Featured recipe

Sakarpada

Sweet fried dough diamonds

Sakarpada (shakarpara) are little sweet diamonds of a rich dough made with ghee, milk and sugar, fried until golden and crunchy. They are a Diwali favourite with tea, and the cubes go into bhusu too. They keep for weeks in an air-tight tin.

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Bakonyi sertésszeletPork in mushroom paprika sauce

The Bakony hills north of Lake Balaton are known for their beech forests and mushrooms, and any Hungarian dish called bakonyi comes with a creamy paprika and mushroom sauce. Here it covers seared pork loin steaks, a favourite of roadside inns and Sunday lunches across Transdanubia. The sauce starts like a pörkölt with onion, paprika, pepper and tomato, then takes on sliced mushrooms and is finished with sour cream, so it is earthy, tangy and rich. Serve it with nokedli or rice to soak it up. Where most people go wrong is boiling the sauce after the sour cream goes in, which makes it split; keep it just below a simmer. Chef's tip: use a mix of wild and chestnut mushrooms if you can, and fry them hard first so they brown instead of stewing.

60 min

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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.

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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 min

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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 min

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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 min

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Bakeapple jamCloudberry jam

Bakeapples, the amber cloudberries of the Labrador and Newfoundland bogs, ripen for a few weeks in late July and August, and families on the Northern Peninsula and the Labrador coast pick them by the bucket. Turned into jam, they taste of apricot, honey and wild herbs, and the soft seeds give it texture. It is spread on toast, tea biscuits and toutons, or stirred through cream. Frozen cloudberries work if you can't get fresh. A common mistake is boiling too long, which darkens the colour and dulls the flavour. Chef's tip: test the set early, on a cold saucer.

40 min

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Csabai kolbászPaprika pork sausage

Every October the town of Békéscsaba holds a sausage festival where teams grind, season and stuff pork by hand, and the town's name is on Hungary's most famous paprika sausage. The real csabai is smoked over beech and then air-dried for weeks; curing like that needs curing salt, careful temperature and humidity control and a lot of experience, so this recipe makes the same spicy pork mixture as a fresh sausage that is cooked through to 71 °C and never eaten raw. It is fiery, garlicky and deep red from sweet and hot paprika with a warm hint of caraway, and is excellent grilled or pan-fried, with mustard, fresh bread, pickled peppers and raw onion. The usual slip is letting the meat get warm while you work, which smears the fat and gives a dry, crumbly sausage; keep everything ice cold. Chef's tip: fry a small test patty before stuffing to check the salt and heat.

240 min

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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

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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.

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KålrabistappeMashed swede

Kålrabistappe is the bright orange mash of swede that sits beside almost every Norwegian winter dinner: with pinnekjøtt lamb ribs at Christmas in western Norway, with raspeballer on Thursdays, with salted meat and sausages. It is simple: swede and a little potato boiled soft and mashed with butter, a splash of the cooking water and nutmeg. A common mistake is mashing it in a blender, which makes it gluey. Chef's tip: let the swede steam dry in the pan for a couple of minutes after draining; the mash stays fluffy, not watery.

40 minScandinavian Sides

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Kalo jeera bhortaNigella seed mash

A bhorta lunch spread in a Bangladeshi home always has one tiny, dark mound that people eat a pinch at a time, and that is kalo jeera bhorta. Nigella seeds are toasted until fragrant, then ground on the shil-pata, the stone slab and roller, with garlic, roasted dried chilli, onion and mustard oil into a coarse, almost black paste that is nutty, bitter and fiery all at once. Grandmothers serve it in winter, believing it wards off colds, and a little is mixed into the first handful of hot rice before moving on to fish or dal. Burnt seeds make it acrid, so the trap is toasting over too high a heat; stop as soon as they smell toasty and start to pop. Chef's tip: grind the seeds alone first, then add the garlic and oil, for a smoother paste in a small grinder.

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195 min

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BacánPlantain and pork parcels

Bacán belongs to Baracoa, the coconut-growing corner of eastern Cuba, where it is made for family gatherings and sold wrapped at weekend markets. Grated green plantain is mixed with fresh coconut milk into a soft dough, wrapped around a filling of seasoned pork in a banana leaf and steamed until set, a little like a tamal but sweeter and silkier. The pork is shoulder, cooked in a sofrito before wrapping. The common mistake is using ripe plantain, which won't set; it must be hard and green. Chef's tip: pass the banana leaves briefly over a flame or hot pan until they turn glossy and supple, and they will fold without splitting.

