Featured recipe

Joynagarer moa

Puffed rice and jaggery balls

Joynagar, south of Kolkata, makes moa only in winter, when the fragrant kanakchur paddy is harvested and date-palm sap is boiled into fresh nolen gur. Puffed kanakchur khoi is bound with the liquid gur, khoya and ghee into soft balls topped with a raisin and a pinch of cardamom, and Bengalis queue for the first boxes each December. The common mistake is overcooking the gur, which sets the moa hard as stone; it should reach only the soft-thread stage so the balls stay tender and squash slightly when bitten. Chef's tip: if you cannot find kanakchur khoi, use the freshest, crispest puffed rice you can buy and warm it briefly in a dry pan.

What to eat today?

Around the world

Today's trip: Persian

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

Persian

Chai nabat (saffron rock candy tea)

15 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

ChevermeSlow-roast lamb

At summer festivals in the Rhodope villages around Smolyan and Chepelare, lamb for cheverme is turned slowly on a spit over beech embers for hours until the outside crackles and the meat slides off the bone, and the carved meat is shared with bread and spring onions. Few home cooks have a spit or a fire pit, so this recipe brings the same idea to a bone-in lamb shoulder or leg: rubbed simply with salt, savory, black pepper, garlic and oil, then roasted low and slow in the oven or in a covered barbecue over indirect heat. The result is crisp-edged, juicy and tender enough to pull apart with a spoon. Serve with spring onions, radishes, a tomato and cucumber salad and bread. The usual slip is too much heat, which tightens the meat instead of melting it. Chef's tip: cheverme is always well done; cook until a probe in the thickest part reads about 90 °C and the bone wiggles loose.

330 min

Bulgarian Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kauk nyin baungSteamed sticky rice with peas

At sunrise on Yangon street corners, women sit behind bamboo baskets of steaming sticky rice wrapped in cloth, spooning portions onto squares of banana leaf for people heading to work. The glutinous rice is soaked and steamed until each grain is glossy, chewy and slightly translucent, then topped with soft pe pyot peas, freshly grated coconut and a sprinkle of toasted sesame pounded with salt. It is a plain, satisfying breakfast, sweet from the coconut, salty and nutty from the sesame, and usually eaten with a cup of green tea; some vendors use purple sticky rice for a darker, nuttier bowl. Boiling the rice like ordinary rice is the mistake that ruins it, turning it to glue, so always steam it. Chef's tip: soak the rice overnight; a short soak leaves hard white centres in the grains.

50 min

Burmese Breakfast & Brunch

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Keshi yenaChicken-stuffed Edam cheese

Keshi yena, "stuffed cheese", is the most famous dish of Curaçao and Aruba, born when cooks on Dutch plantations reused the rinds of big Edam cheeses by filling them with leftover meat. Today it is a festive dish: a spiced chicken filling with tomato, onion, olives, capers, raisins and hot pepper, sealed in sliced Edam and baked until the cheese melts into a golden crust, eaten with white rice or funchi. The mistake to avoid is a wet filling, which makes the cheese case collapse; cook it down until thick. This home version is baked in ramekins lined with cheese slices. Chef's tip: oil the ramekins well and turn the cheese cups out onto plates for a dramatic presentation.

75 minCaribbean Chicken

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Khaddi kebabRoast spiced lamb over rice

A khaddi, in Baloch country, is a pit dug in the ground and lined with hot stones; a whole goat or lamb, rubbed with salt and spices and stuffed with rice, is lowered in, covered with earth and left for hours, then dug out for weddings and tribal feasts. Few home cooks have a pit, so this version roasts a bone-in lamb shoulder low and slow under foil, then sets it on a tray of part-cooked rice so the rice drinks the dripping juices, the same marriage of meat and rice the pit gives. The meat should pull apart with a spoon and the rice taste deeply of lamb. Stuffing raw rice inside a big joint is where cooks go wrong at home: the centre stays underdone and is not safe, so cook the rice under the meat instead. Chef's tip: roast the lamb the day before, chill it in its juices and lift off the hard fat, then reheat with the rice; it carves more neatly too.

