Skip to content
LoginRegister
WhatToEat.Today
Esfiha de carne (São Paulo open beef pies)
Featured recipe

Esfiha de carne (São Paulo open beef pies)

The Syrian and Lebanese families who settled around Rua 25 de Março in central São Paulo brought sfiha with them, and the city made it its own: esfihas are now sold by the dozen from counters all over town, eaten standing up with a squeeze of lemon at lunchtime or as a cheap late snack. The dough is soft and lightly crisp at the base, and the topping of raw spiced beef, onion and tomato cooks on the pie in a hot oven. Chef's tip: squeeze the onion and tomato hard in a cloth before mixing; a wet topping makes the dough soggy.

Read more 0 views

What to eat today?

Around the world

Today's trip: Persian

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

Persian

Dizi

Lamb and chickpea stew 245 minMore from Persian (131) →

This week's collection

Kid-friendly dinners537 recipes · a new collection every Monday

New this week

See all new →

Latest recipes

Karela piazBitter gourd with onions

Bitter gourd divides every family in Punjab, but karela piaz is the version that wins over the doubters: the gourd is salted, squeezed and fried until its edges crisp, then tossed with almost as much browned onion as karela, so the sweetness of the onions softens the bitterness. In Lahore it is a summer dish, a staple of tiffin carriers and home lunches with chapati and a cooling bowl of raita, and some households pack it for long train journeys because it keeps well. The thing most people get wrong is skimping on the onions or rushing them; pale, half-cooked onions leave the dish harsh rather than mellow. Chef's tip: rub the slices with salt and a little turmeric, leave them for 30 minutes, then squeeze hard by the handful, which draws out much of the bitterness before cooking.

70 minPakistaniVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minSri LankanCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

EtoMashed yam with palm oil

Eto is a dish for marking occasions among the Akan, made on birthdays and celebration mornings, when boiled yam (or plantain) is mashed in an earthenware asanka bowl with red palm oil, raw onion and a little pepper until it turns golden and fragrant. It is served in a mound with halved boiled eggs, slices of ripe avocado and a handful of roasted groundnuts, so every mouthful is soft, buttery and crunchy at once. It is filling, simple and very good. Avoid mashing the yam to a smooth purée; eto should keep a rough, crushed texture. Chef's tip: mash the yam while it is steaming hot and add the oil at the same time, because cold yam goes gluey and will not absorb the oil evenly.

40 minGhanaianVegetarianGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lachha parathaLayered flaky paratha

The word lachha means a coil or a hank of thread, and the best way to understand the bread is to watch a paratha-maker at a Peshawar or Lahore breakfast stall pleat a thin sheet of ghee-smeared dough like a paper fan, wind it into a snail and roll it out again. On the tawa the layers separate into rings of crisp, flaky dough that you can pull apart with your fingers, and a quick scrunch between the palms when it comes off the heat opens them up even more. It is the paratha for Sunday breakfasts with omelette or chana, for Eid lunches with qorma and for weddings beside tandoori dishes. What lets most home cooks down is a stingy hand with the ghee between the pleats, which welds the layers back together. Chef's tip: dust each greased sheet with a little dry flour before pleating; the flour and ghee together keep the layers apart as they cook.

45 minPakistaniBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Doi chiraFlattened rice with curd

Nothing is cooked for doi chira, which is why it has been the breakfast of farmers and fishermen in Barisal for generations: flattened rice is rinsed, softened in thick, slightly sour curd and sweetened with jaggery or sugar, then mashed together with a ripe banana. The texture is soft and creamy with a little chew from the rice flakes, and the taste is cool, sweet and tangy. It is eaten on hot summer mornings, at village fairs and as part of the Pohela Boishakh spread, and it is a favourite of children and of anyone fasting who wants something gentle. The usual misstep is soaking the chira for too long, which turns it to paste; a quick rinse is all it needs before the curd does the rest. Chef's tip: use thick-cut chira, not the thin kind for frying, so the flakes hold their shape.