120 min

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Croûte au fromageWine-soaked bread with Gruyère

Croûte au fromage is the après-ski supper of Valais and Vaud, served in mountain restaurants from Verbier to Zermatt in sizzling dishes: thick slices of stale bread sprinkled with white wine, rubbed with garlic, heaped with grated Gruyère and baked until bubbling, often with a fried egg on top. This recipe uses white wine, as it traditionally does; for an alcohol-free version, use the swap in the ingredient note. Gruyère is made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian Swiss-style cheese. A common mistake is soaking the bread with too much wine, which makes it soggy. Chef's tip: toast the bread first, then sprinkle, so it stays crisp underneath and soft on top.

25 min

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KalkanFried turbot steaks

Turbot season on the Bulgarian Black Sea is short and strictly controlled, so in spring locals in Burgas and Balchik queue at the fish market for kalkan, the flat, diamond-shaped fish with firm, sweet white flesh. Seaside restaurants cut it across the bone into thick steaks, dust them with flour and fry them in sunflower oil until the skin is crisp and the flesh pearly, then serve them simply with lemon and a crunchy salad of shredded cabbage and carrot dressed with vinegar. Brill or halibut steaks work the same way if turbot is out of reach. A common mistake is turning the fish too soon, which tears the crust; leave it until it releases from the pan by itself. Chef's tip: score the dark skin twice so the steaks stay flat and cook evenly.

30 min

Bulgarian Fish

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KalachPadlock-shaped wheat bread

Street sellers in nineteenth-century Moscow shouted for kalachi hot from the oven, and the town of Murom near Vladimir had its own famous version. The loaf is shaped like a padlock with a thin arched handle; carters and labourers held it by the handle with grimy hands, ate the plump body and, so the story goes, left the handle for the poor, which gave Russian the phrase 'to come to the handle' for hitting rock bottom. The dough is lean and vegan, just flour, water, yeast and salt, kneaded firm and chilled, so the crumb comes out white, chewy and close under a thin crisp shell. Eat it warm with soup, or tear it with tea and jam. A common mistake is a slack dough; it must feel firm, or the handle loses its shape. Chef's tip: pour hot water into a tin on the oven floor as the bread goes in; the steam gives the glossy, pale crust.

175 min

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Kakra bhunaMud crab masala

The muddy channels of the Sundarbans and the shrimp farms around Shyamnagar and Paikgachha are crab country, and in Khulna homes the big-clawed mud crabs are chopped in half, fried and then cooked down in a thick, fiery masala until it coats every crack and crevice. It is a dish for eating with your hands, sucking the masala from the shells and cracking the claws, with plain rice and a bowl of water for your fingers. Crabs must be bought alive and lively, or freshly cooked from a fishmonger you trust: throw away any that are dead before cooking, have a cracked shell or smell unpleasant. Ask the fishmonger to dispatch and clean them for you if you are not confident doing it yourself. Undercooking is the risk to avoid; the shells should be bright orange-red and the meat white and opaque right through. Chef's tip: crack the claws lightly before they go in, so the masala seeps inside.

60 min

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Bakra Eid kalejiStir-fried goat liver

The first thing cooked in countless Pakistani homes on the morning of Eid-ul-Adha, just after the sacrifice, is kaleji: the goat's liver, still very fresh, sliced and stir-fried in a karahi with onion, tomato, ginger and green chilli, then eaten at once with hot paratha or naan while the rest of the meat is being divided. The dish is quick and fierce, tender in the middle, sharp with chilli and lemon. Outside Eid, butchers in every city sell goat or lamb liver for the same breakfast. Overcooking makes liver rubbery, but undercooking is not safe, so cut it into even pieces and cook until it reaches 71 °C with no pink left; it will still be tender. Chef's tip: add the salt only at the very end, as salting liver early draws out moisture and toughens it.

25 min

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Kala bhunaDark mustard oil beef curry

Kala means black, and that is the colour you are aiming for: Chittagong's kala bhuna is beef that is first cooked with spices until tender and then fried and stirred, patiently, for the best part of an hour until the pieces turn dark brown to nearly black and the masala clings to them like a crust. It is a dish from the port city's wedding and Eid kitchens, now a fixture of Chittagong restaurants in Dhaka, eaten with plain rice, khichuri or rice-flour chitoi ruti. The taste is deep and roasted, sharp with mustard oil, black pepper and a little nutmeg and mace, with no gravy at all. The most common slip is turning up the heat to speed up the blackening, which burns the spices bitter rather than caramelising the meat. Chef's tip: it improves overnight, so make it a day ahead and re-fry it briefly before serving.

150 min

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Kalai rutiUrad dal and rice flour bread

In Chapai Nawabganj and Rajshahi, kalai ruti stalls fire up as the weather turns cold, and the bread has become such a regional symbol that people from Dhaka make the trip just to eat it. Flour ground from mashkalai, or urad dal, is mixed with rice flour and hot water, then patted by hand between wet palms into thick rounds and baked on a clay tawa until speckled and toasty. The texture is dense, soft and slightly chewy, with an earthy, nutty taste. It is always eaten with something sharp: a raw bhorta of onion, green chilli and mustard oil, a smoky begun bhorta, or duck or beef curry in winter. Over-wet dough is what defeats most first attempts; it should be soft but hold its shape when patted. Chef's tip: keep a bowl of water beside you and wet your palms before shaping each ruti, which stops sticking and gives the characteristic smooth surface.