300 min

Pakistani Meat

by KrazyBadal 0 views

KasarPuffed rice and jaggery balls

Kasar is a sweet of good fortune: Bahun and Chhetri families in the hills make it by the basketful to send with a bride to her new home, to hand out at bratabandha thread ceremonies and to fill the Tihar plates. It is the simplest of sweets, puffed rice stirred into bubbling jaggery syrup flavoured with cardamom and pressed into balls while warm, sometimes with sesame, coconut or peanuts added, and it is crunchy, light and caramel-sweet. Children love making it because it is all about quick hands and a bowl of cold water. The pitfall is syrup that is not cooked far enough, which gives soft, sticky balls that collapse in a day. Chef's tip: test the syrup by dropping a little into cold water; when it sets into a firm ball that cracks if you squeeze it, it is ready.

30 min

Nepali Indian Sweets

by KrazyBadal 0 views

BalachaungDried shrimp relish

Every Burmese pantry keeps a jar of balachaung, and along the Rakhine coast, where the dried shrimp come from, families fry it in big batches after the dry-season catch. Pounded dried shrimp are fried slowly with crisp shallots, garlic, chilli and a dab of shrimp paste until the whole lot turns into a dry, golden, crackling floss that is salty, smoky, a little sweet and quite hot. A spoonful lifts plain rice, a fried egg, rice porridge or a bowl of noodles, and it travels well, so students and travellers pack a jar to take away from home. Rushing it over a high heat is where most batches go wrong: the shrimp scorch and turn bitter before they are crisp, so keep the heat at medium-low and stir patiently. Chef's tip: fry the shallots and garlic separately and stir them back in only when the shrimp are done, so they stay crunchy for weeks.

45 min

Burmese Chutneys & Dips

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kasha varnishkesBuckwheat with bow-tie pasta

Kasha varnishkes came to Israel with Jews from Ukraine, Belarus and Poland, and it still turns up beside Friday-night dinners in older Ashkenazi neighbourhoods of Tel Aviv and Petah Tikva. Whole buckwheat groats are coated in egg and toasted so each grain stays separate and nutty, then tossed with farfalle and a heap of onions fried slowly until sweet and mahogany. It is earthy and filling, good as a side for roast vegetables or as a simple supper with pickles and a green salad. The usual mistake is skipping the egg-toasting step, which leaves the buckwheat clumped and porridgy. Chef's tip: give the onions a full 25 minutes, they are the sauce, and pale onions make a dull dish.

45 min

Israeli Pasta & Noodles

by KrazyBadal 0 views

KartofdzhynPotato and cheese pie

Ossetian pies come in threes at every celebration in Vladikavkaz, stacked on one plate for the sun, earth and water, and kartofdzhyn, with potato and cheese, is the everyday family favourite of North Ossetia. Soft kefir-yeast dough is wrapped around a ball of filling and patted flat by hand into a wide, thin round, so dough and filling are each barely a centimetre thick, then baked hot and soaked with butter. Ossetian cheese is a fresh brined cheese made with animal rennet; for a vegetarian pie use a feta-style or young brined cheese labelled vegetarian. The usual slip is overfilling, which makes the pie burst as you flatten it; aim for about the same weight of dough and filling. Chef's tip: stack the hot pies and butter each one, so the butter soaks through and they stay supple.

90 min

Russian Baking

by KrazyBadal 0 views

KategnaCrisp spiced injera

Kategna is what Ethiopian restaurants put on the table while the main order is still cooking: injera painted with niter kibbeh and a bold layer of berbere, toasted until the edges shatter, then rolled tight and cut into pieces. Every bite is crunchy at the rim, chewy in the middle, buttery and properly hot. In Addis Ababa homes it is a snack with coffee or a late breakfast, and it goes well with a cooling spoon of ayib or ergo. Unlike anababero, it is a single injera and is meant to be crisp, so the pan stays on the heat a little longer. Chef's tip: mix the berbere into the melted butter rather than sprinkling it dry; dry spice on a hot pan scorches in seconds and turns bitter.

