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Flourless chocolate cake
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Flourless chocolate cake

In Israel this dense chocolate cake is the dessert of the Passover seder in countless homes, from Tel Aviv flats to kibbutz dining halls, because it needs no flour and only rises on whisked eggs. Dark chocolate, eggs, ground almonds and a little butter bake into a cake with a thin, crackled top and a deep, fudgy middle, rich enough to serve in slim slices with berries or whipped cream. Made with oil instead of butter, it can follow a meat meal. The common mistake is overbaking: take it out while the centre still wobbles slightly, as it sets as it cools. Chef's tip: fold the whites into the chocolate in three goes, the first one roughly, to loosen it, then the rest gently to keep the air.

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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 minTunisianSnacks & Starters
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Long-distance travellers in the Hausa north have carried kilishi for generations: beef sliced so thin you can see light through it, coated in a fiery paste of ground roasted groundnuts, ginger, onion and chilli, dried, then flashed over a fire until it crackles. It is sold in Kano and Sokoto markets in stacked sheets and eaten as a snack or with a cold drink. Traditionally it is sun-dried raw; this home version heats the meat to 71 °C in the oven before drying and is stored in the fridge, which makes it safer. Sun-dried, uncooked kilishi is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Chef's tip: freeze the beef for an hour before slicing; firm meat is the only way to get sheets 3 mm thin at home.

240 minNigerianMeatGluten freeSpicy
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Kibbeling is the fish snack of Dutch markets and harbours, sold in paper trays from fish vans at Saturday markets from Volendam to Rotterdam: bite-sized chunks of cod or pollock coated in a spiced batter and fried until crisp, with a pot of garlic sauce or remoulade. It began as a way to use the cheeks of cod. A common mistake is a thick batter, which turns bready and greasy. Chef's tip: season the batter well with a little curry powder and paprika, the market-van secret, and fry at 180 °C until golden; the fish is done when opaque and flaking.

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KhupluBeef, lamb and potato pie

The Chuvash people of the middle Volga bake khuplu for harvest festivals and to welcome guests: one large, round, closed pie with a thin yeast crust and a deep filling of diced meat, potato and onion, traditionally with a little vent on top and a ring of dough to decorate it. Cut at the table, it spills meaty juice into the potatoes, and it is eaten warm with a glass of cold buttermilk or a bowl of soup. The usual slip is under-baking; a pie this deep needs well over an hour and a thermometer check. Chef's tip: lay the potatoes at the bottom and the meat on top, so the potatoes drink the juices and the base does not go soggy.

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In the dairy belt of Sirajganj and Pabna, where milk is cheap and plentiful, khirsha is made the patient way: milk is boiled in a wide iron karai and stirred for well over an hour until it has reduced to a sixth of its volume and become a thick, pale-caramel paste, then sweetened and cooked a little longer. Sold in clay saucers or pressed into blocks, it tastes of pure cooked milk, sweet and slightly toffee-like, with a fudgy, fine-grained texture. It is eaten on its own, spread on puffed rice, rolled into pithas or packed into the shells of other sweets. Burning the bottom is the classic mishap, which makes the whole batch taste scorched, so stir constantly and scrape the corners once it thickens. Chef's tip: use a wide, heavy pan rather than a deep one; the bigger the surface, the faster the milk reduces.

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Maqaw chicken soupMountain pepper chicken soup

High in the mountains of northern Taiwan, in Atayal villages around Wulai and Fuxing, maqaw berries are picked from the mountain litsea tree in summer and dried to flavour soups, grilled meat and tea. In this clear chicken soup, served at home suppers and in Indigenous restaurants with millet or rice and wild greens, the crushed berries give a fresh lemongrass-and-ginger perfume with a gentle peppery tingle. Bone-in chicken simmered slowly makes a light, golden broth. People spoil it by adding the maqaw at the start and boiling it for an hour, which turns it bitter; add it for the last 15 minutes instead. If you can't find maqaw, use black peppercorns, a stalk of lemongrass and a strip of lemon zest. Chef's tip: lightly crush the berries just before they go in; whole ones barely flavour the broth, while powder makes it cloudy.