45 min

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Fritaja sa šparogamaWild asparagus scrambled eggs

Come April, families across Istria and the Kvarner coast of Croatia walk the hedgerows picking thin, dark wild asparagus, and the first bunch nearly always becomes fritaja. Despite the name it is softer than an omelette: the spears are fried in olive oil, then beaten eggs are stirred through until they set in loose, creamy curds. Wild asparagus tastes greener and slightly bitter, which is lovely against the rich egg; thin garden asparagus works if you can't forage. Eat it for breakfast or a light supper with crusty bread and a glass of cold water or fresh juice. The usual slip is cooking the eggs hard and dry; stir gently over a low heat and stop while they still look moist. Chef's tip: snap each spear and keep only the part that breaks cleanly; the woody ends never soften.

20 minBalkan Breakfast & Brunch

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KesäkeittoSummer vegetable and milk soup

In July, when Finland's first new potatoes, baby carrots, peas and cauliflower arrive at market stalls in Helsinki and Turku, families make kesäkeitto: the vegetables simmered in water until just tender, then finished with milk and a knob of butter and lots of dill. It is light, sweet and pale green, eaten with rye bread and butter. A common mistake is boiling it once the milk is in, which can curdle the soup. Chef's tip: add the vegetables in order of cooking time, so each is just tender and keeps its colour.

40 minScandinavian Soups

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Brav u mlijekuLamb slow-cooked in milk

Highland shepherds in northern Montenegro cook young lamb this way when the flocks come down from summer pastures, slowly in a covered pan with milk, garlic and rosemary until the meat comes off the bone and the milk has reduced to a savoury, slightly curdled, golden sauce over the potatoes. It sounds unusual but tastes wonderfully mellow, sweet and garlicky. Serve it with bread and a green salad. The usual slip is cooking it uncovered from the start, so the milk scorches before the lamb is soft. Chef's tip: uncover only for the last half hour, so the top browns while the sauce underneath stays creamy.

150 minBalkan Meat

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Dambun namaSpiced shredded beef floss

During Ramadan and Eid in Kano, Kaduna and Maiduguri, tins of dambun nama appear on every table: beef boiled tender with onion and ginger, pounded in a mortar until it falls into fine threads, then fried slowly with onion and spices until it is dry, fluffy and golden. It keeps well, which is why it was made before long journeys, and it is eaten as a snack, with rice or tucked into bread. The texture should be like soft wool, not crunchy crumbs. Because the meat is fully cooked before drying, it is safe; store it in the fridge. Chef's tip: let the boiled beef steam dry for ten minutes before pounding, as wet meat clumps in the pan instead of separating into threads, which is the usual mistake.

130 min

Nigerian Meat

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KalakukkoFish and pork rye loaf

Kalakukko is the travelling food of Savonia in eastern Finland, a speciality of Kuopio's market square: a thick rye crust packed with small whole fish, usually vendace (muikku) or perch, and slices of fatty pork belly, sealed and baked for five or six hours, until the fish bones soften completely and the juices soak the inside of the crust. This dish contains pork. It is cut open like a lid and eaten in slices, crust and all, hot or cold. A common mistake is a crack in the crust, which lets the juices escape and dries out the fish. Chef's tip: patch any cracks with a little rye dough during baking, and wrap the loaf in foil and a towel after baking to rest.

420 minScandinavian Fish

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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 min

Bangladeshi Snacks & Starters

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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 min

Nepali Curries

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Oshi saboOvernight chicken and fruit rice

Oshi sabo is the Bukharan answer to cholent: rice, chicken, a mass of green herbs and a handful of dried fruit are packed into a cloth bag or pot on Friday afternoon and cooked slowly until Saturday lunch, and in Bukharan homes in Holon, Ramat Gan and Jerusalem the green-flecked rice and its crisp bottom crust are the centre of the Shabbat table. Coriander, dill and parsley melt into the rice and turn it green, while quince or apricots add sweetness. The meat falls apart and the rice stays separate. People often add too much liquid, which turns it to porridge; the water should barely cover. Chef's tip: dry the herbs well after washing, or they release water and make the rice soggy.

