Featured recipe

Kesar paneer kali

Saffron paneer in rose syrup

Kesar paneer kali are oval sweets of soft home-made paneer coloured with saffron, poached in light rose syrup and soaked overnight, then split and filled with cherries and pistachio. They're spongy, juicy and delicately floral. Serve them chilled; the book's photo shows them topped with a swirl of whipped cream too.

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AnababeroLayered injera with spiced butter

Ask for anababero at a breakfast café in Addis Ababa and two injeras arrive stacked as one, glued together with melted niter kibbeh and a dusting of berbere, then warmed on the griddle until the butter soaks through. The result is soft and tangy inside, a little crisp at the edges, and much richer than plain injera; the name roughly means 'layered' or 'piled on top'. It is torn and eaten as it is with sweet spiced tea or coffee, or served beside a bowl of ayib or a spoon of awaze for anyone who wants it hotter. Because it uses yesterday's injera, it is a favourite way to turn leftovers into a proper breakfast. Chef's tip: brush the butter on warm, not hot, so it melts into the injera's holes instead of pooling on the surface.

13 min

Ethiopian Breads & Parathas

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KoththamalliCoriander and ginger brew

At the first sniffle, many Sri Lankan mothers put a pot of koththamalli on the stove, and in Colombo offices and up in the damp hill towns during the monsoon you will see people sipping it from steel tumblers instead of tea. Coriander seeds are toasted, cracked and boiled with plenty of ginger until the water turns amber, giving a warm, earthy, slightly citrusy drink with a gentle ginger burn. It is traditionally drunk unsweetened with a piece of kithul or palm jaggery held in the other hand and nibbled between sips, though you can dissolve the jaggery in if you prefer. Grinding the seeds to powder is a mistake, because the drink turns muddy and gritty; they should only be cracked. Chef's tip: toast the coriander just until it darkens a shade and smells like orange peel; that is when the oils are at their best.

20 min

Sri Lankan Drinks

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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 min

Pakistani Indian Sweets

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KpokpoiSteamed fermented corn with palm oil

When the Ga people of Accra celebrate Homowo each August, a harvest festival whose name means 'hooting at hunger', chiefs sprinkle kpokpoi on the ground for the ancestors and families eat it from big bowls with palm nut soup. The fermented corn dough is steamed into fluffy, slightly sour crumbs, then rubbed with red palm oil and chopped okra so every grain is coated and the dish is pale orange and loose, not sticky. The festive soup is usually made with fish; this version is meat-free, and a vegetable palm nut soup or a simple pepper sauce goes well with it. Chef's tip: rub the steamed crumbs through a coarse sieve or between your palms while still warm; the usual mistake is leaving lumps, which stay doughy in the middle.

60 min

Ghanaian Rice & Grains

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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

Cuban Meat

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KremboChocolate-coated meringue cream biscuit

Krembo is Israel's winter treat: from October to February children all over the country unwrap the foil, argue about whether to eat the top or the bottom first, and end up with chocolate on their fingers. A round biscuit carries a tall dome of light, vanilla-scented meringue cream inside a thin shell of dark chocolate. This home version uses a cooked Italian-style meringue, made by pouring hot sugar syrup into whisked egg whites, so the whites are heated and the cream holds its shape without gelatine. The common mistake is dipping when the chocolate is too hot, which melts the meringue; let it cool until just warm. Chef's tip: freeze the piped domes for 20 minutes before dipping so the coating sets in a thin, even shell.

60 min

Israeli Desserts

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Doodh sodaMilk with lemon-lime soda

It sounds odd until you are standing in a crowd at a Lahore milk shop on a 45 °C June night, when a tall glass of doodh soda, foamy and sweet with a sharp citrus fizz, is the most refreshing thing in the city. The doodh-walas of Gawalmandi and Mozang chill milk in steel drums over ice, then pour it from a height into a glass with lemon-lime soda so that it froths like a milkshake, and people drink it straight after dinner or after a late plate of fried fish or chana. It tastes like a lighter, bubbly lassi, and children love it. What usually goes wrong is warm milk or flat soda, which makes it taste curdled rather than crisp. Chef's tip: chill both the milk and the soda until very cold, pour the milk first and add the soda in one go, then serve at once while the foam is high.

5 min

Pakistani Drinks

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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 min

Bulgarian Meat

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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 minBalkan Meat

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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 min

Pakistani Vegetarian

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Bhindi goshtMutton and okra curry

Summer in Punjab means okra in every bazaar, and the moment small, tender pods appear, households start making bhindi gosht for lunch: a dry-ish mutton curry with whole fried okra folded through at the end, tasting of tomato, green chilli and a little dried mango. It is eaten with chapati and a bowl of plain yogurt or raita on the side, and leftovers are even better packed in a tiffin the next day. The okra should be tender and bright, not slimy. That stringy texture comes from washing the okra and cutting it while wet, so wash and dry it completely before you trim it. Chef's tip: fry the okra separately until its edges blister, then add it to the meat only in the last ten minutes; it keeps its shape and the gravy stays clean.