10 minBangladeshiBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
by KrazyBadal 2 views

Karawila sambolaFried bitter gourd salad

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

30 minSri LankanSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KarjalanpaistiBeef and pork hotpot

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

260 minScandinavianCurriesGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minBajanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

DogramaTorn bread with lamb in broth

Dograma, from the Turkmen word for 'to chop', is the dish of Turkmen weddings and religious holidays, when families gather to tear fresh tamdyr bread into small pieces together. The bread is mixed with finely chopped boiled lamb or mutton, raw onion and tomato, then a rich, fatty broth is poured over and the bowl is eaten while hot. It is filling, simple and communal. A common mistake is using soft sliced bread, which turns to paste; dograma needs firm, chewy flatbread. Chef's tip: chop the meat and onion by hand very finely, and rub the onion with salt so it softens and mellows before mixing.

150 minTurkmenMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minRomanianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Karawala thel dalaStir-fried dried fish

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

25 minSri LankanFishGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minNepaliChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minPakistaniSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minEgyptianSoupsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 2 views

Karachi halwaCornflour halwa

Glassy, jewel-bright and chewy like a Turkish delight with more bite, Karachi halwa is the sweet that the city's mithai shops on Saddar and Tariq Road stack in orange, green and red slabs studded with cashews and melon seeds, and it travels well as a gift to family abroad. It is made from cornflour cooked with sugar syrup and lemon until it turns clear, then fed with ghee spoon by spoon until it shines and pulls away from the pan in one elastic mass. Across the border it is called Bombay halwa, and in Pakistan it is a staple for weddings, Eid and Diwali sweet boxes from the Hindu shops of Sindh. Lots of cooks lose their nerve and stop before the halwa has absorbed all the ghee and turned translucent, and it sets cloudy and sticky. Chef's tip: work the halwa with a flat wooden spatula and add the ghee only when the previous spoonful has disappeared; when the ghee starts to leak back out, it is done.

60 minPakistaniIndian SweetsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Domashnia kovbasaGarlic pork sausage

Across Galicia and the Carpathian villages, the smell of homemade pork sausage baking with garlic means Christmas or Easter is near; the coils go into the Easter basket to be blessed and come out sliced for the festive breakfast. Hand-cut pork shoulder and belly are mixed with lots of garlic, black pepper and allspice, stuffed loosely into natural casings, coiled and baked until the skin crackles and the juices run. It is juicy, coarse and garlicky, served hot with horseradish and beetroot or cold the next day. This is a fresh, cooked sausage, not a dried or cured one, so it must be cooked through and kept in the fridge. The usual mistake is stuffing the casing too tightly, so it bursts in the oven. Chef's tip: keep the meat and fat very cold while you cut and mix, ideally half-frozen; the fat stays in distinct pieces and the sausage stays juicy.

180 minUkrainianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KapamaPork, chicken and sauerkraut feast pot

In the stone houses of Bansko, beneath the Pirin mountains, kapama is the dish of the winter holidays, carried to the table in its clay pot at Christmas, New Year and the masked Kukeri carnival. Pork shoulder, chicken on the bone and fresh pork sausage are layered with sauerkraut, rice and paprika, then sealed and baked for hours until the meat falls apart and the rice has soaked up the tangy, smoky juices. Old cooks seal the lid with a rope of dough; this version uses foil under a tight lid, which keeps it gluten free. Serve with extra sauerkraut and pickled peppers. The usual slip is lifting the lid too often, which lets out the steam and dries the top layer. Chef's tip: taste a strand of the sauerkraut first and rinse it only if it is very salty; its sourness is the backbone of the dish.