720 min

Israeli Rice & Grains

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Kadala thel dalaStir-fried chickpeas

As the sun goes down over the sea at Galle Face Green in Colombo, vendors with glass-sided carts scoop warm kadala into cones twisted from old newspaper, and the same snack appears at temple festivals, perahera nights and every Avurudu gathering. Boiled chickpeas are tossed in coconut oil with mustard seeds, red onion, curry leaves, dried chilli and a handful of freshly grated coconut, so they are nutty, salty and gently hot, with a soft bite. Some vendors stir in Maldive fish; this version is vegan. Tinned chickpeas make it a ten-minute job, though home-boiled dried ones have a firmer, nuttier texture. Wet chickpeas are the problem to avoid, as they spit in the oil and the spices slide off; drain and pat them dry. Chef's tip: let the onion and curry leaves fry until the edges just begin to brown before the chickpeas go in; that toasty flavour is what makes street kadala so addictive.

20 min

Sri Lankan Snacks & Starters

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CovrigiRomanian pretzel rings

Morning commuters in Bucharest buy them hot from a hole-in-the-wall covrigărie, a paper bag of rings still warm enough to fog the glass; in Buzău, the town most proud of them, people swear by the thin twisted kind. Covrigi are a lean yeast dough with no egg or milk, so they are eaten through the fasting seasons too. Each ring is dipped briefly in boiling soda water, scattered with coarse salt and seeds, then baked until shiny and chewy with a crisp crust. A common mistake is leaving them in the water bath too long, which wrinkles the surface; 20–30 seconds is plenty. Serve them on their own, with a glass of ayran-style yogurt drink or with soup. Chef's tip: shape the rings on a dry, unfloured worktop, as a little grip makes the ropes easier to roll thin and even.

90 min

Romanian Breads & Parathas

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KadaFlaky pastry with butter crumbs

Kada is a tea-time pastry found in bakeries from Tbilisi to the Mtskheta monastery stalls, where it is sold warm beside churchkhela: a round of rich yeasted dough, folded around a sweet filling of flour, butter and sugar rubbed into crumbs, then rolled flat so the filling bakes into soft, melting layers. A common mistake is rolling the filled dough too hard, which pushes the crumbs through the surface. Chef's tip: chill the filling so the butter stays cold; it melts in the oven and makes flaky, buttery pockets.

80 min

Georgian Baking

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Kachila (cooked)Spiced buffalo mince

In the Newar homes and bhoj feasts of the Kathmandu Valley, kachila is a prized delicacy: finely minced buffalo meat mixed with mustard oil, garlic, ginger, chilli and numbing timur, eaten in small spoonfuls with beaten rice, traditionally raw. Raw minced meat can carry harmful bacteria and parasites right through, so the traditional raw form is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system, and we do not recommend it for anyone at home. This version keeps every bit of the seasoning but sears the mince quickly in a very hot pan to 71 °C, so it stays soft and loose rather than turning into a dry fry, then dresses it with the classic smoking mustard-oil tempering. It is eaten as part of samay baji or as a snack with chiura. The usual slip is overcooking it into crumbly pellets; take it off the heat the moment it is cooked through. Chef's tip: use buffalo or beef mince, or ask the butcher to mince lean beef twice, very fine.

30 min

Nepali Meat

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Kachi lassiMilk and water lassi

Harvest time in the Punjab is thirsty work: when the wheat is being cut in the April heat, a steel jug of kachi lassi is carried out to the workers: fresh milk thinned with cold water, stirred with sugar and poured over chunks of ice. Unlike yogurt lassi there is no tang, just a light, clean, milky sweetness that quenches thirst better than plain water, and in many villages it is the drink offered to any guest who arrives on a hot afternoon. Some people add a pinch of salt instead of sugar, or a few drops of rose water. The traditional kind uses raw milk straight from the buffalo; use pasteurised milk instead to be safe. The usual mistake is making it with too little water, which turns it heavy instead of refreshing. Chef's tip: whisk it hard or shake it in a jar so it turns frothy, which makes it feel even cooler.

5 min

Pakistani Drinks

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Kachumar saladTomato, onion and cucumber salad

No Pakistani dastarkhwan feels complete without a little bowl of kachumar, whether it sits beside a biryani at a Karachi wedding, a karahi at a highway truck stop or plain dal at home on a Tuesday. It is nothing more than tomato, onion and cucumber cut into very small, even dice, dressed at the last moment with lemon, salt, green chilli and coriander, yet the crunch and sharpness are what make rich food feel lighter. Some families add a pinch of roasted cumin or a few mint leaves; in Punjab it is often spooned straight onto the side of the plate rather than served apart. Dressing it too early is the main trap, because the salt pulls water from the tomatoes and leaves a soggy puddle. Chef's tip: seed the tomatoes and cucumber before dicing so the salad stays crisp for the whole meal.