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85 minAfghanMeatGluten free
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KwaśnicaSauerkraut and smoked rib soup

Ask for soup in a Zakopane karczma and the answer is nearly always kwaśnica, the sour, smoky broth of the Tatra highlanders, ladled from a big pot with smoked pork ribs on the bone and a bowl of boiled potatoes alongside. Unlike most cabbage soups, the base here is the fermented sauerkraut juice itself, so it is sharper and lighter, warmed by allspice, caraway and a whiff of garlic. Skiers and shepherds alike swear by it after a cold day on the slopes. Too many cooks rinse the sauerkraut, which washes away the very sourness the soup is named for. If yours is very harsh, taste and loosen it with water instead. Chef's tip: simmer the ribs on their own first, so the broth is rich and smoky before the cabbage goes in and the meat is falling off the bone by the end.

120 minPolishSoupsGluten free
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KharchoBeef, rice and walnut soup

Kharcho is the soup Tbilisi cooks make when the weather turns cold: beef brisket simmered until it falls apart, then thickened with rice and ground walnuts and given its sour, tangy edge by tkemali plum sauce, with khmeli-suneli, garlic and a lot of coriander. It is spooned into deep bowls in old-town cafés and eaten with shoti bread, and it is thick enough to be a whole meal. A common mistake is adding the rice too early, so it swells into porridge and the soup loses its body. Chef's tip: grind the walnuts with garlic and a ladle of hot broth before stirring them in, so they thicken the soup smoothly rather than floating as crumbs.

140 minGeorgianSoupsSpicy
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Aseedat bobarPumpkin pudding with ghee

In Doha and Kuwait City, aseedat bobar arrives on winter evenings and at Ramadan iftar in a shallow dish, smooth and orange, with a little pool of melted ghee in the centre. Bobar is the Gulf word for red pumpkin, cooked down and thickened with toasted flour, sugar and cardamom into a soft, spoonable sweet that tastes a bit like a spiced pumpkin pie filling. Scoop it warm with a spoon or with pieces of bread, alongside Arabic coffee. Stopping the stirring too soon is the usual mistake: the pudding must cook until it pulls away from the sides, or it tastes of raw flour. Chef's tip: toast the flour in a dry pan until it smells like biscuits before it goes in; that nutty note is what makes it.

45 minGulf ArabianDesserts
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KhashlamaLamb and vegetable stew

Khashlama is a village dish from across Armenia, made in a big pot for family gatherings in Ararat and Kotayk: chunks of lamb on the bone, or beef, layered with onions, tomatoes, peppers and potatoes and cooked slowly with very little liquid, so the meat stews in its own juices and the vegetables soak them up. It is served in deep plates with lavash and lots of fresh herbs. A common mistake is adding water to cover; the result is a soup, not khashlama. Chef's tip: put the lamb on the bottom and the potatoes on top, so the meat browns slightly and the potatoes steam in the juices without breaking.

170 minArmenianMeatGluten free
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Khamiri rotiLeavened wholewheat flatbread

Long before packets of yeast reached Pakistani kitchens, households kept back a lump of yesterday's dough and worked it into the new batch, and khamiri roti is the bread that method makes: thicker and softer than a chapati, with an airy crumb and a gentle sourness. It is the standard bread of many neighbourhood tandoors from Multan to Peshawar, bought by the stack for lunch with chana, sabzi, dal or saag, and some families make it on a tawa during Ramadan because it stays soft until sehri. This version uses a little yeast and a long rise to get the same flavour without the starter. People often get it wrong by rolling it as thin as a chapati, which pushes out the gas and leaves a flat, leathery roti. Chef's tip: let the dough ferment for at least two and a half hours, or overnight in the fridge, and shape each roti by patting it out with your palms rather than with a rolling pin.

180 minPakistaniBreads & ParathasVegan
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Khajoor shakeDate and almond milkshake

Dates are the first thing on the table when the azan sounds for iftar in Pakistan, and in many homes in Karachi and Islamabad the dates go straight into the blender with cold milk and a handful of soaked almonds, making a thick, caramel-sweet shake that restores energy quickly after a long summer fast. Soft, moist dates such as the Aseel from Khairpur in Sindh give the smoothest result, and the drink needs no added sugar at all. It is also a popular breakfast for children and a quick snack after school. The typical mistake is blending dry, hard dates straight from the packet, which leaves chewy fragments and a gritty shake. Chef's tip: soak the stoned dates and almonds in a little warm milk for 10 minutes first, and blend them to a smooth paste before adding the rest of the cold milk.