295 minBulgarianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Karađorđeva šniclaBreaded stuffed pork roll

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

60 minBalkanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BakhshGreen rice with beef and liver

Bakhsh is the Shabbat and holiday rice of the Bukharan Jews, who lived in Bukhara and Samarkand for centuries before most emigrated to Israel and New York: rice mixed with small cubes of beef and liver and so much chopped coriander that it turns deep green, then cooked slowly in a cloth bag inside a pot of broth (bakhsh khalta) or in a pot sealed on the stove. It is fragrant, rich and moist. This version uses beef and calves' liver and the pot method. A common mistake is chopping the coriander roughly; it should be very fine so the rice turns evenly green. Chef's tip: cut the meat into rice-grain-sized pieces so it cooks in the same time as the rice. The liver and meat should be cooked through, 71 °C.

150 minUzbekRice & GrainsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Baku kurabiyePiped butter cookies with jam

Every Baku bakery sells these: short, crumbly butter cookies piped into flowers with a star nozzle and finished with a bright dot of jam in the centre, sold by the kilo for name days and served with tea in Azerbaijani homes. The dough must be soft enough to pipe but rich enough to hold the ridges in the oven. A common mistake is overbeating the egg whites into the butter, which makes the cookies spread and lose their pattern. Chef's tip: chill the piped cookies on the tray for 15 minutes before baking; the ridges stay sharp.

35 minAzerbaijaniBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Diram fittiSprouted wheat bread with butter

High in the Hunza valley, diram is flour ground from wheat that has been soaked, sprouted and sun-dried, and it gives this thick, round bread a gentle natural sweetness and a faintly malty smell. Diram fitti is cooked slowly in a covered pan, then broken into rough pieces while still hot and drowned in melted butter and a little apricot-kernel oil, so it turns rich, soft and fragrant; in Karimabad and Altit it is made for guests, for festivals such as Ginani at harvest time and to feed someone through a hard winter. It is eaten with the hands, often with salty Hunza tea. Pale, raw centres are the common fault, so cook it slowly with the lid on. Chef's tip: sprouted wheat flour is sold in health-food shops; use only food-grade culinary apricot-kernel oil, or swap in walnut oil or more butter.

60 minPakistaniBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

DirkoshDried crisp injera

No Ethiopian kitchen throws injera away. Pieces that are past their best are torn up and dried in the sun, on the roof or on a tray by the fire until they snap like crackers, then kept in a sack or tin for weeks. This dirkosh is the backbone of quick meals on Wednesdays, Fridays and during the long Lent fast: a handful softened in a red onion and berbere sauce becomes fasting firfir in ten minutes, and travellers once carried it as food for the road. A low oven does the job at home in a few hours. Chef's tip: tear the injera into pieces no larger than a playing card; big sheets curl and stay leathery in the middle.

190 minEthiopianBasicsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minBangladeshiSnacks & Starters
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lau khosha bhajiFried bottle gourd peel

Thrifty Bangladeshi cooks never throw away the green skin of a bottle gourd: once the flesh has gone into a curry or a milky lau ghonto, the peel is cut into fine strips and fried with nigella seeds and green chilli into a small, crunchy, slightly bitter bhaji. It is a classic of home kitchens rather than restaurants, made in winter when lau is cheap and young, and eaten with rice and dal as a little extra on the side. The strips stay pleasantly crisp at the edges and soft inside, with the earthy taste of the gourd. Skin from an old, hard gourd is tough and woody, which is the usual reason this fails, so use only young, pale-green gourds with a tender peel. Chef's tip: a few matchsticks of potato fried in with the peel help it brown evenly.

20 minBangladeshiSidesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minNepaliSnacks & StartersVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minPakistaniMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kancha kola bhortaGreen banana mash

Green cooking bananas are cheap all year in Bangladeshi markets, and in homes from Comilla to Kushtia they are boiled whole and turned into a pale, gently starchy bhorta that is more filling than it looks. The flesh is mashed while warm with raw onion, green chilli, coriander and a generous splash of mustard oil, so it tastes mild and earthy with a sharp, nose-tingling finish. It is a weekday lunch with rice and dal, food for someone recovering from illness, and a regular on the bhorta platter during the Pohela Boishakh meal. Peeling the bananas before boiling makes them waterlogged and gluey, so they go into the pot in their skins. Chef's tip: mash while still warm; cold green banana goes hard and lumpy and won't absorb the oil.