10 min

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Kaha bathTurmeric coconut rice

Burgher Sunday lunches, Christmas tables and Colombo wedding buffets share one thing: a heap of fragrant, saffron-coloured kaha bath, the yellow rice that also forms the base of lamprais. Long-grain or samba rice is fried with onion, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and curry leaves, then cooked in coconut milk with turmeric, lemongrass and pandan until every grain is separate, glossy and perfumed. It is served with chicken or beef curry, brinjal moju and a sharp achcharu, and is often scattered with fried cashews and raisins. Burgher cooks usually use ghee or butter and chicken stock; this version is vegan, with coconut oil and coconut milk carrying the richness. Lifting the lid to stir while it cooks is the slip that turns it mushy, so seal the pot and leave it alone. Chef's tip: rinse the rice until the water runs clear and drain it well; dry grains toast better in the oil and stay fluffy.

40 min

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KabuniFestive rice with raisins and cinnamon

Kabuni is one of the oldest dishes of Albania, served in Tirana and the central lowlands at Bajram, weddings and wakes: rice fried in butter, cooked in a savoury lamb broth, then sweetened with sugar and studded with raisins and cinnamon. The result is buttery, gently sweet and fragrant, a sweet course with a savoury soul, eaten warm in small bowls. Because it is cooked in lamb stock it is not vegetarian. Where most people go wrong is skipping the frying of the rice; it is the toasting in butter that gives kabuni its nutty taste. Chef's tip: soak the raisins in hot water while the rice cooks so they swell and stay juicy.

60 minBalkan Desserts

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ThamekfoultCouscous with broad beans and peas

Spring in the Kabyle villages means thamekfoult: when the first broad beans and peas come in, they are steamed in the same basket as the couscous, so grain and vegetables cook together in one fragrant cloud of steam. There is no sauce at all; instead, the hot couscous is dressed generously with the region's peppery olive oil, so it tastes green, sweet and grassy. It is a family lunch dish, often eaten with a glass of buttermilk or a few olives; this version keeps it vegan. Chef's tip: oil the couscous before the first steaming, rubbing every grain; that stops it clumping and helps it swell evenly.

75 min

Algerian Rice & Grains

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CougnouChristmas brioche

Cougnou, also called cougnolle or bommetje, is the Christmas bread of Wallonia, given to children on Christmas morning: a soft brioche shaped like the infant Jesus in swaddling clothes, with a little clay or sugar medallion pressed into the middle, eaten with hot chocolate. Bakeries in Namur and Charleroi make them from early December. A common mistake is shaping them too small, which dries them in the oven. Chef's tip: make three balls, one large for the body and two small for the head and feet, pressed together tightly so they bake as one.

65 min

Belgian Baking

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ThikourbabineSemolina dumplings in pepper sauce

High in the Kabylie mountains east of Algiers, thikourbabine is a winter dish made from what is in the store cupboard: small balls of semolina dough poached in a fragrant red sauce of tomato, paprika, garlic and dried red peppers, with chickpeas, potatoes and courgettes. The dumplings turn tender and slightly chewy and soak up the sauce, which is peppery and warming rather than very hot. Families eat it from a shared bowl on cold evenings. Some cooks add meat; this is the meatless way it is often made at home. Chef's tip: let the dumplings rest after shaping; the surface dries a little and they hold together in the simmering sauce.

65 min

Algerian Vegetarian

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Couque de DinantHard honey biscuit

Couques de Dinant are the famously hard honey biscuits of Dinant on the Meuse, made only of flour and honey, pressed into carved wooden moulds showing castles, animals and the town's skyline, and baked so hot that the honey caramelises into a very hard, glossy biscuit. Dinant bakers say they keep for years; locals let a piece melt slowly in the mouth rather than biting. Honey is traditional; golden syrup makes a vegan version. A common mistake is a soft dough; it must be stiff enough to hold the mould's detail. Chef's tip: dust the mould with flour, press hard and tap the dough out sharply.

60 min

Belgian Baking

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Bajre di rotiPearl millet flatbread

Pearl millet grows where wheat gives up, in the sandy fields on the edge of the Cholistan desert around Bahawalpur, and there bajre di roti is the bread of winter, thick, grey-green and earthy with a slightly sweet, nutty taste. Because millet has no gluten, the dough is kneaded one roti at a time and patted out between wet palms rather than rolled, which takes a little practice but no special equipment. In village homes it is eaten hot with a lump of white butter or ghee and a piece of jaggery, or with sarson ka saag and a bowl of lassi; for a vegan meal, serve it with saag cooked in oil. Making all the dough at once is the classic error: millet dough dries and cracks within minutes. Chef's tip: knead each portion fresh with warm water and the heel of your hand until it feels smooth and slightly sticky, like soft clay.

35 min

Pakistani Breads & Parathas

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Curaçao kabritu stobaGoat stew with peppers

Stoba di kabritu is the home cooking of Curaçao and Aruba, a goat stew made in nearly every kunuku (country) kitchen and at birthday parties: bone-in goat browned and slowly braised with sweet peppers, tomato, onion, cumin, a hint of nutmeg and hot madame jeanette pepper, often with cucumber or papaya stirred in at the end. It is served with funchi (cornmeal), rice or fried plantain. The usual mistake is browning the goat too briefly; deep colour at the start gives the stew its rich brown sauce. Ask your butcher for goat cut into small pieces. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of brown sugar caramelised in the oil before the meat goes in gives the authentic dark, slightly sweet base.

