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Home-made golden syrup
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Home-made golden syrup

A home-made stand-in for golden syrup, from sugar caramelised until amber and boiled with water to a two-thread syrup. Use it in any recipe that needs golden syrup, such as flapjacks, biscuits and treacle tarts.

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KupatiPork and offal sausages

Kupati are the coarse, spicy sausages of Imereti, made after a winter pig slaughter and grilled over vine cuttings or fried in a pan with onions; in Kutaisi they are a staple of village feasts. This is a pork recipe: minced pork shoulder with a share of pork heart and liver, seasoned with dried barberries, garlic, cinnamon, khmeli-suneli and hot pepper, stuffed into casings. A common mistake is overfilling the casings, which makes them burst as they cook. Chef's tip: poach the sausages gently first, then brown them; they cook through evenly and stay juicy. Pork sausages must reach 71 °C in the centre.

90 minGeorgianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minSri LankanBreads & ParathasVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minSri LankanRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kurban chorbaLamb and rice feast soup

On saints' days such as St George's in May or St Dimitar's in October, Bulgarian villages set big cauldrons over fires in the churchyard or square, and the kurban, the shared offering, is ladled out as a rich lamb soup to everyone who comes, neighbours and strangers alike. Lamb on the bone simmers gently with onion until tender, then the meat is pulled into pieces and returned to the broth with rice, carrot, red pepper, tomato, paprika, dried mint and plenty of parsley. It tastes deep, meaty and herby, sharpened with a squeeze of lemon, and bread on the side is traditional. The usual slip is skipping the skimming at the start; grey foam left in the pot muddies the broth. Chef's tip: rub the mint and savory between your palms over the pot in the last five minutes, so the herbs stay bright.

150 minBulgarianSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KurkutSlow-cooked wheat with beans

Kurkut is the old harvest porridge of Syunik and the Armenian highlands: whole hulled wheat grains cooked very slowly with beans until they burst and turn creamy, then topped with onion fried golden in oil. In villages around Sisian it was cooked overnight in the tonir oven; on Lenten days it is a meal in itself, and on feast days meat is sometimes added. A common mistake is skipping the soak; unsoaked wheat stays hard even after hours. Chef's tip: stir hard in the last half-hour so the grains rub against each other and release their starch, giving kurkut its creamy, sticky texture.

135 minArmenianRice & GrainsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sheki halvaHazelnut rice-flour lattice cake

The silk town of Sheki, in the green foothills of the Greater Caucasus, is famous for its halva: a lacework of rice-flour batter drizzled from a funnel-like tool called a reshta onto a round tray, filled with crushed hazelnuts spiced with cardamom and coriander, topped with another lace layer and drenched in syrup until glossy and sticky. Sheki confectioners sell it from wooden trays in the old caravanserai streets. This home version uses a squeeze bottle for the lattice. A common mistake is making the lattice too thick, which turns it doughy instead of crisp and lacy. Chef's tip: keep each lattice layer thin and lacy, with gaps you can see the tray through, and drizzle the syrup while it is hot.

150 minAzerbaijaniDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KurnikChicken and rice pancake pie

Cossack weddings along the Don and Kuban were not complete without kurnik, the tall "king of pies": a domed short pastry crust packed with layers of chicken, rice and egg and mushrooms, each separated by a thin pancake so the juices stay put. Bride and groom each had a kurnik baked by their families, and it is still made for big birthdays and holidays. The crust is crumbly and rich from sour cream; the inside moist and savoury. A common mistake is skimping on the broth: spooning some of the chicken poaching liquid over each layer keeps the rice from drying out. Poach the chicken until it reaches 74 °C. Chef's tip: make the pancakes and fillings the day before and chill them; the pie then goes together in half an hour.

180 minRussianChicken
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RisgrynsgrötChristmas rice porridge

Risgrynsgröt is the creamy rice porridge Swedes eat on Christmas Eve, either at breakfast or after the julbord, with cinnamon, sugar and cold milk; one whole almond is hidden in the pot, and whoever finds it will marry in the coming year, or simply gets a prize. Leftovers become ris à la Malta with whipped cream and oranges. A common mistake is cooking it on a high heat, which scorches the milk. Chef's tip: start the rice in water to soften, then add the milk and let it cook very gently, with a cinnamon stick, until thick and creamy.

65 minScandinavianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

RewriSesame-coated sugar sweets

Children in Lahore grow up buying rewri by the paper cone from the old shops in Rang Mahal and from the carts at the Basant and Mela Chiraghan fairs, little white coins of hard candy crusted with toasted sesame that crack between the teeth and then melt slowly. The sugar is boiled to hard crack, pulled on a greased hook or with oiled hands until it turns opaque and white, flavoured with kewra, then cut into tiny pieces and rolled in sesame. It is a winter sweet, eaten with peanuts and gajak around the fire and handed out at shrines. The step that trips people up is pulling the sugar when it is either too hot to handle or already cooling into glass, so time it carefully and work fast. Chef's tip: wear clean, thick rubber gloves rubbed with ghee for pulling, and keep the candy near a warm oven door so it stays pliable while you cut. Take care: boiled sugar causes serious burns, so keep children away while it is hot.

40 minPakistaniIndian SweetsGluten free
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Reshmi kebabCreamy minced chicken skewers

Reshmi means silken, and the name is a promise: these long chicken kebabs are pale, soft and smooth, the minced chicken blended with cream, ground cashew, egg and gentle spice until it clings to the skewer. They are a wedding and dinner-party favourite in Lahore and Karachi, often served beside spicier seekh and tikka so that the platter has something mild, and they come with naan, onion rings and a bowl of mint raita. The texture should be bouncy and juicy, never crumbly. Many people buy ready-minced chicken, which is often too lean and coarse; mincing thigh and breast together yourself makes all the difference. Chef's tip: chill the mixture for an hour and oil your hands before shaping, so the soft paste wraps round the skewer without sticking to your palms.