90 min

Pakistani Meat

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Krumplis tésztaPasta with potatoes and paprika

Pasta with potato sounds like a joke to outsiders, but on the farms of the Great Plain krumplis tészta was a thrifty, filling supper for harvest days, and Hungarian children still ask for it by name. Little squares of egg pasta are tossed with soft, crushed potatoes that have been fried in onion and sweet paprika until golden in spots, so every forkful is starchy, soft and smoky-sweet. Traditionally it is cooked in lard; this version uses sunflower oil and is vegetarian. Eat it with a sharp cucumber salad or pickles to cut the richness, and a spoon of sour cream if you like. A common mistake is adding the paprika to a very hot pan, where it scorches in seconds and turns bitter; always pull the pan off the heat first. Chef's tip: let the potatoes catch slightly on the bottom of the pan before you add the pasta, for crunchy, toasty bits.

40 min

Hungarian Pasta & Noodles

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KattamaFlaky onion flatbread

Kattama is the layered flatbread of Kyrgyz homes, made to go with tea on cold mornings in Bishkek and the villages around Lake Issyk-Kul: a plain dough rolled thin, spread with butter and chopped onion, rolled up, coiled and rolled flat again, then fried in a pan so it puffs into flaky, crisp layers. A common mistake is pressing the coiled dough too hard, which squeezes out the butter and flattens the layers. Chef's tip: let the coils rest for 15 minutes before the final rolling; the gluten relaxes and the bread opens up into layers as it cooks.

65 min

Kyrgyz Breads & Parathas

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Bangladeshi aloo chopSpiced potato patties

Every chop-shop on a Dhaka street corner, and every iftar spread in the evening during Ramadan, has a tray of aloo chop: flattened ovals of mashed potato fried with onion, ginger and green chilli, dipped in a gram-flour batter and fried until puffed and golden. The inside is soft and fragrant with roasted cumin and coriander leaves, the coat thin and crunchy, and they are eaten hot, with a sprinkle of bit lobon (black salt), a squeeze of lime, kasundi mustard sauce or a dab of tamarind chutney, often tucked into a paper cone with muri. Watery potatoes are the commonest problem, as they make the patties split in the oil, so steam-dry them well after boiling. Chef's tip: add a pinch of rice flour to the gram-flour batter for a crisper coat that stays crunchy as it cools.

45 min

Bangladeshi Snacks & Starters

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Bhuga chawalBrown onion rice

Bhuga means fried, and in this everyday Sindhi rice it is the onions that are fried, slowly and patiently, until they are a deep mahogany brown, so the cooking water and then every grain turn a warm tan colour with a sweet, almost smoky flavour. In Karachi and Sukkur homes it is the rice that goes with Sindhi kadhi on a Friday, or with sai bhaji, the green dal and spinach stew, and a crisp aloo tuk or papad on the side. It is simple enough for a weeknight and good enough for guests. Burnt onions are the trap: there is only a short moment between dark brown and bitter black. Chef's tip: once the onions start to colour, lower the heat and stir constantly, and add the water the moment they reach the shade of strong tea.

45 min

Pakistani Rice & Grains

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Kubbat halabBeef-stuffed rice dough torpedoes

Kubbat halab, named after Aleppo but beloved of Baghdadi Jews, are golden torpedoes of turmeric rice dough wrapped around minced beef with parsley, almonds and raisins, and in Ramat Gan and Or Yehuda they are fried by the tray for weddings, Shabbat lunch and the Iraqi kiosks around the market. The shell is made from soaked, pounded rice rather than bulgur, so it is gluten free with a thin, crunchy crust and a soft inside. Eat them hot with amba and a chopped salad. The classic error is a shell too thick or with cracks, which either stays doughy or bursts in the oil; wet your hands and seal every seam. Chef's tip: cook the rice very soft and knead it while warm; cold rice will not bind.

100 min

Israeli Snacks & Starters

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DhikriSteamed rice flour dough shapes

For Maghi, the Tharu new year in mid-January, and for Dashain and Atwari, families in Dang, Bardiya and Kailali sit together on the floor shaping dhikri, long pieces of rice-flour dough rolled and twisted into ropes, spirals, fish, birds and finger-marked ridges before they are steamed. The finished pieces are soft, smooth and chewy, with a clean, sweetish rice flavour that makes them a canvas for whatever is served alongside: a spicy tomato and sesame chutney, a lentil soup, a vegetable curry or, in many homes, a festive meat curry. Leftovers are sliced and fried the next day. The usual mistake is mixing the dough too dry, which cracks as you shape it and steams up hard. Chef's tip: keep the dough covered with a damp cloth while you shape, and dip your fingers in water if it starts to crack.