150 minCaribbean Meat

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KahiFlaky pastry with date syrup

Kahi is what Baghdadi families in Ramat Gan and Or Yehuda make on Shavuot and festival mornings: squares of dough folded with butter into many layers, baked until flaky, then doused with silan (date syrup) or sugar and eaten with tea or a little yogurt. Outside it shatters; inside the layers stay soft and buttery. The common mistake is letting the butter melt into the dough while folding, which leaves you with a flat, bready square. Chef's tip: chill the folded dough for 20 minutes between rolls if your kitchen is warm, and bake in a really hot oven so the layers puff.

60 min

Israeli Breakfast & Brunch

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Kabab-e-daygiPot-cooked lamb kebab

Daygi means from the pot, and this is the kebab Kabul families make when there is no grill or the weather is too cold for one: chunks of lamb browned hard, then left to cook slowly with onions, tomato, garlic and green chilli in a covered deg, with barely any water, until the meat is soft and coated in a thick, concentrated sauce. It is a Friday lunch and party dish, set out with stacks of naan, raw onion and radishes and a bowl of yogurt. The flavour is deep and meaty with black pepper and coriander seed. Adding water early to stop it sticking just boils the lamb; trust the onions and tomatoes to give up their juice and keep the heat low. Chef's tip: uncover for the final 10 minutes and let the sauce fry in the rendered fat, which gives the glossy finish that makes it a kebab rather than a stew.

120 min

Afghan Meat

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Bajan fish cutterFried flying fish sandwich

Around Barbados a "cutter" is any sandwich in a salt bread roll, and the fish cutter is the lunch people queue for at beach bars from Oistins to Bathsheba: a piece of flying fish (or mahi-mahi, called dolphin locally) seasoned with Bajan seasoning, crumbed, fried crisp and stuffed into a split roll with lettuce, tomato and a dab of fiery yellow pepper sauce. The fish should be juicy and the crust shattering. The usual mistake is frying too cool, which makes the coating greasy; keep the oil hot and fry in small batches. Use flying fish fillets if you can find them frozen, or any thin white fish. Chef's tip: rub a little of the frying oil over the cut sides of the rolls and toast them in a dry pan, so the bread doesn't go soggy under the fish.

25 min

Bajan Fast Food

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Kabachkovaya ikraCourgette spread

Late summer at the dacha means a glut of courgettes, and the answer across Russia is this soft orange spread, once sold in glass jars in every Soviet grocery and still made by the potful at home. Courgette, carrot and onion are fried in sunflower oil, stewed with tomato until they collapse, blended and then cooked down again until thick enough to stand on bread. It tastes sweet, mellow and lightly tangy, and is eaten cold on black rye bread, with boiled potatoes or as part of a zakuski spread. A common mistake is stopping too early: if the purée still looks watery it will taste flat, so keep stirring until a spoon leaves a trail across the pan. This is a fridge recipe, not a canning one. Chef's tip: make it a day ahead; the flavour rounds out overnight.

75 min

Russian Chutneys & Dips

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Bajan jug jugPigeon peas and salt meat mash

Jug jug belongs to Christmas in Barbados, served alongside baked ham and roast pork on the big lunch table: green pigeon peas and salted beef and salted pork, cooked tender and minced, then stirred with guinea corn (sorghum) flour, herbs and onion into a thick, savoury, mouldable mash. Its roots are often traced to Scottish settlers' haggis and West African grain cookery, and it tastes rich, salty and herby. The common mistake is not soaking the salt meats long enough, which makes the whole pot too salty to eat; soak them overnight in plenty of water. Cook until the minced meat mixture is piping hot (71 °C) throughout. Chef's tip: stir in the sorghum flour a spoonful at a time while the pot bubbles, like making polenta, so it never turns lumpy.

180 min

Bajan Meat

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JulskinkaChristmas glazed ham

Julskinka, the Christmas ham, is the centrepiece of the Swedish julbord: a lightly cured pork leg poached slowly, then brushed with a glaze of mustard and egg, scattered with breadcrumbs and browned in the oven. This is a pork dish. Swedish families cook it a few days before Christmas Eve and eat it cold in thin slices with mustard, and the cooking broth is used for 'dopp i grytan', dipping bread into the broth on Christmas Eve. Use a mild cured gammon. A common mistake is boiling it hard, which makes the meat stringy. Chef's tip: keep the water at a bare tremble, about 85 °C, and take it out when the centre reaches 71 °C; it stays juicy.