45 minPakistaniChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ShechamandiSour cornelian cherry soup

In Imereti and Racha, shechamandi is a quick, thin soup made from whatever sour fruit is at hand, and the favourite is cornelian cherry (shindi), the glossy red dogwood fruit that ripens in August around Ambrolauri. Its sharpness, softened by a little toasted flour and lifted with garlic and dried mint, is a pick-me-up on fasting days and a famously good cure the morning after a supra. Frozen cornelian cherries are sold in Georgian and Turkish shops; sour cherries are the closest swap. A common mistake is adding the flour straight to the hot soup, which makes lumps. Chef's tip: toast the flour in the oil until it smells like biscuits, which gives the soup a gentle nutty body.

30 minGeorgianSoupsVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KurzeLamb dumplings in broth

Every mountain people of Dagestan, Avars, Laks and Dargins among them, has its own kurze, but all share the beautiful plaited seam that runs along each teardrop dumpling like a braid. The lamb filling is chopped with plenty of onion and a little fat, then the dumplings are boiled and served in their broth with a sharp garlic and tomato dressing. In mountain villages they are made in big batches for guests, and in summer the same dough is filled with pumpkin or young nettles. The usual slip is overfilling, which makes the pleats burst in the pot. Chef's tip: practise the plait on a few pieces without filling first; once your fingers know the rhythm it goes quickly.

105 minRussianMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 ArabianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

RawashRaw rhubarb with salt

For a few weeks in spring, men walk down from the hills around Kabul and Paghman with bundles of rawash, wild mountain rhubarb, and sell the thick red-flecked stalks on the pavement, peeled to order and handed over with a twist of salt. It is a crunchy, juicy and mouth-puckeringly sour snack, a sign that winter is over, eaten while walking or at a picnic on the first warm Friday. Wild rhubarb is almost impossible to buy outside the region, so this home version uses young, slim forced or garden rhubarb stalks, which are close in sourness and crunch. Never eat any of the leaf: rhubarb leaves are poisonous, so cut them off and throw them away, and enjoy the stalks in modest amounts, as they are high in oxalic acid. Chef's tip: chill the stalks in iced water for 10 minutes first; the cold makes them snap and softens their sharp edge.

5 minAfghanSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KvæfjordkakeSponge, meringue and cream cake

Kvæfjordkake comes from the Kvæfjord district in Troms, northern Norway, and Norwegians voted it their national cake, which is why it is also called 'verdens beste', the world's best cake: a thin buttery sponge baked with a layer of meringue and almonds on top, then cut in half and sandwiched with vanilla custard cream. It is baked for confirmations, May 17th and birthdays. A common mistake is underbaking the meringue, which goes sticky. Chef's tip: bake in a shallow tray and let the meringue turn pale golden and crisp; cool completely before filling.

70 minScandinavianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KwaśnicaSauerkraut and smoked rib soup

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

120 minPolishSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kyauk kyawTwo-layer coconut jelly

Trays of kyauk kyaw are cut into diamonds for nearly every Burmese celebration, from birthday donation lunches to the water-splashing days of Thingyan in April, when a cold, firm jelly is exactly what the heat calls for. Agar sets far firmer than gelatine, and that clean, snappy bite is the whole point: a translucent sweet layer on the bottom and an opaque, lightly salted coconut cream layer on top, each tasting of fresh coconut and a hint of pandan. It is served chilled, on its own or alongside shwe yin aye and other festival sweets. If the bottom layer sets completely hard before you pour the top, the two layers slide apart when you cut them. Chef's tip: pour the coconut layer while the clear layer has just formed a skin that holds a fingertip but is still warm.

30 minBurmeseDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

RaštanStewed collard greens

Almost every village garden from Nikšić to the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro has a row of raštan, a tall, loose-leaved collard that survives the winter frosts, and through the cold months it goes into the pot with potatoes and, traditionally, a piece of smoked pork neck or dried mutton. This meat-free version keeps that hearth-smoke depth with smoked paprika bloomed in garlicky olive oil, so the stew is fully vegan. Cooked long, the leaves turn silky and dark while the potatoes slump into the broth and thicken it into something between a soup and a stew. Eat it hot from deep plates with cornbread and a pickled pepper on the side. Where most people go wrong is taking the pot off while the leaves still squeak against the teeth; raštan needs a good 40 minutes to lose its bitterness. Chef's tip: stir the paprika into the warm oil off the heat, never into a scorching pan, or it turns bitter in seconds.

60 minBalkanVegetarianVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

RasstegaiOpen fish pies

Merchant taverns in old Moscow and St Petersburg served these boat-shaped little pies alongside a bowl of ukha, and the waiter would spoon hot fish broth through the open top at the table. A soft, buttery yeast dough wraps chopped salmon, white fish, rice and soft onion; the top stays open, so the filling bakes juicy while the rim turns glossy and brown. Eat them warm with a cup of clear fish soup or simply with strong tea. Where most people go wrong is pinching the opening too wide: the filling dries out and the broth runs straight through. Chef's tip: cut the fish into 1 cm dice rather than mincing it, so each bite stays flaky and you can see the pink and white through the hole.

150 minRussianFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

RassolnikPickled cucumber and barley soup

Rassol is Russian for pickle brine, and this soup makes the most of it: pearl barley, potato and beef simmered in a clear broth, then sharpened with grated salted cucumbers and a good pour of their liquor. It is a winter lunch from the Moscow region to the Urals and a canteen favourite in its Leningrad style, and many households serve it the morning after a celebration. Old recipes used kidneys; beef brisket or shin is easier and gives a rich broth. The taste is savoury and pleasantly sour, with soft, chewy barley. Where most people go wrong is cooking the barley in the soup from raw, which clouds the broth; cook it separately and add it later. Use brine-fermented cucumbers, not sweet vinegar pickles. Sour cream is traditional at the table for those not avoiding dairy. Chef's tip: add the brine little by little at the end and taste; cucumbers vary hugely in saltiness.

95 minRussianSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KyseloSour rye soup

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

60 minCzechSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KystybyyPotato-filled flatbreads

Ask anyone in Kazan what they ate after school and many will say kystybyy, the folded Tatar flatbread sold warm in canteens and kiosks all over Tatarstan. Paper-thin rounds of unleavened dough are dry-cooked in a hot pan, filled while soft with mashed potato whipped with milk, butter and fried onion, folded into a half-moon and brushed with more butter. In older Tatar village kitchens the filling was millet porridge, which works just as well. Serve with tea, a bowl of soup or a glass of katyk, the Tatar soured milk. A common mistake is leaving the cooked flatbreads uncovered; they dry out and crack when folded, so stack them under a towel. Chef's tip: keep the pan dry and hot; 30–40 seconds a side gives brown freckles without stiffening the bread.