25 minBangladeshiChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kandahari tikkaGrilled lamb chunks

Kandahar's tikka houses pride themselves on doing very little to the meat: chunks of lamb, threaded on wide iron skewers with small pieces of tail fat between them, are rubbed with grated onion, salt and black pepper and grilled over fierce charcoal until the fat drips and flares. The result is smoky, juicy and peppery, with crisp edges and a clean lamb flavour, and it is served on hot naan with raw onion, tomato and a sharp green chutney. Over-marinating in onion is a common misstep, as the juice softens the surface into mush after a day; two to four hours is plenty. Chef's tip: let the skewers rest for 2 minutes on the naan before eating, so the bread soaks up the juices.

27 minAfghanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minPakistaniCurriesGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minHungarianFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BoniatilloSweet potato pudding

Boniatillo comes from the sweet tooth of old Havana, where white-fleshed boniato is boiled, puréed and cooked in a cinnamon and lime-peel syrup until it turns into a thick, glossy pudding. It is served at room temperature in small bowls, often dusted with cinnamon, at birthdays or simply after Sunday lunch. The mistake to avoid is using orange sweet potato alone, which makes it wet and very sweet; Cuban boniato or a white sweet potato gives the right dry, chestnutty texture. Chef's tip: beat in the egg yolks off the heat with a little of the hot purée first, so they thicken the pudding without scrambling.

55 minCubanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minPakistaniSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BoulouAnise and raisin loaf

After the long Yom Kippur fast, Moroccan families in Beersheba and Dimona break it gently with tea and slices of boulou, a sweet, cake-like bread scented with anise and studded with raisins and walnuts. It keeps well for days, so many cooks bake it before the holiday and it lasts through Sukkot with coffee. The crumb is tight and tender, closer to a sweet brioche than to challah, with a shiny sesame top. People often under-bake it because the crust browns fast; check with a skewer, not by colour. Chef's tip: toast the anise seeds in a dry pan for a minute before adding them, which deepens the liquorice note without making it sharp.

70 minIsraeliBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BombolinoSugared doughnuts

A legacy of the Italian years, bombolino is still part of the morning ritual in Asmara: a warm doughnut rolled in sugar, eaten at a café counter on Harnet Avenue with a small, strong macchiato. Eritrean bombolini are unfilled, either round or ring-shaped, with a pale band around the middle, a feather-light crumb and a hint of lemon in the dough. Bakeries fry them in the early morning and they sell out quickly. At home they make a lovely weekend treat; allow about 1½ hours for the dough to rise and prove. The most common mistake is frying in oil that is too hot, so the outside goes dark while the centre stays doughy; keep it at 170 °C and test the first one. Chef's tip: roll them in sugar while they are still warm, not hot, so the sugar clings without melting.

125 minEritreanDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 ArabianBasicsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Fish buglamaSteamed fish with onion and tomato

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

45 minAzerbaijaniFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kancha aamer tok dalGreen mango lentil dal

When the first hard, green mangoes fall from the trees around Rajshahi in April and May, cooks slice them into the dal pot, and the result is the most refreshing bowl of the hot season. Tok dal is deliberately thin, almost like a soup, with soft red lentils and slices of green mango that turn tender and tangy, finished with mustard seed and dried chilli crackling in mustard oil. It is eaten poured over plain rice, often as the last thing before a light fish or vegetable curry, because the sourness is meant to cool the body in the heat. Adding the mango at the start leaves it mushy and the dal overly sour, so it goes in once the lentils are soft. Chef's tip: taste the mango first; very sour fruit may need a pinch more sugar to balance it.