230 minScandinavian Meat

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Arepa di pampunaCinnamon pumpkin pancakes

Curaçao and Aruba use the word arepa differently from their South American neighbours: arepa di pampuna are not corn arepas but small, sweet pumpkin pancakes, fried in a little oil and eaten warm for breakfast, or alongside a bowl of soup or stoba at lunch. The mashed pumpkin makes them tender and bright orange, with cinnamon and a little sugar. The mistake is too much flour, which makes them dense; the batter should be thick but soft. Chef's tip: cook the pumpkin the day before and drain it overnight in the fridge for the lightest pancakes.

30 minCaribbean Breakfast & Brunch

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JoulutorttuPrune jam pastry stars

Joulutortut, the star-shaped Christmas tarts of Finland, appear in every home and café in December, piled on plates with glögi: squares of puff pastry cut at the corners and folded into a pinwheel around a spoon of thick prune jam, baked golden and dusted with icing sugar. A common mistake is using thin, runny jam, which bubbles out and burns. Chef's tip: cook the prune jam until very thick, and press the folded points down firmly with a dab of water so the stars don't spring open in the oven.

40 minScandinavian Baking

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Tunisian octopus salad

Fishermen of the Kerkennah islands, off Sfax, still catch octopus in clay pots laid on the shallow seabed, and in winter the season's catch turns up in harbour cafés and home kitchens as this simple salad. The octopus is simmered slowly until tender, cooled in its broth, then sliced and tossed with red onion, plenty of parsley, lemon juice and good olive oil, with a little harissa if you like. It is light, clean and briny, eaten as a starter with bread or on a summer table of salads and grilled fish. Buy octopus from a reputable fishmonger; frozen and thawed octopus is often more tender than fresh. A common mistake is boiling the octopus at a rolling boil, which makes it rubbery; keep it at a gentle simmer until a knife slides in easily. Chef's tip: let the cooked octopus cool in its cooking liquid for 20 minutes before slicing; it stays juicy rather than tightening up.

80 min

Tunisian Fish

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JonjoliPickled bladdernut flowers

Jonjoli are the clustered flower buds of the bladdernut shrub, picked in May across Imereti and pickled in brine, and a bowl of them dressed with onion and oil appears on almost every Georgian table, from Kutaisi kitchens to Tbilisi restaurants. They taste sour, a little like capers crossed with olives, and cut through rich cheese bread and grilled meat. Jars are sold in Georgian and Russian shops, and the home pickling takes weeks, so this recipe starts from a jar. A common mistake is serving them straight from the jar; they need rinsing and a short soak, or the brine overwhelms everything. Chef's tip: dress them at least 30 minutes ahead so the onion softens and its sharpness balances the sour stalks.

15 min

Georgian Sides

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JidášeEaster honey buns

Maundy Thursday, "Green Thursday" in Czech, is the day for jidáše, sweet yeasted buns rolled into ropes and coiled into spirals or loose knots to recall the rope of Judas, which gives them their name. Families in Bohemia and Moravia bake them for breakfast that morning and brush them, still hot, with honey; eating one was once said to bring health for the year. They are soft and fluffy, lightly scented with lemon, with a sticky, shiny top. A common mistake is brushing the honey on cold buns, where it just sits; warm the honey and glaze them straight from the oven so it soaks in. Honey is not suitable for babies under one year old. Chef's tip: roll the ropes thinner than you think, about finger thickness; they double as they prove.

145 min

Czech Baking

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Čočka na kyseloSour lentils with fried egg

Brown lentils, a good splash of vinegar and a crisp-edged fried egg on top: čočka na kyselo is the Czech school-canteen and workers' lunch that people grow nostalgic about. Bohemian families also eat lentils around New Year, when the small round seeds stand for coins. The lentils are cooked soft, bound in a light roux with fried onion and finished sour and a touch sweet, then served with a sliced pickled gherkin and fresh bread. The texture should be spoonable, not soupy and not stiff. Where most cooks slip up is adding the vinegar too early: acid keeps lentils firm, so they stay hard however long you cook them. Season at the end instead. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of mustard stirred in with the vinegar rounds out the sourness without making it taste of mustard.

50 min

Czech Curries

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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 minCaribbean Breads & Parathas

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Jeow somSweet-sour chilli sauce

Grilled food in Laos rarely leaves the stall without a little bag of jeow som, the thin, sour-sweet sauce that every street grill from Vientiane's riverside to small-town bus stations ladles out beside the skewers. Unlike the pounded jeows, it is pourable: lime juice, garlic and raw chilli in a light, sweet-salty syrup, sharp enough to cut through anything charred. Dip grilled tofu, corn, aubergine or sticky rice into it, or spoon it over a plate of steamed vegetables. Stall versions lean on fish sauce; salt and tamari keep this one vegetarian. Tipping granulated sugar straight into cold lime juice is the usual fault, since it never fully dissolves and the sauce tastes gritty and unbalanced. Chef's tip: let the sauce sit for 15 minutes before serving so the garlic and chilli mellow into the lime.