60 minRussianBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

RaspeballerPotato dumplings with fried onion

In Bergen and along the fjords of western Norway, Thursday has long been raspeballer day: big, soft dumplings of grated raw potato and barley flour, called komle or klubb depending on the valley, simmered and served with mashed swede and melted butter. They are usually cooked in a pot with salted lamb and sausage; this vegetarian version serves them with butter, crisp fried onion and kålrabistappe. A common mistake is using too little flour, so the dumplings dissolve in the pot. Chef's tip: test one dumpling first; if it breaks up, knead a little more flour into the rest.

90 minScandinavianVegetarian
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Rasavalli kilangu in coconut milkPurple yam in coconut milk

Rasavalli, the deep purple yam that grows up fences in Jaffna home gardens, turns into one of the simplest and prettiest sweets of the Tamil north: the tubers are boiled until they fall apart, then stirred into thick coconut milk with sugar until the whole pot is violet, glossy and porridge-soft. It is eaten warm in small bowls as an evening snack or for breakfast, and families often make it when the tubers are freshly dug and at their sweetest. The flavour is mild and nutty, with the creaminess of coconut and a hint of cardamom if you like. Raw yam sap can make your hands itch, and peeling it bare-handed is the mistake people regret, so wear gloves or rub your hands with oil. Look for purple yam (sometimes sold as ube) fresh or frozen in Asian shops. Chef's tip: mash only part of the yam and leave some soft chunks, which gives the pudding a far nicer texture than a smooth purée.

40 minSri LankanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 1 views

Lab-e-shireenFruit custard with vermicelli

The name means "sweet lips", and on Eid-ul-Fitr afternoons in Karachi and Lahore a glass bowl of it sits in nearly every fridge, waiting for guests who move from house to house. It is a cold, pourable vanilla custard folded through with toasted vermicelli, cubes of red and green jelly, banana, apple, grapes and tinned fruit, finished with cream and sometimes a scatter of nuts. Shop jelly is made with gelatine, so this version sets fruit juice with agar, which also holds up better at room temperature on a crowded table. A lot of cooks get the custard too thick, so once it chills it turns stiff and cannot coat the fruit. Chef's tip: make the jelly and the custard the night before, and stir in the fruit and cream only an hour or two before serving so the bananas stay pale and the vermicelli keeps a little bite.

40 minPakistaniDesserts
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Rántott pontyBreaded fried carp

Christmas Eve in Hungary is a meatless feast, and for many families, especially on the Great Plain, the main event is rántott ponty: carp steaks scored finely, breaded and fried until golden. The flesh inside is sweet and moist, the crumb crisp, and it is served with a mayonnaise potato salad or simply with lemon and bread, often after a bowl of fish soup. Carp has fine forked bones, which is why cooks score the fish every few millimetres: the hot oil softens the little bones so you hardly notice them. Where most people go wrong is frying at too low a heat, which makes the crumb greasy; keep the oil at 170 °C. Chef's tip: salt the scored steaks and keep them in the fridge for an hour, so the salt reaches right into the cuts.

45 minHungarianFish
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Rántott gombaBreaded fried mushrooms

On a Budapest lunch menu, the meat-free line almost always reads rántott gomba: whole button mushrooms dipped in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fried until they crunch, then piled up with a bowl of tartármártás. Every étkezde, the city's small family-run lunch canteens, serves them with buttered rice or parsley potatoes, and they are a favourite at home for children who swear they do not like mushrooms. Bite through the crust and the mushroom inside is juicy and steaming. Where most people go wrong is washing the mushrooms under the tap: they soak up water, spit in the oil and steam their coat off. Wipe them clean with damp kitchen paper instead. Chef's tip: pick mushrooms of the same size, about 3–4 cm across, so they all cook through in the same time.

35 minHungarianSnacks & Starters
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JulskinkaChristmas glazed ham

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

230 minScandinavianMeat
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ShavlaSticky rice with lamb and carrots

Shavla is the softer, homelier cousin of plov, made in Tashkent and Samarkand households when someone is unwell or for a weekday supper: the same lamb, onion and yellow carrot zirvak as plov, but cooked with more water and stirred so the rice turns soft and porridge-like. Children often prefer it, and it reheats well. A common mistake is treating it like plov and leaving it unstirred; shavla needs gentle stirring to turn creamy. Chef's tip: use short-grain rice and cook the zirvak until the carrots are soft and sweet before the rice goes in.

90 minUzbekRice & GrainsGluten free
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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
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Rappie pieGrated potato and chicken pie

Rappie pie is the great Acadian dish of south-west Nova Scotia, around Clare and Pubnico, made for big family gatherings, weddings and Christmas. Potatoes are grated, squeezed hard to remove their liquid, then "replaced" with hot chicken broth, which gives the pie its unusual soft, jelly-like texture under a crisp brown crust. Chicken pieces are layered through the middle. It is a labour of love but feeds a crowd. A common mistake is not squeezing the potato dry enough; the broth can't soak in and the pie stays watery. Chef's tip: the broth must be boiling hot when you mix it in, which starts to set the starch.

210 minCanadianChickenGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KabatoCornmeal swallow with lemon

From Korhogo and Odienné down to Bouaké, households in northern and central Côte d'Ivoire eat kabato almost daily: a swallow of maize meal cooked with a squeeze of lemon. The acid gives the paste a faint tang and a firmer, cleaner bite than plain cornmeal. It is eaten warm with okra sauce, groundnut sauce or a sauce of pounded leaves, pinched off by hand and dragged through the bowl. A common slip is adding the cornmeal too fast, which makes lumps; rain it in while stirring. Chef's tip: whisk the lemony cornmeal slurry into the boiling water before adding the rest of the meal; starting with a thin porridge is what keeps kabato lump-free.