45 min

Nepali Rice & Grains

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DhidoBuckwheat flour porridge

Before rice reached every corner of Nepal, dhido was what filled bellies in the high villages of Jumla, Dolpa, Mustang and the middle hills, and it is now enjoying a comeback in Kathmandu restaurants as a wholesome, gluten-free choice. Buckwheat or millet flour is rained into boiling water and stirred with a flat wooden paddle until it becomes a smooth, heavy, elastic mass, which is eaten with the fingers, pinched off and dipped into a sour vegetable soup, a bowl of lentils or a fiery tomato pickle. It has an earthy, slightly bitter flavour and a satisfying, sticky texture that is meant to be swallowed rather than chewed. Lumps are what ruin it most often, and they come from adding the flour too quickly. Chef's tip: add the flour in a thin stream with one hand while stirring hard with the other, and keep beating for a full 10 minutes once it is all in.

30 min

Nepali Rice & Grains

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DhodhaMilk, wheat and ghee fudge

Every bus that stops in Khushab, on the road between Sargodha and the Salt Range, is met by boys carrying boxes of dhodha, the town's famous sweet and a standard gift for anyone visiting family in Punjab. It is lighter in colour and softer than habshi halwa, a moist, crumbly fudge of slowly reduced milk, a little wheat flour, ghee and sugar, packed with almonds, pistachios and walnuts and pressed into slabs about two fingers thick. The flavour is milky and nutty with a gentle caramel note, and it is sliced and eaten with tea, especially in the cold months. Where people slip up is under-reducing the milk, so the dhodha never firms and stays soft like a halwa. Chef's tip: keep stirring after you add the sugar until the mass leaves the sides of the pan cleanly and holds a ridge when you draw the spoon through it, then press it into the tin while still warm.

180 min

Pakistani Indian Sweets

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Amra chutneyHog plum chutney

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

40 min

Bangladeshi Chutneys & Dips

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ErgoSoured milk

Cattle-keeping families across rural Ethiopia leave fresh milk to thicken in smoked clay pots or gourds, and the result, ergo, is tangier and looser than yoghurt, somewhere between set buttermilk and a soft curd. It is spooned beside a spicy kitfo or wat to calm the heat, eaten for breakfast with bread, or drunk as it is on hot afternoons. The traditional way relies on raw milk souring by itself, which is not safe to copy at home; this version uses pasteurised whole milk with a spoon of live buttermilk or yoghurt as the starter, so the right bacteria do the work. Allow about 24 hours at room temperature for it to set. Chef's tip: keep it somewhere steady at 22–26 °C; too cool and it barely thickens, too warm and it separates into whey and lumps.

15 min

Ethiopian Basics

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BagiyaSesame jaggery rice dumplings

When the new rice is harvested in late autumn, Maithil households in Janakpur, Siraha and Saptari steam bagiya, plump spindle-shaped dumplings of rice-flour dough that are offered to the gods, given to married daughters visiting home and eaten warm on cold winter mornings. The smooth, chewy shell hides a sweet centre, here toasted sesame bound with melted jaggery and a pinch of cardamom, though some families use molasses toffee (chaku), grated coconut or sweetened milk solids instead. Plain bagiya are also made and eaten with chutney. A common slip is using cold water for the dough, which makes it crumble and split; it must be made with boiling water. Chef's tip: knead the dough while it is still as hot as your hands can bear, with a little oil on your palms, until it is as smooth as play dough.

60 min

Nepali Indian Sweets

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Erdélyi fatányérosMixed grill platter

The name means 'wooden plate', and that is how this Transylvanian-Hungarian feast is brought to the table in Cluj and Târgu Mureș restaurants: a big board heaped with fried potatoes and topped with grilled pork chops, veal escalopes and crisp smoked bacon, surrounded by pickled cucumbers, peppers and red cabbage. It is meant for sharing, two or four people picking from one board, and it smells of garlic, marjoram and smoke. The pork and bacon make this very much a pork dish, balanced by the sharp pickles. Where people most often go wrong is grilling everything at once; cook the bacon first and use its fat for the meat, so nothing dries out while waiting. Chef's tip: score the edge of each pork chop through the fat every 2 cm; it stops the chops curling up in the pan and cooking unevenly.

60 min

Romanian Meat

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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

Bangladeshi Indian Sweets

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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

Bangladeshi Chutneys & Dips

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DibsDate syrup

Across the Gulf, from the date gardens of Al-Ahsa to the oases of Oman and the UAE, dibs is the dark, glossy syrup pressed and boiled from ripe dates, and it was the region's sweetener long before sugar was common. It tastes of toffee and dried fruit with a faint bitterness, and families pour it over chebab and khameer, mix it with tahini for dipping bread, and use it in sweets like luqaimat. Making it at home takes time but little effort, and a kilo of dates gives a jar that lasts for months in the fridge. The mistake is boiling the strained juice too hard at the end: it scorches and turns bitter. Chef's tip: squeeze the date pulp in the cloth when it is still warm; you get far more juice than from cold pulp.