35 minBangladeshiCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minKazakhDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minBalkanBakingGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lankaran kulchaNut and saffron pastry

Lankaran, on the subtropical Caspian coast in the far south, near the Iranian border, has its own Novruz bake: kulcha, a round of soft, rich dough filled with walnuts and sugar perfumed with saffron and cardamom, pinched closed, flattened and patterned on top with tweezers before baking. Southern families make dozens for the spring festival and for visiting relatives. A common mistake is rolling the filled pastry too thin, which splits the dough. Chef's tip: crimp a pattern around the edge with a fork or pastry tweezers; it seals the kulcha and is the traditional decoration.

80 minAzerbaijaniBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

HangopHung buttermilk with fruit

Hangop means 'hang up', and that is the method: buttermilk poured into a cloth, hung up over a bowl overnight until it thickens into something like a tangy, creamy fresh cheese. It was a summer dessert on Dutch farms, eaten with rusk crumbs, brown sugar and fresh fruit, and is having a revival in Amsterdam restaurants. A common mistake is straining it at room temperature, which lets it turn too sour. Chef's tip: strain it in the fridge, and use a clean tea towel rather than cheesecloth; the finer weave keeps more of the creamy curd.

10 minDutchDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Balochi kaakSmoky wholewheat bread

Out in the hills of Balochistan, from Kalat to the passes above Quetta, kaak is shepherds' and travellers' bread: dough wrapped around a smooth river stone that has been heated in the fire, then propped among the embers until a thick, smoky crust forms and the stone cooks it from inside too. It is served torn into chunks alongside sajji, the slow-roasted lamb of Balochi feasts, or with yogurt and tea on the road. This version is for a home oven: the dough is shaped into a thick round and baked on a very hot tray or stone, then finished over a flame for that charred, campfire taste. Under-heating is the main pitfall, giving a pale, heavy loaf. Chef's tip: preheat the tray in the oven for a full 30 minutes. If you try the stone method outdoors, use only dense, dry stones never taken from water, as wet or porous stones can crack violently when heated.

90 minPakistaniBreads & ParathasVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bannu pulaoBeef pulao in bone marrow stock

Bannu, a town in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has given its name to one of Pakistan's richest rice dishes, now sold by pulao houses across Peshawar, Islamabad and Karachi with the town's name painted proudly over the door. Its secret is the stock: beef and marrow bones simmered for hours until the liquid turns cloudy and gelatinous, then used to cook long-grain rice so every grain is glossy with beef fat. The rice is served piled up with fist-sized pieces of boiled beef on top, alongside raita and a fresh chilli-tomato salad, at weddings and Friday lunches. Watery rice is the common failure, because the stock is not reduced enough; it must be concentrated, almost like gravy. Chef's tip: let the stock cool and lift off some of the fat, then fry the onions in that fat, so nothing is wasted and the rice tastes of beef throughout.

190 minPakistaniRice & GrainsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 ArabianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kancha aam makhaSpiced green mango

Outside every school gate in Bangladesh during the hot months, a vendor with a glass box on his cart sells green mango makha: unripe mango sliced paper-thin and squeezed by hand with salt, sugar, chilli and a splash of mustard oil, handed over in a cone of newspaper with a toothpick. Makha means mixed by hand, and the hand matters, as the squeezing bruises the mango so it softens and drinks in the seasoning. It tastes sour, sweet, salty and hot all at once, with the sharp nose-burn of raw mustard oil, and it is eaten as an afternoon snack in April and May, especially around Pohela Boishakh. Slicing the mango too thick is the error that leaves it hard and bland in the middle. Chef's tip: stir in a spoon of kasundi, Bengali mustard relish, for the version the street sellers call kasundi makha.