30 minIvorianBasicsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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 minIsraeliBreads & ParathasVegan
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Lagan ni seekhBaked spiced mince with egg

At a Dawoodi Bohra thaal in Karachi's Saddar or Burhani Park, the meal opens with a pinch of salt and a sweet, and lagan ni seekh is often among the first savoury dishes passed round the big shared tray: a "seekh kebab baked in a lagan", the shallow pan that names it. Spiced mince with fried onion, green chilli and mint is pressed into a dish, covered with beaten egg and baked until the top puffs and turns golden, then cut into squares. It is eaten warm with paratha or just as it is, and it is a favourite at Eid and wedding feasts. Skipping the step of cooking the mince dry first is the mistake to avoid; raw mince releases water under the egg and the squares go soggy. Chef's tip: lay a few rings of tomato and green chilli on the egg before baking, the way Bohra aunties do, so every square has a bright top.

65 minPakistaniMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

PlacaliSoured cassava swallow

Abidjan's maquis serve placali in shining grey mounds next to bowls of sauce kopé, the okra sauce that slides off the spoon, and many Ivorians from the lagoon and southern forest regions eat it several times a week. It is made from soured cassava dough dissolved in water, strained and cooked while beaten hard until it becomes a translucent, sticky, stretchy paste. The taste is mildly sour and the texture smooth and elastic, meant to be swallowed rather than chewed. Pair it with okra, palm-nut or leaf sauces. Don't stop stirring once the dough thickens, or raw lumps hide in the swallow. Chef's tip: wet your hands and the serving bowl before shaping, otherwise placali clings to everything it touches.

35 minIvorianBasicsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Shatkora acharCitrus pickle in mustard oil

Shatkora is a knobbly, thick-skinned citrus that grows in the hills of Sylhet, with almost no juice but a rind so aromatic it perfumes the whole kitchen, and Sylheti families both in Bangladesh and in Britain treat a jar of its pickle as a taste of home. Cut into chunks, rind and all, and cooked slowly in mustard oil with chilli, turmeric and panch phoron, it becomes sharp, bitter, hot and faintly sweet, a spoonful of which wakes up plain rice and dal, khichuri or a winter vegetable curry. Frozen shatkora is sold in Bangladeshi grocers in the UK; thick-skinned lemons or a bergamot will give a milder pickle. Leaving in all the white pith makes the pickle too bitter to eat, so trim the thickest pith from the inside. Chef's tip: rest the cut fruit with salt and turmeric overnight before cooking; it draws out moisture and tames the bitterness.

60 minBangladeshiChutneys & DipsVeganGluten freeSpicy
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Sauce djoumgbléDried okra sauce with smoked fish

Baoulé cooks in central Côte d'Ivoire dry okra in the sun during the harvest, then grind it into the dark green powder that makes sauce djoumgblé. Stirred into a beef and tomato stew with flaked smoked fish, it thickens the pot into a deep brown, slippery sauce with an earthy, smoky flavour quite different from fresh okra soup. It is the classic partner for foutou banane or placali in Bouaké and in Abidjan's maquis, where each mouthful of starch is pulled through the sauce. Look for the powder as dried or ground okra in African grocers. Chef's tip: whisk the okra powder into cold water before it goes into the pot; scattered straight into hot sauce, it forms lumps that never break down.

95 minIvorianFishGluten free
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Rákóczi túrósCheesecake with meringue lattice

Look along the counter of any Budapest cukrászda and you will see Rákóczi túrós: a slab of shortcrust under a creamy, lemony túró filling, crossed with a lattice of golden meringue and dotted with apricot jam in the gaps. It was invented by the pastry chef János Rákóczi in the 1930s and won a prize at the Paris World Fair, and it has been a Hungarian favourite ever since. The textures make it: crisp pastry, soft cheese, and meringue that is crunchy on top and marshmallowy underneath. Túró is usually set without rennet, but check the label. The usual slip is piping the meringue onto a filling that is still wobbly, so the lattice sinks; bake the filling until just set first. Chef's tip: press the túró through a sieve for a silky filling with no grainy bits.

90 minHungarianBaking
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Rakhine mont diRice noodles in sour fish broth

Sittwe wakes up hungry, and its answer is a bowl of Rakhine mont di from the breakfast shops near the jetty and market: thin rice noodles under a clear, tart broth made from sea fish, lemongrass and a whisper of fish paste. The fish is flaked over the top with sliced shallot, coriander and crisp garlic, and the real fire comes from a pounded paste of raw green chillies and garlic that everyone stirs in to taste. It is lean, bright and searingly hot, nothing like the creamy noodles of the north, and people eat it with fritters or nothing at all. A frequent mistake is boiling the fish hard so it falls apart into the broth; poach it gently and lift it out the moment it flakes. Chef's tip: make the green chilli paste first and let it sit for 15 minutes; the garlic mellows and the paste turns a brighter, fresher green.

60 minBurmesePasta & NoodlesGluten freeSpicy
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RakfiskFermented trout

Rakfisk is the autumn feast of Valdres in the Norwegian mountains, where trout and char from the lakes are salted and left to ferment for two to three months, until the fish is soft, pungent and buttery. Every November the town of Fagernes holds a rakfisk festival, and families serve it in slices on lefse or flatbread with red onion, sour cream and boiled potatoes. Home fermentation of fish carries a risk of botulism, so buy rakfisk only from licensed producers, never make it yourself. It is eaten raw, so it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. A common mistake is serving it too warm, which makes the smell overpowering. Chef's tip: serve it well chilled and sliced thin.

40 minScandinavianFish
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LakhamariLattice-shaped sweet bread

No Newar wedding in the Kathmandu Valley is complete without lakhamari, the large, crunchy, sugar-coated rounds that the groom's family carries to the bride's house in baskets as part of the ritual gifts, and which are then shared out among relatives for days. The dough is a mix of rice flour and wheat flour shortened with plenty of ghee, rolled into ropes and coiled into a lattice like a flat wheel, fried slowly until hard and pale gold, and glazed with a white sugar crust. It keeps for weeks in a tin and is broken into pieces to eat with tea. Where most cooks go wrong is frying too hot, which browns the outside while the thick lattice stays raw and soft inside. Chef's tip: keep the oil at a gentle 150 °C and fry each wheel for a good 8–10 minutes so it dries out and becomes crunchy right through.