10 minPakistaniDrinksGluten free
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Khasi ko masuGoat curry

For most Nepali families the tenth day of Dashain, when elders put tika and jamara on younger relatives' foreheads, means a pot of khasi ko masu bubbling in the kitchen, bone-in castrated goat cooked in mustard oil with heaps of onion, ginger and garlic and whole spices until the meat falls from the bone. It is a celebratory but homely curry, with a loose, glossy, deep-red gravy, eaten with plain rice or sel roti and a cucumber achar, and the same curry fills plates at weddings and family visits for weeks after the festival. Use goat or mutton with plenty of bone, since the marrow and connective tissue give the gravy its body. The usual shortcut, rushing the onions, leaves the gravy thin and sharp; they must cook to a deep brown. Chef's tip: a pinch of jimbu, the dried Himalayan herb, added at the end gives the curry its unmistakable hill-country aroma.

100 minNepaliCurriesGluten free
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 minPakistaniMeatGluten free
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KhaginaSpiced scrambled eggs

Ask almost any Pakistani what their mother made on a school morning and khagina comes up: eggs beaten with salt and turmeric and stirred into onion, tomato and green chilli softened in oil, served in a heap beside a hot paratha with a cup of doodh patti. It comes from the old Mughal and Hyderabadi kitchens that reached Karachi after Partition, and it differs from a plain scramble in being cooked a little longer, so it sets into soft, moist clumps coloured by the masala rather than staying creamy. It is everyday food in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar alike, also eaten for a quick supper with chapati. The usual mistake is adding the eggs before the tomato has cooked down, which leaves the dish watery and the eggs rubbery. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat while the eggs still look slightly glossy but no liquid egg remains, because they keep cooking on the plate.

15 minPakistaniBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
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Khai paenCrispy river weed sheets

Along the Mekong and Nam Khan below Luang Prabang, women gather silky green river weed in the dry months, when the water runs low and clear, then press it into thin sheets and dry them in the sun. Those sheets turn up everywhere in town, stacked at the morning market and the night market, and a plate of fried khai paen is a favourite nibble with sticky rice and a pot of jeow bong in the late afternoon. Frying takes seconds: the sheets puff, darken and turn shatteringly crisp, tasting of the river, toasted sesame and garlic, a little like nori but earthier. Buy the sheets dried; outside Laos, look in Southeast Asian grocers, and if you can't find them, nori sheets make a stand-in, though they are thinner, sea-salty rather than freshwater and fry even faster. Leaving a sheet in the oil a moment too long is the classic error, as it goes bitter and brown almost instantly. Chef's tip: cut the sheets into squares with scissors before frying, not after, so they don't crumble into dust.

15 minLaoSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Kesel muwa curryBanana blossom curry

Every banana plant in a Sri Lankan back garden eventually pushes out a heavy, purple, spear-shaped flower, and rather than waste it, home cooks across the western province slice it into this savoury, slightly meaty curry. Once the tough outer bracts come off, the pale heart is shredded and cooked with roasted curry powder, mustard seed and chilli, then finished with coconut milk until it is tender with a faint, pleasant astringency, a bit like artichoke. It is a weekday dish, served with red rice, parippu and a pol sambol. The flower browns and turns bitter within minutes of being cut, which is where most first attempts go wrong, so have a bowl of salted turmeric water waiting and drop the slices in as you go. Chef's tip: if you can only find tinned banana blossom in brine, rinse it well, chop it and skip the soaking; it needs only half the cooking time.

50 minSri LankanCurriesVeganGluten free
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AthirasaFried rice flour jaggery cakes

Athirasa, a dark, flat disc with a shiny, slightly crinkled surface, is one of the keeping sweets of the Avurudu season: families fry stacks of them in early April, store them in tins and offer them to every visitor for weeks. The dough is simply rice flour stirred into jaggery syrup cooked to the soft-ball stage, flavoured with cardamom and left to rest, then patted into rounds and fried until deep brown. The cook presses each one firmly between two flat spoons or saucers to squeeze out excess oil, which gives athirasa its chewy, toffee-like centre and lacy, crisp edges. The typical slip is undercooking the syrup, which makes the dough too soft to shape and causes the rounds to fall apart in the oil. Chef's tip: shape the discs on a piece of oiled banana leaf or baking paper and slide them straight into the oil from it, so they keep a neat round shape.

60 minSri LankanDessertsVeganGluten free
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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.