10 min

Lao Chutneys & Dips

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Jhinuk pithaShell-shaped coconut rice pitha

Jhinuk is the Bengali word for a freshwater mussel shell, and these little ridged, curled pithas look exactly like the shells children pick from village ponds in winter. Small balls of rice dough enriched with grated coconut are pressed against the back of a fork or a comb and rolled so they curl up with fine grooves on the outside, then fried crisp and tossed in a thick cardamom syrup that dries into a thin, frosty sugar coat. Across Bangladesh they are made in the cold months and around Poush Sankranti, piled on a plate for guests with tea, and they keep well in a tin. A thin syrup leaves them soggy instead of glazed, which is where most batches disappoint; it must be boiled until it threads between your fingers. Chef's tip: keep the dough balls under a damp cloth while you shape, so the edges don't crack as they curl.

60 min

Bangladeshi Indian Sweets

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Jeow hetGrilled mushroom dip

Monsoon jeow, this one: once the rains bring mushrooms to every Lao market from July onwards, cooks grill a basket of them over charcoal and pound them with roasted chilli and garlic for a meaty, smoky dip that disappears with sticky rice at dinner. The texture is shaggy rather than smooth, juicy shreds of mushroom held together by a hot, garlicky paste, with fresh herbs stirred through at the end. It is just as good with steamed greens, cucumber and long beans, or spooned over grilled tofu. Oyster and king oyster mushrooms are the closest match to the wild ones. Many people blitz or pound it to a paste and lose the chew, and that's the thing to avoid. Chef's tip: tear the grilled mushrooms into strips by hand before they go into the mortar, then pound only to bruise them.

25 min

Lao Chutneys & Dips

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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 min

Ethiopian Fish

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Jeow mak keuaSmoky aubergine dip

Long purple aubergines laid straight on the embers turn into one of the softest dips on a Lao dinner tray, eaten up and down the country in the hot season when aubergines are cheap and plentiful. The skins blacken and the flesh collapses into a smoky, silky pulp, which is pounded loosely with charred garlic, shallot and green chilli until it is spoonable but still a little stringy. Pinch a ball of sticky rice, press a hollow in it and scoop up the jeow, or dip in cucumber, long beans and cabbage. Families often add fish sauce; here it is seasoned with salt and a little tamari so it suits vegetarians. Rinsing the charred aubergine under the tap is a mistake, as it washes away the very smoke you worked for. Chef's tip: peel with damp fingertips and leave a few flecks of black skin in the dip.

30 min

Lao Chutneys & Dips

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JareeshCracked wheat with yogurt

Across Najd and Qassim, jareesh is comfort food for cold desert evenings and a fixture of Ramadan tables in Riyadh: coarsely cracked wheat cooked slowly until it collapses into a soft, porridge-like mass, then loosened with laban and crowned with onions fried in ghee and cumin. Many families cook it in chicken stock with pieces of meat; this version uses water or vegetable stock and is fully vegetarian. The texture should be creamy but still a little nubbly, with a gentle tang from the yogurt. The most common mistake is adding the laban over a high heat, which splits it into grainy curds; stir it in off the boil. Serve it with daqqus and a green salad. Chef's tip: soak the wheat first and skim the starchy foam during the first boil for a cleaner, smoother result.

120 minGulf Arabian Rice & Grains

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Jāņu siersCaraway curd cheese

Jāņu siers is the round, golden caraway cheese that Latvians make for Jāņi, the midsummer festival on 23–24 June, when it is eaten with rye bread and honey, and songs, around bonfires. Unlike most cheeses it needs no rennet: fresh curd cheese is cooked with hot milk, eggs, butter and caraway into a smooth mass, then pressed in a cloth and left to set. Its round shape and golden colour stand for the sun. A common mistake is cooking it over a high heat, which makes it grainy and rubbery. Chef's tip: stir constantly over a low heat until it pulls away from the pan in one shiny ball, then press it straight away.

90 minBaltic Snacks & Starters

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JasheedFried minced fish with rice

Jasheed comes from the coastal kitchens of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, where baby shark caught in the shallows was boiled, shredded and fried with heaps of onion and spice, then piled over white rice for lunch. It is dry, fragrant and savoury, a little like a fish keema, with sweet onion and a warmth of turmeric and bezar. At home any firm white fish such as hamour, cod or haddock works perfectly; use shark only where it is legal and sustainably caught. The mistake people make is skipping the squeeze-dry after poaching, so the mixture stews instead of frying. Chef's tip: take your time over the onions, they should be soft and amber before the fish goes in, because they carry the sweetness of the dish.

50 minGulf Arabian Fish

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