180 minGulf Arabian Basics

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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 minCaribbean Desserts

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Kulcha-e-namakiSalted butter biscuits

Kabul bakeries pile glass cases with kulcha, and alongside the sweet ones there are always the salty kulcha-e-namaki, pale little rounds flecked with black nigella that disappear by the handful with green or black tea. They are short and crumbly like shortbread but savoury, with a buttery richness and the oniony bite of the seeds, and at Eid and Nowruz a plate of them sits beside the sweets for guests who prefer something less sugary. They should stay pale, so the big mistake is baking them until brown, which makes the butter taste burnt and the biscuits hard. Chef's tip: chill the shaped biscuits for 15 minutes before baking so they hold their crisp edges.

38 min

Afghan Baking

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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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Bahamian switchaKey lime drink

On Bahamian porches and at Fish Fry stalls in Nassau, switcha is the everyday cooler: fresh key limes squeezed with sugar and cold water, stirred up in a big jug with plenty of ice. It's sharper and more fragrant than lemonade, and you'll see the lime halves floating in the jug. The usual mistake is putting sugar straight into cold water, where it sinks undissolved: make a quick syrup first. Chef's tip: drop a few squeezed lime halves into the jug for 10 minutes for extra aroma, then take them out before the pith turns it bitter.

10 minCaribbean Drinks

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BozartmaLamb stew with tomato and saffron

Bozartma comes from Ganja, Azerbaijan's second city at the foot of the Lesser Caucasus, where lamb on the bone is browned and then stewed with a mountain of onions and tomatoes until the sauce turns thick and red-gold with saffron. The name hints at the browning (boz, 'grey-brown'), and Ganja cooks say the onions must melt completely. It is eaten with bread and greens, and a chicken version is common too. A common mistake is adding water; the onions and tomatoes give all the liquid needed. Chef's tip: cook it uncovered for the last 15 minutes, until the fat rises to the top; that is how Ganja cooks know bozartma is ready.

105 min

Azerbaijani Meat

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MuhammarSweet saffron rice

Muhammar is a golden, gently sweet rice from Bahrain, cooked with date syrup or sugar, saffron and rosewater, and its natural partner is fried or grilled fish, especially safi or hamour, so that the sweet rice and the salty, crisp fish balance on the same plate. It is a Friday lunch and Ramadan dish in Manama and Muharraq, and each family argues for its own ratio of sweetness. The grains should be separate and glossy with a faint caramel colour, not sticky. The most common error is boiling the rice too long before steaming, which turns it mushy once the sugar goes in. Chef's tip: let a thin crust form on the base during the steam; Bahrainis prize those crunchy sweet bits.

70 minGulf Arabian Rice & Grains

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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

Bangladeshi Curries

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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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Ambarella curryJune plum curry

Ambarella trees, heavy with green, plum-sized fruit, shade countless gardens around Galle, and when the crop comes in, cooks turn the sour, crunchy fruit into this sweet-sour curry for Sunday lunch and family gatherings. The fruits are scored and cooked whole with roasted curry powder, garlic, cinnamon and cloves, then sweetened with sugar and finished in coconut milk, until the flesh softens and drinks in the dark, glossy gravy. Its tangy, fruity flavour cuts through richer dishes, and it is served in small portions with rice alongside a dhal and a meat or fish curry. Each fruit hides a spiky, fibrous stone, so warn guests to nibble around it. Leaving the skins whole and unscored is where many go wrong, because the spices never get in; make several deep cuts in each fruit. Frozen ambarella is sold in Sri Lankan shops; firm green mango is the nearest stand-in. Chef's tip: let the curry rest for an hour before serving, as the fruit keeps soaking up flavour.

50 min

Sri Lankan Curries

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Roz me'ammarCreamy clay-pot baked rice

Village kitchens across the Nile Delta, from Menoufia to Sharqia, slide a clay pot of roz me'ammar into the bread oven for feasts, Fridays and Eid lunch. Short-grain rice bakes slowly in milk, cream and butter until it sets into a soft, rich block with a crisp, golden-brown crust on top that everyone fights over. In the Delta it usually comes with roast pigeon or duck; for a meat-free table it is just as good with a sharp salad, pickles and a dish of mish. Stirring it once it is in the oven is the mistake to avoid: it breaks the crust and makes the rice gluey. Chef's tip: use Egyptian or other round, short-grain rice; long-grain rice will not drink up the milk the same way.

115 min

Egyptian Rice & Grains

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DemikátSheep's cheese soup over bread

Shepherds in the hills of central Slovakia needed only a kettle of water, a lump of bryndza and a loaf of bread to make demikát, a soup that comes together in a quarter of an hour at the salaš, the summer sheep hut. The soft, salty sheep's cheese is mashed with fried onion, paprika and caraway, loosened with boiling water and poured over chunks of bread, then finished with heaps of chives. It is tangy, creamy and very warming. Bryndza is traditionally made with animal rennet and sometimes from raw milk, so for a vegetarian, safer bowl choose a pasteurised sheep's cheese made with vegetarian rennet (a soft feta-style cheese mashed with a little cream cheese works well). The usual slip is boiling the soup after the cheese goes in, which makes it grainy; just bring it to steaming. Chef's tip: use day-old rye bread, toasted, so it soaks up the broth without falling apart.

