweet-smoky spread that is eaten on bread with white cheese, beside beans or potatoes, and with almost every winter meal. This is a home-sized batch for two medium jars rather than a cellar full. Chef's tip: do not rinse the roasted peppers under the tap to get the skins off; it washes away the smoky juices that make ajvar taste of autumn, so peel them with oiled fingers and a paper towel instead.

145 minBalkan Chutneys & Dips

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Kathal ki sabzi

In Uttar Pradesh, people joke that kathal is the vegetarian's mutton, and the comparison makes sense once you taste it. Young, unripe jackfruit has a firm, fibrous texture that absorbs a slow-cooked onion masala and the smoky warmth of black cardamom. Lucknow and Kanpur homes cook it in summer when the green fruit is plentiful, and it is a common choice for Sunday lunches and family gatherings, served with paratha or rice. The mistake to avoid is undercooking the jackfruit before adding it to the masala; it will remain rubbery no matter how long it simmers afterward. Chef's tip: frying the boiled pieces until golden before they go into the gravy gives them a meaty crust that holds up in the sauce.

75 min

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Nhopi

Nhopi is a simple Shona dish from Zimbabwe, made at harvest time when the pumpkins come in: pumpkin or butternut boiled soft, mashed and enriched with peanut butter. Some families stir in a little maize meal to make it thicker (nhopi dovi), and it is eaten for breakfast or as a side with greens. It is sweet, nutty and loved by children. Chef's tip: drain the pumpkin very well before mashing, or the nhopi turns thin and watery.

30 minSouthern African Sides

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Mawa jalebi

Mawa jalebi, sometimes called khoya jalebi, belongs to Jabalpur and the towns of the Mahakoshal region of Madhya Pradesh, where sweet shops sell them stacked like dark brown coils. Unlike the crisp batter jalebi piped into hot oil, these are rolled from a soft khoya dough into ropes, coiled by hand and fried slowly, so they come out tender and almost fudgy inside a thin caramelised skin. They are eaten warm on winter mornings and bought by the kilo for weddings. Chef's tip: roll the ropes no thicker than a pencil; thicker coils look generous but stay doughy at the core.

75 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Mathura peda

Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, Krishna's birthplace, has a peda all its own: not the pale milky kind found elsewhere, but a dusty-brown disc with a deep, toffee-like flavour from milk solids slowly roasted until they caramelise. Pilgrims buy boxes after visiting the temples, and they are made in huge batches around Janmashtami as an offering. The texture should be dense yet slightly grainy, rolled in fine boora sugar so the outside sparkles. The usual mistake is rushing the roasting over high heat, which scorches the khoya in spots and makes it bitter and greasy. Chef's tip: keep the heat low and scrape the bottom of the pan constantly; the colour should change gradually from cream to light brown, then to the shade of milky coffee.

50 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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New England clam chowder

In Boston and along the Massachusetts and Maine coast, chowder is served in paper cups at the harbour, in bread bowls and at every clam shack with oyster crackers on the side. Fresh clams are steamed open, their briny juice becomes the stock, and potatoes, onion and a little smoky bacon (pork) simmer in it before cream goes in. It is creamy but not gluey. Chef's tip: thicken it only lightly; chowder should coat a spoon, not stand up in it.

60 min

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Shelpek

Shelpek are paper-thin flatbreads fried in a shallow pan, and in Kazakh homes they carry meaning: on Thursday evenings and Fridays women fry seven shelpek 'for the smell', a prayer for the ancestors, and they're handed out at funerals and memorial meals. In everyday life they are eaten warm with tea, butter and jam, all over Kazakhstan and in the Kyrgyz villages across the Tian Shan. The dough is soft and rich with milk and butter, and takes minutes to fry. Chef's tip: roll them almost transparent; thin shelpek blister and stay soft, thick ones go stiff like crackers.

30 min

Kazakh Breads & Parathas

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Dohneiiong

The name says it plainly in Khasi: 'doh' is meat and 'neiiong' is black sesame. In the Khasi Hills around Shillong this near-black pork curry is cooked for family feasts and Sunday meals, and its roasted, nutty flavour is unlike any other curry in India. The sesame is toasted and ground into a paste that thickens the gravy and coats the pork. Serve with plain rice or jadoh. Chef's tip: pork belly gives the silkiest result; mix it half and half with shoulder if you prefer it less rich.

90 min

Indian Meat

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Naga smoked pork with bamboo shoot

Many Naga kitchens have a rack of pork hanging above the fire, slowly smoking for weeks, and this stew is what it is saved for. The smoky meat is simmered with sour fermented bamboo shoot, crushed ginger and garlic and raja mircha, the famously hot king chilli, with almost no oil and no ground spices. In Kohima it is festival food during the Hornbill Festival in December and Sunday food all year, served with rice and boiled greens. Chef's tip: smoked pork is already salty, so salt only at the very end.

85 min

Indian Meat

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Agra petha

Every train pulling out of Agra carries boxes of petha. The city's halwais have been candying ash gourd for generations, and the plain white kind remains the classic: firm, crystal-clear cubes with a sugar crust and a juicy centre, lightly scented with rose or kewra. At home it makes a good festival sweet for Diwali gifting because it keeps for two weeks. The firmness comes from soaking the gourd in food-grade slaked lime (chuna, sold as pickling lime) or, as some cooks prefer, in alum water. Leaving out the soak, or rushing it, is the most common mistake: the cubes fall apart in the syrup. Chef's tip: prick each cube deeply all over with a fork before soaking, so the lime water and later the syrup reach the centre.

110 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Matapa

Matapa is the great dish of southern Mozambique, from Maputo to Inhambane: young cassava leaves pounded and cooked for a long time with ground peanuts, coconut milk and garlic until soft, creamy and deep green. It is eaten with rice or xima (maize porridge), and on the coast it often has crab or prawns stirred in; this version keeps to the leaves. Frozen ground cassava leaves are sold in African grocers. Chef's tip: cook the cassava leaves for at least an hour; undercooked they taste bitter and are not safe to eat.

90 minSouthern African Curries

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