120 minNepaliDesserts
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Rajská omáčkaSweet-sour tomato sauce with beef

Every Czech school canteen has served rajská at some point, and many adults still crave this glossy, sweet and tangy tomato sauce poured over slices of tender boiled beef with bread dumplings. Bohemian cooks make it from the broth of the beef itself, thickened with a light roux and perfumed with clove, allspice, bay and a hint of cinnamon, so it tastes warmly spiced rather than like a pasta sauce. The usual slip is under-seasoning the sweet-sour balance: keep tasting and adjust sugar and vinegar until it is clearly both. Simmer the beef until a fork slides in easily. Pasta or rice work too if you are not making dumplings. Chef's tip: strain the sauce through a sieve at the end for the velvety restaurant texture.

120 minCzechMeat
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Lal shak bhajiStir-fried red amaranth

Bunches of lal shak, red amaranth with leaves streaked in crimson, are one of the cheapest and most common greens in any Bangladeshi bazar, and almost every lunch table has a bowl of it, cooked quickly with garlic and a dried chilli. The leaves wilt into a soft, slightly earthy tangle and bleed a beautiful magenta juice that turns the rice pink, which children love. It is served with plain rice and dal as the first course of a meal, before any fish or meat, the way Bengali meals traditionally start with something bitter or green. Adding water is unnecessary and the common slip; the leaves release plenty of their own and simply need to cook down uncovered. Chef's tip: wash the leaves well in several changes of water, as amaranth holds a lot of grit near the roots.

20 minBangladeshiSidesVeganGluten free
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Sauce gouagouassouAubergine and smoked fish sauce

Bété country around Gagnoa and Daloa in western Côte d'Ivoire is known for sauces with plenty of chilli, and gouagouassou is one of the most loved: tomatoes, garden eggs and hot peppers boiled whole, then crushed by hand in a mortar and simmered with smoked fish. There is little or no oil, so the sauce tastes fresh, smoky and bright, with real heat and a rough, rustic texture. Spoon it over white rice or eat it with foutou at a weekday lunch. Use fewer chillies if you prefer, but keep at least one for the character. Chef's tip: soak the smoked fish in hot water for ten minutes first; it softens, rinses off ash and grit, and gives its flavour to the sauce more quickly.

60 minIvorianFishGluten freeSpicy
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Haitian lambi in creole sauceConch in creole sauce

Along Haiti's coast, from Jacmel to Les Cayes, lambi is the treat of beach shacks and holiday tables: conch meat pounded tender, simmered until soft, then stewed in a hot, tomato-rich creole sauce with peppers and lime. Its flavour is sweet and clean, somewhere between squid and clam. The great mistake is rushing it; conch is tough as rubber unless it is beaten thin and then simmered long enough to relax. Buy frozen cleaned conch meat from a trusted fishmonger, discard any that smells strongly of ammonia or fish, and cook it through fully. Chef's tip: simmer the pounded conch with lime and a little vinegar first; the acid helps tenderise it.

90 minHaitianFishGluten freeSpicy
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RahashTahini and sugar slab sweet

In the souks of Kuwait City and Manama, slabs of rahash appear on the sweet stalls as Ramadan approaches, cut into squares to nibble with tea after iftar or handed round at Eid. It is close to halva: tahini beaten with hot sugar syrup until it sets into a firm, crumbly, fudgy block that melts on the tongue, with a gentle cardamom perfume and pistachios on top. The trick is the syrup temperature. Undercooked syrup leaves a soft, oily paste that never sets; cook it to the soft-ball stage. Stir the tahini well in its jar first, as the oil separates. Chef's tip: stop stirring as soon as the mixture loses its gloss and starts to pull away from the bowl; keep going and it turns sandy.

30 minGulf ArabianDessertsVeganGluten free
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Kabab-e-daygiPot-cooked lamb kebab

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

120 minAfghanMeatGluten free
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Landi palawRice with cured lamb

Each autumn around Kandahar and in the high villages of the Pashtun belt, whole sheep are salted and hung in the cold, dry wind for weeks to make landi, a dark, dense cured lamb that sees families through winter, and landi palaw, rice cooked in its salty, gamey broth, is one of the great cold-weather dishes. Air-drying meat outdoors is not safe to copy in a home kitchen, so this version cures lamb in salt in the fridge for four days, which gives much of the firm texture and concentrated, savoury flavour; it is then cooked until completely tender. The rice comes out rich and meaty, eaten with a raw onion salad and pickled vegetables. Salting the rice before tasting the broth is the mistake to avoid, as the cured meat brings plenty of its own. Chef's tip: soak the cured lamb for 2 hours before cooking and change the water once, so the broth is savoury rather than briny.

140 minAfghanRice & GrainsGluten free
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Sharena solSavory and paprika coloured salt

Every Bulgarian kitchen has a jar of sharena sol, 'mottled salt', and every guest knows the ritual: tear a piece of warm bread, dip it in sunflower oil or a dab of butter, then press it into the salt. The blend is earthy and herbal from summer savory (chubritsa), mellow and sweet from paprika, with a faintly maple-like warmth from blue or common fenugreek. It also goes on boiled eggs, grilled vegetables, potatoes and tomato salads. Village grandmothers in the mountains each have their own mix, sometimes with dried thyme or toasted pumpkin seeds. The usual slip is buying ready-ground old paprika, which tastes dusty and turns brown; use fresh, bright red paprika and keep the jar out of the sun. Chef's tip: toast the fenugreek seeds in a dry pan just until they smell of caramel before grinding them; a few seconds too long and they turn bitter.

10 minBulgarianBasicsVeganGluten free
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LanttulaatikkoBaked swede casserole

Lanttulaatikko is one of the 'laatikot', the oven casseroles that crowd the Finnish Christmas table beside the ham: swede boiled and mashed with cream, breadcrumbs, dark syrup, egg and nutmeg, then baked slowly until the top is deep brown and the inside is sweet and soft. Families make it days ahead because it tastes better reheated. A common mistake is baking it too hot, which burns the top before the casserole sets. Chef's tip: bake at a low heat for a long time, and make a crisscross pattern on top with a spoon so the syrup caramelises in the ridges.