10 minBangladeshiSnacks & StartersVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kancha gollaFresh cheese balls with cardamom

Natore, a quiet district town north of the Padma, is known throughout Bangladesh for one sweet, and a visit there is incomplete without a clay pot of kanchagolla to carry home. Kancha means raw, and the name is a joke at the sweet's expense: unlike rasgulla or chomchom, it is never boiled in syrup but simply kneaded fresh chhana with sugar, warmed in a pan for a few minutes and rolled into soft balls scented with cardamom. The texture is moist and faintly grainy, the taste milky and gently sweet, best eaten within a day or two. Cooking the mixture too long is what most home cooks get wrong; it turns dry and crumbly, more like sandesh. Chef's tip: make the chhana from full-fat milk and squeeze it only lightly, so plenty of moisture stays in for that melting Natore texture.

60 minBangladeshiIndian SweetsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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.

15 minBangladeshiChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

LimonanaFrozen mint lemonade

The name joins limon and nana, lemon and mint, and this slushy green lemonade is what beach cafés from Herzliya to Eilat hand over the counter on blazing summer days. Lemon juice, sugar syrup, a big handful of mint and ice are blended until smooth and frosty, so the drink is sour, sweet and cooling at once. It is alcohol-free and children love it. The mistake is blending the mint so long that it turns bitter and brownish; a short, hard blitz keeps it bright. Chef's tip: make the syrup ahead and chill it, then use plenty of ice so the drink stays thick rather than watery.

13 minIsraeliDrinksVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minScandinavianSidesGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bandakka curryOkra coconut milk curry

Ladies' fingers, as okra is still called in Colombo markets, are cheap, plentiful and quick, which is why bandakka curry is one of the most common weekday vegetables on a Sri Lankan lunch plate. The pods are cut on the diagonal, fried briefly in coconut oil, then simmered in a mild, yellow gravy of coconut milk with fenugreek, onion and green chilli, so they stay bright green and just tender. It goes with red or white rice, a spoon of dhal and something crisp, such as fried papadam or a sambol. Slime puts many people off okra, and it is almost always caused by moisture: washing the pods and cutting them while they are still wet. Dry them completely first and fry them before any liquid goes in. Chef's tip: a few drops of lime stirred in at the very end lifts the flavour and also helps the gravy stay clean and silky.

30 minSri LankanCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kalu dodolRice flour and jaggery sweet

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

195 minSri LankanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

AlivenciCornmeal and cheese cake

Across the Prut, in villages from Vaslui to the Republic of Moldova, alivenci is what happens when a farmhouse has fresh cheese, sour cream and a sack of cornmeal: a soft, custardy cake baked in a tray and cut into squares while warm. It is lighter than mămăligă and richer than bread, with a tender, slightly crumbly crumb studded with curd, and is eaten for Sunday breakfast or as a side with stews and a dollop of sour cream. Traditional brânză de vaci (cottage-style cheese) is usually made without rennet, but some brands use it, so check the label. Where most people go wrong is using coarse polenta, which stays gritty; fine cornmeal gives the silky texture. Chef's tip: let the batter sit for 15 minutes before baking so the cornmeal hydrates and the cake sets evenly.

65 minRomanianBakingGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minCzechSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minNepaliRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minBulgarianFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KamaRoasted grain flour with kefir

Kama is a uniquely Estonian food: a fine flour of roasted barley, rye, oats and peas, sold in every Tallinn supermarket, stirred into kefir, buttermilk or yogurt with a little sugar or honey and berries. It was once farmers' food for the fields; today it is a fast, filling breakfast and the flavour of Estonian ice creams and sweets. If you can't find kama, roast equal parts barley, rye and oat flour with a little pea flour in a dry pan until nutty. A common mistake is eating it at once; give it a few minutes to thicken. Chef's tip: stir in the kama, leave for 5 minutes, then add the berries, so it thickens like a mousse.

5 minBalticBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MounaOrange-flower brioche

Oran's mouna came over with Spanish settlers as the Easter mona, and it is still baked for spring outings, recalling the Easter Monday picnics once held at the Santa Cruz chapel above the city. It is a tall, light, golden brioche with a crackly sugar crust, softly flavoured with orange-flower water and lemon zest rather than butter-heavy, and it tears into long, feathery strands. Eat it with coffee or hot chocolate, plain or with jam. The dough is slow and sticky, so give it time. Chef's tip: let the dough rise slowly overnight in the fridge after the first knead; it becomes easier to shape and the flavour deepens.