20 min

Czech Soups

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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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EscavècheCold fried fish in vinegar jelly

Escavèche is a speciality of the Chimay and Couvin area in southern Wallonia, a legacy of Spanish rule in the 16th century: fish fillets, traditionally eel or pike, fried and then covered with a hot marinade of vinegar, onion, thyme and bay that sets into a clear, tangy jelly as it cools. It is eaten cold, sliced, with crisp fries, in the brasseries of the Botte du Hainaut. A common mistake is not cooking the fish through before it goes into the marinade; cold marinade does not cook it. Chef's tip: let it set for at least 12 hours in the fridge; the vinegar mellows and the jelly firms. The fish should be opaque and flaking before marinating.

55 min

Belgian Fish

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Kumro phool boraPumpkin flower fritters

Pumpkin vines sprawl over village rooftops in the rainy season, and when they bloom the big orange-yellow flowers are picked in the morning, before they close, and fried for lunch. Each flower is dipped whole in a thin batter of rice flour and a little gram flour seasoned with nigella, turmeric and chilli, and fried in mustard oil until the edges are lacy and crisp while the petals inside stay soft and faintly sweet. They are eaten as a starter with hot rice and dal or as an afternoon snack with tea. Thick batter hides the flower and turns the fritter heavy, which is the most common fault; it should only lightly coat the petals. Chef's tip: pinch out the stamen inside the flower and the green sepals at the base before washing; both taste bitter.

20 min

Bangladeshi Snacks & Starters

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Kurakkan rotiFinger millet and coconut flatbread

Kurakkan, finger millet, was the grain of the dry chena plots and the hill villages long before white bread arrived, and these brown, nutty roti are still what many farming families around Badulla and Monaragala eat for breakfast or dinner. The flour is kneaded with plenty of fresh grated coconut and just enough water to hold, patted flat by hand and cooked on a dry clay pan until speckled and firm. They are dense and earthy, with a faint sweetness from the coconut, and taste best hot with a sharp spoonful of lunu miris or a mild dhal. Pressing the dough too thin is a classic error, because millet has no gluten and the roti crack and break; keep them about 5 mm thick. Chef's tip: shape them on a piece of oiled banana leaf or baking paper and flip them straight onto the pan, which saves them from tearing. Millet is naturally gluten free, but check the packet if you are cooking for coeliacs.

40 min

Sri Lankan Breads & Parathas

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Kurakkan thalapaFinger millet dumplings

In the dry zone villages behind Hambantota and Tissamaharama, kurakkan thalapa is the old-fashioned lunch of farmers: finger millet flour stirred into boiling salted water until it becomes a smooth, heavy, purplish-brown dough, shaped into balls and eaten by hand. Traditionally it is torn and dipped into a sour, black-peppery fish ambulthiyal, but it is just as good with a vegetable curry, kiri hodi or a fiery lunu miris for a vegan meal. The taste is mild and earthy, and it keeps you full for hours. The most common mistake is tipping all the flour in at once, which leaves dry lumps that never smooth out; add it in stages, beating hard with a wooden spoon. Chef's tip: once the dough comes together, cover the pan and let it steam over a very low heat for five minutes; that is what removes the raw, floury taste.

20 min

Sri Lankan Rice & Grains

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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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DibyazaApricot and date compote

No Eid table in Jeddah or Mecca is complete without a bowl of dibyaza, a thick, glossy compote that old Hejazi families make the night before the festival and serve at breakfast alongside cheese, olives and fresh bread. Sheets of dried apricot paste melt into a tangy orange syrup that wraps around soft dates, figs, prunes and crunchy nuts, so every spoonful is sweet, sour and jammy at once. Some households stir in fried onion for a savoury edge; this version keeps it to fruit and nuts. People often boil it hard and scorch the bottom, because apricot paste catches very easily. Keep the heat low and stir from the base. It keeps for a week in the fridge. Chef's tip: soak the apricot paste in hot water until completely soft before it goes near the heat; it then dissolves smooth instead of leaving rubbery shreds.

60 minGulf Arabian Desserts

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AmandineChocolate sponge cakes

Every Bucharest cofetărie keeps a tray of amandine in the glass case, neat dark oblongs that generations of schoolchildren have bought with their pocket money. Despite the almond-sounding name there are no almonds in them: a cocoa sponge is split, soaked with a cocoa syrup, sandwiched with a rich chocolate custard buttercream and coated in a shiny ganache. Bakeries traditionally add rum to the syrup; this version is alcohol-free and uses vanilla and orange zest instead, though you can add 2 tablespoons of rum if you like. A common mistake is soaking the sponge while the syrup is still hot, which turns it to mush; both should be cool. Chef's tip: chill the filled cake until really firm before glazing and cutting, and wipe the knife hot between each cut for clean edges.