120 minScandinavianSides
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Lapsi ko acharHog plum pickle

Lapsi, the Nepali hog plum, is a small, olive-green fruit with a huge stone, very little flesh and a sourness that makes your jaw ache, and in Kathmandu and the middle hills its arrival in the markets in late autumn means pickle-making season. Boiled, scraped from the stones and cooked down with jaggery, chilli, fenugreek and timur, it becomes a thick, glossy, dark brown achar that is tart, sweet and gently hot, eaten with dal bhat, spread on roti or served with sel roti during Tihar. It is also dried into candy called titaura. Look for fresh or frozen lapsi in Nepali grocers; tart, unripe green plums are the nearest substitute. The trouble usually starts when the jaggery goes in before the pulp has reduced, which leaves a runny pickle that can ferment. Chef's tip: cook the pulp until a spoon drawn through it leaves a clear trail before adding the sweetener.

60 minNepaliChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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Ræstur fiskurFermented dried fish

Ræstur fiskur is cod or other white fish that Faroese families hang in the wind-swept hjallur for weeks until it ferments and develops a strong, cheesy taste; it is then boiled and eaten with boiled potatoes and melted tallow or butter, a Sunday and winter dish across the islands. It needs the Faroese wind and is bought ready-hung, never made at home. A common mistake is boiling it hard, which makes it tough and stringy. Chef's tip: soak the fish in cold water for an hour before cooking to tame its saltiness, then simmer gently until it flakes. It is cooked when opaque right through.

40 minScandinavianFishGluten free
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Racuchy z jabłkamiApple fritters

Autumn in the orchard villages around Łącko and Nowy Sącz means apples everywhere, and racuchy are how grandmothers use the windfalls on a Sunday afternoon. A thick yeast batter is folded with thin apple slices and spooned into hot oil, where it puffs into golden, airy fritters with soft, tart fruit inside. Shower them with icing sugar and eat them warm, perhaps with a glass of cold milk or kefir. Where most people go wrong is frying too hot: the outside darkens before the thick middle cooks, leaving a raw, gummy centre. Chef's tip: keep the oil at a steady medium, about 170 °C, and flatten each spoonful slightly so it cooks through evenly.

75 minPolishDesserts
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LaskonkyCoconut meringue sandwiches

Laskonky are the chewy little meringue sandwiches in every Czech cake counter, from station cafes in Brno to the bakeries of small Bohemian towns. Two pale-gold discs of coconut and ground walnut meringue, crisp outside and chewy within, hold a thick layer of coffee butter cream. They are sweet and nutty, with the coffee keeping things grown-up, and they are naturally made without flour. A common mistake is baking them too hot, which browns the outside before the centre dries; low heat and patience give the right chew. Make the custard for the cream first so it can cool. The egg yolks in the cream are cooked until the custard bubbles. Chef's tip: spread a thin layer of the meringue on the paper rather than piping tall mounds; flat, even discs sandwich neatly.

90 minCzechDessertsGluten free
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Lassy mogsMolasses cookies

Lassy mogs are the soft, cakey cookies of Newfoundland Christmas tins, from the days when molasses (lassy) was the sweetener every outport kitchen kept. They are dark, spicy and chewy with raisins, dates and sometimes coconut, and are eaten with a cup of tea after a cold walk. A common mistake is baking them until firm; they should still look slightly soft in the middle when they come out. Chef's tip: chill the dough for half an hour so it scoops easily and the cookies keep their dome.

30 minCanadianBaking
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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
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LaufabrauðCarved fried leaf bread

Laufabrauð, 'leaf bread', is made by Icelandic families together in early December: paper-thin rounds of dough are carved into lacy geometric patterns with a small knife or a brass cutting wheel, then fried in seconds until crisp and golden. Each family has its own patterns, and the breads are eaten at Christmas with butter and smoked lamb. It is a tradition from northern Iceland around Akureyri, where flour was scarce. A common mistake is rolling the dough too thick; it should be so thin you can read through it. Chef's tip: make a fold, cut little V-shapes along it with a knife, and fold every other point back, which gives the classic leaf pattern.

90 minScandinavianBreads & Parathas
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Rác pontyCarp baked with potatoes and peppers

Rác is the old Hungarian name for the Serbs who settled along the Danube in southern Transdanubia, and in towns like Mohács and Baja their style of baked carp became a Friday and holiday favourite. Scored carp fillets are laid over sliced potatoes, pale green peppers, onion and tomato, sprinkled with paprika and baked, then finished with sour cream so the vegetables underneath soak up the juices. Traditionally thin strips of smoked pork bacon are tucked into the cuts of the fish; they are optional here, so leave them out for a pork-free dish. It is a whole meal in one dish, best with fresh bread. A common mistake is putting raw potato under the fish, which is still hard when the carp is done; parboil it first. Chef's tip: score the carp finely every 4 mm so the oven heat softens its small bones.

75 minHungarianFishGluten free
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Lauki ka halwaBottle gourd halwa

Pale jade-green and soft, with tiny strands of gourd suspended in a creamy, cardamom-scented reduction, lauki ka halwa is what many Pakistani households make in summer, when the vines are heavy and bottle gourd is the cheapest thing in the sabzi mandi. It is lighter than carrot or dal halwa, gently sweet, and tastes of milk and ghee more than vegetable; families in Hyderabad, Karachi and Faisalabad serve it chilled on hot evenings or warm after a meal, and it is a favourite sweet for Ramadan iftar tables. The usual let-down is not squeezing out the gourd's water before cooking, which dilutes the milk and leaves the halwa thin and bland. Chef's tip: use a young, tender lauki with soft seeds, cook the grated gourd in ghee first until it softens, then add the milk, and stop when the halwa is moist and creamy, not dry, as it firms up as it cools.

60 minPakistaniIndian SweetsGluten free
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Kabachkovaya ikraCourgette spread

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

75 minRussianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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Rabo encendidoSpicy braised oxtail

Rabo encendido, "oxtail on fire", is the slow Saturday braise of central Cuba, cooked until the meat slips off the bones into a dark, glossy sauce of tomato, sweet pepper, red wine and a kick of hot chilli. It is eaten with white rice and fried ripe plantain to cool the heat. The wine cooks for hours, but if you want no alcohol at all, use extra beef stock with a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. The common mistake is serving it straight away with a layer of fat on top; skim it well, or chill overnight and lift the fat off. Chef's tip: dust the oxtail lightly in cornflour and brown it hard; the coating gives a better crust and thickens the sauce while keeping it gluten free.