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Khajoor ka halwaDate halwa

The oasis towns of Turbat and Panjgur in Makran grow some of Pakistan's finest dates, the soft, honeyed Begum Jangi and Muzawati among them, and after the late-summer harvest households turn the surplus into this rich, fudgy halwa. Dates are softened in warm milk, mashed and cooked down slowly in ghee until the mixture is dark and glossy and comes away from the pan, then finished with almonds, walnuts and cardamom. It needs little or no added sugar, and it is served in small portions at Eid, to new mothers and to guests with green tea. Using dry, hard dates without soaking is where it goes wrong, leaving the halwa lumpy and leathery. Chef's tip: choose soft, moist dates and blend them only briefly after soaking, so a few small pieces remain for texture.

40 minPakistaniIndian SweetsGluten free
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Antiguan ducanaSweet potato coconut dumplings

In Antigua, ducana turns up beside saltfish and chop up on Saturday plates and at Independence celebrations in November, little leaf-wrapped parcels of grated sweet potato and coconut with sugar, raisins and spice, boiled until set. It cuts through the salty fish with a soft, sticky sweetness. Many cooks add a little flour; this version keeps to sweet potato and coconut and is gluten free. The common mistake is wrapping the parcels loosely, so water seeps in and they turn mushy. Chef's tip: grate the sweet potato finely on the small holes and the ducana will hold together without any flour.

75 minCaribbeanDessertsGluten free
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ChlebíčkyOpen sandwiches

Prague's lahůdky delicatessens have sold chlebíčky since the early twentieth century, and these little open sandwiches are still the first thing laid out for office celebrations, birthdays and New Year's Eve. Diagonal slices of soft white veka bread are spread with potato salad, then decorated with a rolled slice of cooked pork ham, half a hard-boiled egg, cheese, gherkin and a dot of mayonnaise, so each one looks like a small, neat picture. They are creamy, salty and fresh at once. A common mistake is assembling hours ahead on soft bread, which goes soggy; build them no more than an hour before serving and keep them in the fridge, never out for more than 2 hours. Boil the eggs until the yolks are firm. For a meat-free tray, skip the ham and double the egg and cheese. Chef's tip: a firm, day-old baguette slices more cleanly than fresh bread.

30 minCzechSnacks & Starters
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Fish buglamaSteamed fish with onion and tomato

In Baku and the fishing villages of the Absheron peninsula, buglama is the gentlest way to cook Caspian fish such as sturgeon, kutum or mullet: thick steaks laid on a bed of onions, tomatoes and herbs in a covered pan and left to steam in their own juices, with no water added. The result is soft, moist fish in a light, fragrant broth, served with bread and a spoon of narsharab. Any firm white fish works. A common mistake is lifting the lid too often, which lets the steam out and leaves the fish half-cooked. Chef's tip: lay the onion thickly enough that the fish never touches the pan; it should cook in steam, not fry. It is done when the flesh is opaque and flakes when pressed.

45 minAzerbaijaniFishGluten free
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KchuchClay-pot aubergine and potato bake

A kchuch is the round clay pot of Gyumri's kitchens, and the dish cooked in it takes its name: layers of vegetables and herbs, sealed and slow-baked until everything collapses into a rich, juicy stew. Shirak families often add lamb, but the vegetable version is a summer and Lenten favourite, heavy with aubergine, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and garlic. A common mistake is slicing the potatoes thick, which leaves them hard when the aubergine is already soft. Chef's tip: lay the tomatoes and herbs on top and seal the lid with a strip of dough or foil, so the steam stays in and the vegetables cook in their own juices.

120 minArmenianVegetarianGluten free
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Kebab-e-murghYogurt-marinated chicken skewers

Along Kabul's kebab streets, cooks fan long rows of skewers over charcoal troughs, and chicken kebab-e-murgh has become as popular as lamb, especially with families. The meat is soaked in yogurt with a lot of garlic, lemon and chilli, which keeps it juicy and gives it a tangy, slightly charred crust; it is served on a sheet of naan that catches the drips, with sliced raw onion, tomato and green chutney. At home a hot grill pan or barbecue does the job well. Breast meat cut too small dries out before it chars, so use boneless thighs in generous chunks. Chef's tip: thread the pieces close together but not squashed, which keeps the centres moist while the edges blacken.