155 min

Romanian Baking

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BakarkhaniLayered ghee bread

Before dawn in Lalbagh and Nazira Bazar, bakers slap rounds of dough onto the inside walls of clay tandoors, and by sunrise stacks of bakarkhani are wrapped in newspaper for the first cup of milky tea. The Old Dhaka kind is small, about the size of a palm, with dozens of paper-thin layers that shatter at the edges and stay a little tender in the middle; the faintly sweet, buttery taste is what makes it so good dipped in cha or crumbled over a bowl of firni. Local legend ties the name to a Mughal-era romance, but the technique is pure bakery craft: the dough is spread with a ghee paste, rolled up, coiled and rolled again. Most failed batches come from soft, warm ghee paste, which soaks into the dough instead of sitting between the layers. Chef's tip: chill the rolled coils for 15 minutes before the final rolling so the fat sets and the layers stay separate in the oven.

105 min

Bangladeshi Breads & Parathas

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BajellaBoiled fava beans with cumin

On cold mornings in Kuwait City, street carts and old-style breakfast cafés ladle out bajella into paper cups: whole dried fava beans boiled until creamy, served in their hot, salty broth with cumin and a squeeze of lemon. It is cheap, filling and warming, and families cook a big pot at home in winter and during Ramadan. Eat it with a spoon, drinking the broth as you go, or with Arabic bread and pickles. Skipping the overnight soak is the mistake: unsoaked beans take hours and split unevenly. Chef's tip: add the salt only once the beans are tender; salting at the start keeps the skins tough.

90 minGulf Arabian Snacks & Starters

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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

Canadian Chutneys & Dips

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Amala ko acharGooseberry pickle

Amala trees grow wild across the Chure hills and the lower valleys of Nepal, and in winter the hard, translucent green gooseberries are piled high in vegetable markets in Kathmandu, Hetauda and Butwal, prized as a source of vitamin C during the cold months. Steamed until they split into neat segments, then mixed with chilli, turmeric, fenugreek and hot mustard oil, they make a pickle that is crunchy, astringent, sour and spicy all at once, with a lingering sweetness that comes up after each bite. A spoonful goes alongside dal bhat or with a plain bowl of rice porridge when someone is unwell. The trap to avoid is steaming the berries too long, which turns them mushy and dull. Chef's tip: stop as soon as the first cracks appear on the skins; the segments should pull off the stone easily but still have a firm bite.

30 min

Nepali Chutneys & Dips

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Ful nabitSprouted fava bean soup

Sprouted beans are ladled out with their cooking liquor in Cairo homes when the weather turns cold or someone is feeling run down, and Egyptians swear by the broth as a pick-me-up. The beans are soaked and left to sprout for a few days, then simmered with onion, garlic and cumin into a light, earthy soup that is sharpened at the table with plenty of lemon. You can eat the beans with a spoon or pop them from their skins. Allow 3 to 4 days for sprouting, although the hands-on work is only about 20 minutes. People with G6PD deficiency (favism) must not eat fava beans. Chef's tip: stop the sprouting when the shoots are about 1 cm long; longer sprouts taste grassy and bitter.

70 min

Egyptian Soups

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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 min

Afghan Meat

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Aloo tukTwice-fried pressed potatoes

Aloo tuk is the crunch on a Sindhi plate, the thing children steal first: small potatoes boiled, fried, squashed flat and fried again until they are craggy and crisp at the edges and fluffy within, then showered with red chilli, tangy amchur and salt. In Sindhi homes from Karachi to Shikarpur they sit beside Sindhi kadhi and rice or dal and bhuga chawal, and they are also served on their own as a teatime snack with green chutney. The most common error is pressing the potatoes while they are still raw-centred or too hot and wet, which makes them tear instead of flatten neatly. Chef's tip: after the first fry let them cool for five minutes, then press each one under a flat-bottomed bowl so it cracks at the edges, since those cracks become the crispest bits. For children, go easy on the chilli and use more amchur.

40 min

Pakistani Snacks & 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 min

Sri Lankan Desserts

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DaudoHand-cut noodle soup with mutton

Once snow closes the passes into Hunza and the apricot trees are bare, families gather around a pot of daudo: a mutton broth thick with short, hand-rolled wheat noodles, potatoes, carrots, spinach and plenty of fresh coriander and mint. It is everyday mountain food, eaten for supper from deep bowls and passed to anyone who comes in from the cold, sometimes with a spoonful of local apricot-kernel oil on top. The noodles are rough and chewy, the broth peppery and green with herbs. Adding the noodles too early leaves them swollen and the soup gluey, so keep them for the last few minutes. Chef's tip: for a vegetarian version, simmer the vegetables in a good vegetable stock and add a handful of chickpeas instead of the mutton.

105 min

Pakistani Soups

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BalachaungDried shrimp relish

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

45 min

Burmese Chutneys & Dips

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LaffaLarge chewy flatbread

Laffa is the big, floppy flatbread that falafel and shawarma stands from Tel Aviv's Levinsky market to Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda use when a pita is not enough. It came with Iraqi Jews, who baked it on the inside wall of a taboon; at home a very hot pan or upturned wok does the job. It should be thin but chewy, with charred blisters, and soft enough to roll around falafel, salads and tahini without cracking. The mistake is cooking it too long: once it stiffens it splits when you wrap it. Chef's tip: stack the hot breads straight into a towel-lined bowl and cover, so they steam each other soft.