235 minCubanMeatGluten freeSpicy
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Cassava leavesCassava leaf stew

Cassava leaf is close to a national dish in Sierra Leone, simmered in big pots for Sunday lunch, weddings and Friday gatherings in Freetown and sold by the plateful in cookshops across the city. The leaves are pounded to a fine green mash, then cooked for a long time with red palm oil, beef, smoked fish and hot pepper until soft, dark and rich, with a smoky, almost spinach-like depth. It is always served over plenty of white rice. Frozen ground cassava leaves from African or Asian grocers save hours of pounding. Avoid cutting short the long simmer; cassava leaves must be thoroughly cooked to be safe and tender. Chef's tip: boil the leaves uncovered first, before anything else goes in; it drives off their raw, grassy bitterness and helps make them safe to eat.

125 minAfricanMeatGluten free
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Benni cakeSesame caramel brittle

Benni is the Krio word for sesame, and benni cake is the crunchy sweet sold by hawkers on Freetown's streets and laid out on Christmas and party tables. Toasted seeds are stirred into hot golden caramel, pressed thin and cut into squares that snap cleanly and taste nutty, toasty and not too sweet. With only two main ingredients it comes together in twenty minutes, but caramel waits for nobody, so have everything ready before you start. Keep the pieces in an airtight jar, or humidity will make them sticky. Chef's tip: score the slab while it is still warm and pliable; once fully cold it shatters unevenly.

20 minAfricanDessertsVeganGluten free
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RabarbugrauturRhubarb pudding

Rhubarb is one of the few fruits that thrive in the windswept Faroe Islands, and rabarbugrautur, 'rhubarb porridge', is the summer pudding of Tórshavn and village kitchens alike: rhubarb stewed with sugar and thickened with potato starch into a glossy, tart, ruby-coloured pudding, served warm or chilled with cold cream or milk. A common mistake is boiling it after the starch goes in, which makes it thin and stringy. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat before stirring in the starch slurry, then return it just until the first bubble, and stop.

30 minScandinavianDessertsGluten free
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Raan roastSpiced yogurt roast leg of lamb

On the second or third day of Eid-ul-Adha, once the sacrificed animal has been shared out with neighbours and the poor, many Pakistani families keep back one leg for a raan: scored deeply, rubbed with raw papaya, then soaked overnight in yogurt, garlic, chilli and garam masala and roasted slowly until the meat pulls from the bone in soft, spiced shreds. It is the centrepiece of the Eid dinner table, carved at the table and served with naan, a crisp salad, mint raita and sometimes fried potatoes. The crust should be dark and sticky, the inside juicy. Roasting it hot from the start is the misstep; the outside burns while the bone end stays tough, so go low and covered first. Chef's tip: let the leg sit at room temperature for an hour before roasting, and baste it with the pan juices every 30 minutes once the foil comes off.

240 minPakistaniMeatGluten free
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LebbencslevesPotato and pasta sheet soup

Shepherds on the Hungarian Great Plain carried dry sheets of pasta in their packs, broke them into a cauldron over the fire with potatoes and paprika, and called it lebbencsleves. In villages and family kitchens it is still the soup for a cold weekday. Usually the onion is fried in smoked bacon; this meat-free version fries the onion and paprika in oil, so it is vegan, and toasts the pasta in the same pot first for a nutty depth. The broth turns brick red and is thickened a little by the potatoes, with chewy shards of pasta in every spoonful. Buy egg-free dried pasta sheets (or broken lasagne sheets) to keep it vegan. Where it goes wrong is adding the pasta too early: it swells, goes slimy and drinks up the soup. Chef's tip: a little green pepper and a fresh tomato added with the potatoes give the soup a summery sweetness.

45 minHungarianSoupsVegan
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SienisalaattiMushroom and onion salad

Every Finnish autumn, families head into the forests with baskets for mushroom picking, and in the past the haul was salted in barrels for winter; sienisalaatti, a creamy salad of salted milk caps or blanched forest mushrooms with onion and cream, is the result, served on the Christmas table and with boiled potatoes and rye bread. This version uses shop-bought mushrooms such as chanterelles, oyster or chestnut mushrooms, blanched and dressed. Never eat wild mushrooms unless an expert has identified them. A common mistake is dressing wet mushrooms, which makes a watery, bland salad. Chef's tip: squeeze the blanched mushrooms gently in a towel and let them cool completely before folding in the cream.

20 minScandinavianSaladsGluten free
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Curaçao kabritu stobaGoat stew with peppers

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

150 minCaribbeanMeatGluten free
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QurutobFlatbread in yogurt sauce

Qurutob is the national dish of Tajikistan, eaten from one big wooden bowl in Dushanbe teahouses and village homes: layers of torn fatir flatbread soaked in a tangy sauce made from qurut, dried salty yogurt balls dissolved in water, then topped with onions fried in oil, fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, chilli and herbs. Everyone eats with their right hand. Qurut is sold in Central Asian shops; strained yogurt thinned with water and salted makes a fair stand-in. A common mistake is pouring the sauce on and serving at once; the bread needs a few minutes to soak. Chef's tip: soak the qurut overnight and rub it through a sieve; a smooth, sour sauce is the soul of the dish.

60 minTajikVegetarian
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QursanThin bread in vegetable stew

Qursan is old Najdi home cooking from the farms around Riyadh and Qassim: thin wholemeal breads are cooked on a griddle, dried, then torn into a spiced stew until they soften into silky, pasta-like sheets. It is a family dish for Fridays and winter evenings, eaten from one big tray. Traditionally the stew is built on lamb; this version is vegetarian, with pumpkin, courgette and carrot simmered in a tomato and dried-lime broth seasoned with Gulf spices. The bread should soak but not dissolve, so the classic mistake is adding it too early and stirring it to mush. Fold it in at the end and let it rest off the heat. Serve with daqqus and fresh herbs. Chef's tip: cook the breads until properly dry and crisp; soft breads turn gummy in the broth.