75 minAlgerianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MatlouhSemolina flatbread

In Algiers and all over Algeria, homemade matlouh is the bread of choice for Ramadan iftar and for dipping into chorba or chakchouka. The dough is made with fine semolina and yeast, almost as wet as a batter, left to rise until airy, then shaped into thick rounds and cooked on a clay tajine or a heavy frying pan rather than in an oven. The result is soft and springy inside, with a thin, freckled, golden crust and the sweet, nutty taste of semolina. Eat it warm, torn by hand. Chef's tip: keep your hands wet with water, not floured, when shaping the sticky dough; flour makes the crust dry and floury.

55 minAlgerianBreads & ParathasVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Loitta fryFried Bombay duck fish

Down on the beach road at Cox's Bazar, the fry stalls lay out trays of loitta, the soft, almost jelly-like Bombay duck fish, ready to be coated in chilli and rice flour and dropped into hot oil while you wait. The contrast is the whole point: a shatteringly crisp, spicy shell around flesh so tender it barely holds together. In Chittagong homes it is a weekday treat with rice and dal, and it often appears at iftar. Fresh loitta holds a lot of water, and the usual mistake is to coat it straight away, which makes the crust go soggy and spit in the pan. Pressing it under weight first fixes that. Chef's tip: if you can only get frozen Bombay duck from an Asian grocer, thaw it in the fridge overnight and press it twice as long.

30 minBangladeshiFishGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

LokšePotato flatbreads

Across the border in Slovakia, lokše are the November flatbreads of St Martin's Day, when the roast goose arrives and the thin potato pancakes are brushed with its fat. Families in western Slovakia also roll them around plum butter or sweet poppy seed for an afternoon treat, and they turn up at Christmas markets in Bratislava. They are soft, pliable and freckled with brown spots from a dry hot pan, a little like a potato tortilla. Here they are brushed with melted butter instead of goose fat, so they are vegetarian. A common mistake is mixing the dough while the potatoes are still warm: it turns sticky and swallows far too much flour. Cool the mashed potatoes completely, ideally overnight. Chef's tip: roll each one on a floured cloth and flip it straight onto the pan from the cloth, so the thin sheet never tears.

60 minCzechBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KarantikaBaked chickpea flour flan

Schoolchildren in Oran spend their pocket money on karantika, a savoury chickpea-flour flan baked in huge trays and cut into squares by street vendors, who sprinkle it with cumin and harissa and often stuff it into a piece of baguette. Its roots go back to the Spanish calentica of Oran's past, and it has spread across western Algeria. Made with only chickpea flour, water, oil and egg, it bakes into a soft, custardy, slightly wobbly middle under a crisp, burnished top. Serve it warm, cut into squares, with harissa; to keep the dish gluten free, skip the bread. Chef's tip: rest the batter for at least 30 minutes before baking; the flour hydrates and the flan sets smooth instead of grainy.

45 minAlgerianSnacks & StartersGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minNepaliRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

DoubaraSpicy chickpea stew

In Biskra, the oasis town at the gateway to the Algerian Sahara, doubara is street food, ladled from big pots into bowls from late afternoon and through Ramadan nights. Soft chickpeas or broad beans are simmered with cumin and garlic, then dressed with a fiery garlic-harissa sauce, olive oil, lemon and a heap of chopped tomato, onion, parsley and fresh chilli on top. It is hot, sour and very garlicky, filling yet fresh, and eaten with bread. Chef's tip: mash a ladle of the chickpeas into the broth at the end; it thickens the stew so the sauce clings.

45 minAlgerianCurriesVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 63 of 7,762 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 297 of 863