30 minAfghanChickenGluten free
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KazyBeef and lamb rib sausage

Kazy is the most prized food on a Kazakh feast table: a thick sausage of whole rib meat and rib fat, seasoned with salt, garlic and black pepper, stuffed into a casing, then dried or smoked and boiled for weddings and Nauryz, and sliced into glossy rounds that show the meat and the white fat. It is traditionally made with horse meat; this recipe uses beef short rib meat with a little lamb fat instead, as the site does not use horse, and it is cooked fresh rather than air-dried. A common mistake is mincing the meat; kazy is made from long strips of rib meat, which is what gives its look when sliced. Chef's tip: simmer it very gently; boiling hard bursts the casing and the fat melts away. The centre must reach 71 °C.

210 minKazakhMeatGluten free
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KyseloSour rye soup

High in the Krkonoše, the Giant Mountains on the Polish border, poor mountain families made a whole meal from a jar of rye sourdough starter, a handful of dried mushrooms and potatoes from the cellar. Kyselo still turns up in chalet restaurants around Špindlerův Mlýn and at local food festivals. It is pleasantly sour and creamy from the fermented rye, scented with caraway, and poured over boiled potatoes with softly scrambled egg spooned on top. The usual slip is boiling the soup hard after the starter goes in, which makes it catch on the bottom and turn lumpy; keep it at a lazy simmer and stir often. If you can, mix the starter with water the night before and leave it covered at room temperature, for a deeper sourness. Chef's tip: a mature, bubbly rye starter that smells like yoghurt gives the best flavour; a sleepy one makes a flat soup.

60 minCzechSoups
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Aruban pan batiSweet cornmeal pancakes

Aruban families put a stack of pan bati on the table with almost every bowl of soup or stew, from sopi di pisca to kabritu stoba: thick, slightly sweet pancakes of cornmeal and flour, cooked on a dry griddle and torn to mop up the broth. They are soft, a little grainy and golden at the edges. The mistake is cooking them too fast, so they burn outside and stay raw in the middle. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes so the cornmeal softens and the pancakes come out tender.

30 minCaribbeanBreads & Parathas
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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 minEthiopianSnacks & StartersSpicy
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Asa tibsFried tilapia pieces

Down by the fish market on the shore of Lake Hawassa, cooks fry tilapia straight from the boats and serve it with injera, bread and a fiery dip, and asa tibs is the version you can easily make at home. Bite-sized pieces of fillet are dusted, fried until crisp and golden, then tossed briefly with soft onion, green chilli and a spoon of awaze, so the fish is crunchy outside, flaky and sweet inside, and coated in a spicy glaze. It is a favourite on fasting days for people who eat fish, and quick enough for a weeknight. Chef's tip: leave each piece undisturbed until it releases from the pan by itself; moving fish too early is the common mistake, and it tears the coating and breaks the flesh.

27 minEthiopianFishGluten free
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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 minIsraeliPasta & Noodles
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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 minPolishDesserts
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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 minRussianBaking
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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 minNepaliIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
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Katino mezePork and mushrooms in cream

Every Bulgarian mehana, the wood-panelled tavern, has Katino meze on the menu, sizzling in a small clay dish next to a shopska salad, and it is quick enough for a weeknight at home. Thin strips of pork loin are seared, then tossed with mushrooms, onion and pickled gherkin, deglazed with dry white wine and finished with cream, black pepper and a pinch of hot chilli. For an alcohol-free sauce, swap the wine for the same amount of vegetable stock with a teaspoon of white wine vinegar or a splash of white grape juice. Serve with crusty bread or chips. A common mistake is crowding the pan: the pork stews grey instead of browning, so sear it in two batches. Chef's tip: cut the pork across the grain into finger-thin strips while it is half-frozen; it slices neatly and stays tender.

35 minBulgarianMeatGluten free
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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 minScandinavianCurriesGluten free
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ChirbuliEggs in tomato walnut sauce

Families in Batumi and the coastal villages of Adjara make chirbuli for slow weekend breakfasts: onions and ripe tomatoes stewed with a spoon of crushed walnuts and plenty of herbs, with eggs cracked into the sauce and cooked until just set, so the yolks run into it. It is a cousin of shakshuka with a Georgian walnut richness, eaten with bread to wipe up the plate. A common mistake is putting the lid on and walking away; the yolks overcook and go chalky in a minute. Chef's tip: grind the walnuts with garlic and coriander seed first, so they melt into the sauce instead of staying gritty.