13 min

Ethiopian Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Banatage (tuna potato croquettes)

Golden, crunchy outside and soft inside, banatage are mashed-potato croquettes hiding a spoon of tuna, parsley and harissa, rolled in breadcrumbs and fried. They come out during Ramadan beside the brik and chorba, are tucked into lunchboxes and are a favourite with children all over Tunisia. Leftover mash works well, as long as it is firm. Serve them hot with lemon wedges, a salad or a dab of harissa. Chef's tip: dry the boiled potatoes in the hot pan for a minute before mashing; wet, watery mash is the usual mistake and makes croquettes that split open in the oil.

65 min

Tunisian Snacks & Starters

by KrazyBadal 1 views

KarjalanpaistiBeef and pork hotpot

Karjalanpaisti, the Karelian hotpot, is one of Finland's national dishes, cooked for Independence Day, family celebrations and Christmas: chunks of beef and pork, sometimes lamb, layered with onion, whole allspice and bay, covered with water and baked slowly for hours in a clay pot until the meats are falling apart in a rich, peppery broth. This dish contains pork. It is served with mashed potato and lingonberries. A common mistake is a hot oven, which toughens the meat. Chef's tip: do not stir or brown the meat; Karelian cooks let it bake low and slow, and the long cooking alone gives the deep flavour.

260 minScandinavian Curries

by KrazyBadal 0 views

KarpatkaCustard cream choux cake

Named after the Carpathians, karpatka is the cake whose crinkled, craggy top looks like a range of snowy peaks once it is dusted with icing sugar. Two thin layers of choux pastry, baked flat until they puff into hills and valleys, sandwich a deep layer of rich vanilla custard whipped with butter. It is a fixture of Polish name-day parties and café counters, and children love the cloud-like filling. The usual slip is opening the oven early, which makes the choux collapse into a flat, rubbery sheet. Chef's tip: let the custard and the butter reach the same room temperature before beating them together, or the cream splits.

90 min

Polish Desserts

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Karawala thel dalaStir-fried dried fish

Every Sri Lankan market from Negombo to Trincomalee has a stall stacked with karawala, sun-dried salted fish, and when the larder is low or the rain keeps the boats in, a quick thel dala turns a small piece of it into something to wake up a plate of rice. Strips or small whole fish are fried until crisp, then tossed with plenty of onion, tomato, green chilli and chilli flakes until they are glossy, salty, smoky and hot. It is eaten in small amounts beside dhal, rice and a mild vegetable curry, or with kiribath and pol roti for breakfast, and it keeps for a day or two. Watch out for the classic fault of skipping the soak, which leaves the dish far too salty to eat. Chef's tip: fry the soaked fish until really crunchy before the onions go in; that crisp edge is what makes it addictive.

25 min

Sri Lankan Fish

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Karawila sambolaFried bitter gourd salad

Even people who claim to hate bitter gourd tend to come round to karawila sambola, the crunchy, tangy salad that turns up on rice and curry plates from the coast to the eastern towns. Paper-thin slices of the knobbly green gourd are salted to draw out some of the bitterness, fried until they are crisp like crisps, and then tossed at the last minute with raw red onion, green chilli, tomato and plenty of lime. The result is salty, sour and gently bitter, a bright contrast to rich coconut curries. Many cooks also scatter in Maldive fish flakes; this vegan version leaves them out. The mistake to avoid is mixing the salad too early, since the lime and tomato juice soften the fried slices within minutes. Chef's tip: squeeze the salted slices really hard in a clean cloth before frying; the drier they are, the crisper and less oily they come out.

30 min

Sri Lankan Salads

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

Karađorđeva šniclaBreaded stuffed pork roll

Belgrade restaurants have served this since a local chef created it in the mid-20th century, naming it after Karađorđe, leader of the First Serbian Uprising; diners fondly call it the maiden's dream. A thin pork escalope (veal is the other classic) is spread with kajmak, Serbia's rich, slightly tangy clotted cream, rolled tight, double-breaded and fried into a golden log that oozes when cut. It comes with chips or roast potatoes, a lemon wedge and tartar sauce. If you can't find kajmak, beat cream cheese with a little soft butter and a pinch of salt. Rolling it loosely is the mistake that ruins it, because the cream escapes into the oil; roll tightly and chill before breading. Chef's tip: fry only until golden, then finish in the oven, so the crumb stays crisp while the pork cooks through to the centre.

60 minBalkan Meat

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

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

Showing 18 of 7,762 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 251 of 863