50 min

Israeli Breads & Parathas

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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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Beef smooreSpiced coconut milk beef roast

Smoore takes its name from the Dutch smoren, to braise, and in Burgher homes from Colombo to Galle it is the centrepiece for Christmas lunch or a big family Sunday: a whole joint of beef pierced, marinated in vinegar and spice, then simmered for hours in coconut milk with lemongrass, pandan and a spoonful of lime pickle. The pickle is the signature, adding a salty, bitter-sour sparkle that keeps the rich gravy lively. The joint is sliced at the table and served with yellow rice, a cucumber salad and plenty of the sauce. The biggest risk is letting the coconut milk boil fiercely for hours, which makes it split and greasy. Chef's tip: once the joint is browned, keep the pot at the barest shiver of a simmer, and turn the meat every half-hour so it cooks evenly.

210 min

Sri Lankan Meat

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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 minBaltic Breakfast & Brunch

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Balatoni fogasButter-fried pikeperch

Fogas, the pikeperch of Lake Balaton, has been the pride of the lakeside restaurants of Tihany, Keszthely and Balatonfüred for over a century, and a fillet on a plate with parsley potatoes is the classic order on a summer evening with a view of the water. The flesh is white, lean and delicate, with a clean, slightly sweet flavour, and the simplest treatment is best: skin side down in foaming butter until the skin turns crisp, with lemon at the end. Zander from any good fishmonger works the same way. Where most people go wrong is moving the fillets too soon, which tears the skin; leave them until they release by themselves. Chef's tip: score the skin lightly twice so the fillets stay flat in the pan.

30 min

Hungarian Fish

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DaqqusTomato garlic chilli sauce

Spoon by spoon, daqqus goes over almost every plate of kabsa, mandi and machboos from Riyadh to Kuwait City: a thin, bright sauce of ripe tomato, lots of garlic and hot chilli that cuts through rich rice. Restaurants in Najd serve it in little bowls beside the rice tray, and some families make it raw, others cook it briefly as here, which mellows the garlic and deepens the colour. It should be pourable and tangy, not thick like ketchup. People often overcook it into a paste; keep it loose with a splash of water. It also works with grilled fish and eggs. Chef's tip: grate the tomatoes on a box grater and discard the skins for a silky sauce without blending.

20 minGulf Arabian Chutneys & Dips

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BalayHand-pulled noodles in mutton broth

Skardu sits at almost 2,500 metres, and through its long, dry winters Balti households lean on balay, a sturdy soup of thick wheat noodles pinched and pulled by hand into a mutton broth with turnip, potato, carrot and greens. It is the Balti cousin of Tibetan thukpa, eaten for supper in deep bowls, often with a hot green chilli on the side and salty butter tea to follow. The noodles are fat, chewy and irregular, and they thicken the broth slightly as they cook, which is exactly right. Rolling the dough too thin is a common slip; balay noodles should be the thickness of a pencil so they stay springy. Chef's tip: let the dough rest a full 20 minutes before pulling it, because a rested dough stretches without tearing and gives silkier noodles.

100 min

Pakistani Soups

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DanbaukChicken biryani

Weddings, birthday donations and the Friday lunch crowd after mosque prayers in downtown Yangon all call for danbauk, the Burmese take on biryani brought by the city's Indian-Muslim families. It is gentler than most South Asian versions: long grains scented with cardamom, cloves and butter, tender yoghurt-marinated chicken hidden underneath, and a crown of fried onions, plump raisins and golden cashews. Every plate comes with a bowl of sour onion, cucumber and green-chilli salad that cuts through the richness, and often a thin sour soup on the side. The usual slip is boiling the rice fully before layering; it then turns to mush during the slow steam, so pull it while each grain still has a chalky white core. Chef's tip: once the pot is sealed, leave the lid alone and dig in from the side at the table so every scoop brings up chicken and rice together.

120 min

Burmese Rice & Grains

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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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MeshabekLacy syrup-soaked fritters

Damietta, the port city where the Nile meets the Mediterranean, is famous across Egypt for its sweet shops, and meshabek is one of their signatures: lattice wheels of fermented batter piped into hot oil and dunked in syrup. Fresh from the fryer they shatter like glass and drip with sugar; by the next day they soften into something chewy and just as good. Families buy them by the box for Ramadan evenings, visits and holidays. The batter needs an hour to ferment before frying. The common mistake is frying in oil that is not hot enough, which leaves them pale, soft and greasy, so test it first. Chef's tip: a squeeze bottle with a 4 to 5 mm opening gives the neatest, thinnest lines.