25 minGeorgianBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
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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 minSri LankanFishGluten freeSpicy
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Chitoi pithaSpongy rice flour cakes

As soon as the cold arrives in December, women set up clay stoves on the pavements of Dhaka, Mymensingh and every district town, and chitoi pitha is what they sell: round, white rice cakes steamed and baked in small covered clay moulds, smooth and slightly crisp underneath and full of tiny holes on top. Winter evenings are spent queuing for them, and they are eaten hot with a row of bhortas, mustard, coriander, garlic or dried fish, or with duck curry. At home, leftover chitoi is soaked overnight in milk sweetened with date-palm jaggery to make dudh chitoi for breakfast. A batter that is too thin gives flat, dense cakes; it should be like a thick pancake batter. Chef's tip: blend a spoonful of cooked rice into the batter, which keeps the pitha soft and spongy even after it cools.

50 minBangladeshiBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten freeSpicy
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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 minSri LankanSaladsVeganGluten free
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Asa watFish in berbere stew

Around Lake Tana in Bahir Dar and on the shores of Lake Hawassa, fresh tilapia, Nile perch and catfish are cheap and plentiful, so fish goes into the same deep red berbere sauce that elsewhere would hold beef or chicken. Asa wat has the familiar long-cooked onion base and warming spice, but it is lighter than a meat wat, with tender, sweet chunks of fish soaking up the sauce. It is eaten with injera, often alongside a lentil or greens dish, and is a popular choice on fasting days for those who eat fish. Stirring once the fish is in is the classic mistake; it breaks into shreds, so shake the pan instead. Chef's tip: add the fish only once the sauce is fully cooked and thick, then give it no more than 10 minutes.

55 minEthiopianFishGluten freeSpicy
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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 minPakistaniVegetarianVeganGluten free
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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 minBulgarianMeatGluten free
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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 minPakistaniIndian SweetsGluten free
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Bahamian guava duffSteamed guava roll

Guava duff is the Bahamas' best-loved dessert, served at Junkanoo season, Sunday dinners and Nassau restaurants alike: a soft dough spread with sweet stewed guava, rolled up, wrapped in cloth or foil and steamed until tender, then sliced and drowned in a warm butter sauce. Traditionally the sauce has rum in it, which is only lightly cooked, so the rum version is for adults only; the vanilla sauce below makes it alcohol-free for everyone. The most common mistake is rolling the duff too tight, which stops it rising; leave room in the wrapping for it to swell. Chef's tip: sieve the guava pulp to remove the hard seeds, and keep the thick paste for the filling.

135 minCaribbeanDesserts
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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 minAfghanMeatGluten free
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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 minBalkanMeat
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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 minBangladeshiCurriesVeganGluten free
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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 minBangladeshiIndian SweetsGluten free
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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 minBangladeshiSnacks & StartersVeganGluten freeSpicy
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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 minBangladeshiChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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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 minBalticBreakfast & Brunch
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Chiu chow fun guoPork and peanut dumplings

Chiu Chow families who settled around Sheung Wan and Kowloon City brought these chubby half-moon dumplings with them, and Hong Kong teahouses still steam them in bamboo baskets for the morning crowd. The wrapper is a mix of wheat and tapioca starch that turns translucent and slightly elastic, so you can see the filling inside: minced pork, crunchy roasted peanuts, garlic chives, salty preserved radish and a little dried shrimp. Each bite is chewy, savoury and crunchy at once. Dab them with chilli oil or a little Chiu Chow chilli sauce. People often roll the dough too thin, then it tears as it steams; aim for 2 mm and keep it under a damp cloth while you work. Chef's tip: toast the peanuts yourself and add them at the very end so they stay crunchy.

90 minHong KongSnacks & Starters
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Kalu dodolRice flour and jaggery sweet

Hambantota and Kalutara both claim the best kalu dodol, and roadside shops in each town sell long, black, glistening slabs wrapped in paper, bought by travellers as gifts for the family back home. The sweet is a test of stamina: coconut milk is cooked down until its oil separates, then rice flour and kithul jaggery are stirred in and the mixture is worked over the heat for two to three hours until it turns dark, glossy and stiff, with cashews and cardamom added at the end. It sets into a chewy, fudgy sweet with a deep caramel and coconut flavour, and is served in thin slices during Avurudu and at weddings. Giving up too early is the one mistake everyone makes once; undercooked dodol stays sticky and grey instead of firm and almost black. Chef's tip: use the widest heavy pan you have and a long wooden spoon, and keep stirring the same direction, scraping the base, so nothing catches.

195 minSri LankanDessertsVeganGluten free
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