60 min

Egyptian Desserts

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DammsugareMarzipan cake-crumb rolls

The dammsugare, 'vacuum cleaner', got its name because Swedish bakeries invented it to use up crumbs and offcuts of cake swept up at the end of the day: the crumbs are mixed with butter, cocoa and flavouring, rolled into logs, wrapped in bright green marzipan and dipped in dark chocolate at both ends. Bakeries usually flavour the filling with punsch, a sweet arrack liqueur; this version uses vanilla and a little orange, and is alcohol-free. A common mistake is rolling the marzipan too thick, which makes it cloying. Chef's tip: roll the marzipan thin between sheets of baking paper and chill the filled logs before cutting.

40 minScandinavian Desserts

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Casse-croûte tunisienTuna baguette sandwich

From train-station kiosks in Tunis to beach stalls at Hammamet, the casse-croûte is the sandwich everyone grabs: a baguette slit open, painted with harissa and packed with tuna, mechouia (a grilled pepper and tomato salad), boiled egg, diced potato, olives and a few capers. It is messy, spicy and filling, with smoky peppers against the rich tuna and the soft, starchy potato. This version makes a quick pan-charred mechouia while the eggs and potatoes cook. Chef's tip: let the potatoes and eggs cool before they go in; adding them hot steams the bread and turns it soggy, a common mistake at home.

25 min

Tunisian Fast Food

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BalkaimakHoney cream

Balkaimak, 'honey cream', is the dessert Kazakh hosts put out for guests with a mountain of baursak dough puffs: thick cream simmered with honey and a little sugar until it turns into a glossy, caramel-flavoured sauce that sets as it cools. It belongs to celebrations like Nauryz and weddings across Kazakhstan, from Almaty to Shymkent. A common mistake is boiling it too hard, which makes the cream split and turn greasy. Chef's tip: thicken it with a teaspoon of flour or cornflour only if your cream is thin; good double cream thickens by itself.

25 min

Kazakh Desserts

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Aloo goshtMutton and potato curry

If one curry stands for a weekday dinner in a Pakistani house, from Rawalpindi flats to Karachi's Nazimabad, it is aloo gosht: mutton on the bone and halved potatoes in a loose, peppery shorba meant to be soaked up with chapati or poured over plain rice. Nothing about it is fancy; its comfort comes from a long bhuna of onion, tomato and spice before any water goes in, so the thin gravy still tastes deep. The potatoes go in once the meat is half done and come out soft at the edges, having drunk the gravy. Adding them at the start leaves them falling apart while the meat is still chewy, so wait. Chef's tip: when the masala is fully fried, add the water boiling hot, not cold, so the meat keeps cooking and the shorba stays clear rather than greasy.

90 min

Pakistani Meat

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BallokumeCornmeal butter cookies

Every 14 March, Elbasan in central Albania celebrates Dita e Verës, Summer Day, an old spring festival that is now a national holiday, and the whole town smells of ballokume. These pale golden cookies are made from cornmeal, lots of butter, sugar and eggs, beaten until almost fluffy, then baked into little domes that crack on top and melt into sandy, buttery crumbs. Families give plates of them to neighbours and children nibble them alongside the red-and-white spring bracelets called verore; they are lovely with tea or Turkish-style coffee. This version is gluten free, made with fine cornmeal and cornflour, so check both packets carry a gluten-free label. Under-beating is the classic error: the butter and sugar need a full ten minutes until almost white, or the cookies bake dense and greasy. Chef's tip: chill the shaped cookies for 15 minutes before baking so they keep their dome.

45 minBalkan Baking

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Aloo andayPotato and egg curry

Ask almost anyone who grew up in a Punjabi household in Pakistan what was cooked at the end of the month, when the meat money had run out, and aloo anday will come up with real affection. Halved hard-boiled eggs and chunks of potato sit in a loose, brick-red shorba of browned onion and tomato, thin enough to soak into a chapati and rice alike, with a cut green chilli on top. It is a weeknight and Sunday-brunch dish rather than a guest dish, and children tend to love it. Where it goes wrong is in the masala: if the onions and tomatoes are not fried until the oil separates, the gravy tastes raw and watery however long it simmers. Chef's tip: score the peeled eggs lightly with a knife and fry them in the masala for a minute before the water goes in, so they take on colour and flavour.

40 min

Pakistani Curries

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Dimer chopEgg-in-potato croquettes

Glass cabinets at Dhaka's sweet shops and snack counters, from New Market to Mirpur, always hold a row of dimer chop, oval golden-crumbed parcels that, when cut, reveal half a boiled egg nested inside a layer of spiced potato. They are bought for afternoon tea, birthday parties and school tiffin and eaten with kasundi mustard sauce, tomato ketchup and a little sliced onion and cucumber. Some versions mix minced meat into the potato; this one keeps it vegetarian, with garam masala, ginger and fried onion for depth. Soft-boiled eggs are a mistake here: they must be fully hard-boiled so the yolk is firm and the chop is safe and easy to wrap. Chef's tip: chill the crumbed chops for 15 minutes before frying so the coating stays put.

50 min

Bangladeshi Snacks & Starters

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