120 minGulf ArabianCurriesVegan
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Quimbombó con bolitas de plátanoOkra stew with plantain dumplings

Quimbombó is one of the African-rooted dishes of central Cuba: okra stewed in a tomato sofrito and dotted with little dumplings of mashed green plantain, served over white rice. Country cooks often add pork or chicken; this version is meat-free, with a little smoked paprika for depth. The mistake most people make is stirring okra hard as it cooks, which turns it slimy, so stir gently and add a squeeze of lime early to keep it in check. Chef's tip: roll the plantain balls with wet hands and drop them in only for the last 10 minutes, so they hold together and stay tender.

65 minCubanCurriesVeganGluten free
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Leeks thel dalaStir-fried leeks

Up in the cool air of Nuwara Eliya, where carrots, cabbages and leeks grow on terraced slopes and are piled high on lorries heading down to the lowland markets, leeks are cooked the Sri Lankan way: fast and hot, with chilli. This thel dala, meaning tossed in oil, is a dry stir-fry of sliced leeks, red onion and garlic with crackling mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric and chilli flakes, ready in minutes and served on the rice and curry plate as a crunchy, sweet-hot side. Plenty of home cooks add a handful of Maldive fish or tiny dried sprats; this vegan version is just as moreish without them. Gritty leeks spoil the dish, so wash them after slicing, not before, when the soil hiding between the layers can float out. Chef's tip: stop cooking while the leeks still have a little bite and bright green colour; they keep softening in the hot pan.

20 minSri LankanSidesVeganGluten free
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LekachHoney cake

Every Ashkenazi family in Israel seems to have its own lekach, and in the days before Rosh Hashanah the smell of honey and spice drifts out of kitchens all over Kfar Saba and Jerusalem. It is a dark loaf of honey, brown sugar, strong coffee, cinnamon and cloves, made with oil so it stays dairy free for the festive meat meal. It tastes even better after two days wrapped, when the crumb turns sticky and deep. Slice it thinly and eat it with tea, wishing for a sweet new year. The common mistake is an oven that is too hot: honey burns quickly, so the outside darkens before the middle sets. Chef's tip: bake low and slow, and tent with foil once the top is mahogany.

75 minIsraeliBaking
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Leipäjuusto with cloudberriesBread cheese with cloudberries

Leipäjuusto, 'bread cheese', comes from Lapland, Ostrobothnia and Kainuu in northern Finland: a flat round of fresh cheese baked or flame-grilled until it is spotted brown, squeaky and mild. In Lapland it is cut into cubes and dropped into hot coffee, or warmed and served with cloudberry jam and cream as a dessert at Christmas and celebrations. Sold as 'Finnish squeaky cheese' outside Finland; it is usually made with animal rennet, so look for a vegetarian version. A common mistake is warming it too long, which turns it rubbery and leaks whey. Chef's tip: warm it in a hot oven for just a few minutes, until soft and steaming, and pour over a little cream for the last minute.

15 minScandinavianDessertsGluten free
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KabuniFestive rice with raisins and cinnamon

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

60 minBalkanDessertsGluten free
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ThamekfoultCouscous with broad beans and peas

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

75 minAlgerianRice & GrainsVegan
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ThikourbabineSemolina dumplings in pepper sauce

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

65 minAlgerianVegetarianVegan
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Lekváros buktaPlum jam yeast buns

Grandmothers across Hungary bake a tray of bukta on a Sunday afternoon, and school bakeries sell them for the walk home: soft, milky yeast buns, each folded around a spoon of thick plum butter and baked so close together that they rise into one another. Pulled apart, the sides stay tender and pale while the tops shine golden, and the dark, tart plum filling balances the sweet dough. Serve them warm with a glass of cold milk or cocoa. The usual slip is using runny jam, which bubbles out and burns on the tray; it must be a thick lekvár that holds its shape on a spoon. Chef's tip: brush each bun with melted butter before it goes into the tin, so the buns rise together but still pull apart neatly.

120 minHungarianBaking
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ShangiPotato and sour cream buns

From the Urals across to Siberia, shangi turn up on Sunday breakfast tables, at village markets and in the lunch bags of fishermen and hunters. They are flat rounds of soft yeast dough topped, not filled, with a thick swirl of buttery mashed potato beaten with egg, then brushed with sour cream so the top bakes into golden, slightly crisp peaks. Eat them warm with tea, milk or a bowl of mushroom soup. Older northern versions used barley dough or a millet topping, and sweet shangi carry tvorog instead. The usual slip is spreading the potato right to the edge; leave a rim so the dough rises around it like a frame. Chef's tip: brush the baked shangi with melted butter and stack them in a covered pot for ten minutes, which keeps them soft the way Siberians like them.

115 minRussianBaking
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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
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Quebec hot chicken sandwichHot chicken sandwich with gravy

The hot chicken is a fixture of Quebec rotisserie restaurants and roadside diners from Sherbrooke to Rimouski, ordered at lunch with a side of fries and a little dish of canned peas. Pulled roast chicken is piled between two slices of soft white bread, then the whole sandwich is drowned in a peppery brown chicken gravy and eaten with a knife and fork. It is a great way to use the meat from a roast chicken. A common mistake is a thin gravy; it should coat a spoon thickly so it clings to the bread. Chef's tip: add a spoonful of the roasting juices to the gravy for real rotisserie flavour.

40 minCanadianChicken
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CretonsSpiced pork spread

Cretons is a spiced pork spread found on the breakfast table in Quebec homes and diners, from Montreal casse-croûtes to Lac-Saint-Jean farmhouses, spread thick on hot toast with mustard alongside eggs and beans. Minced pork is simmered slowly with onion, milk, breadcrumbs and warm spices until soft, then set in small pots. It keeps for a week in the fridge. A common mistake is not cooking it long enough, which leaves a grainy, watery spread; it needs the full hour. Chef's tip: stir it as it cools so the fat stays mixed through instead of setting on top.

85 minCanadianChutneys & Dips
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Leskovačka mućkalicaCharred pork stew with peppers

Leskovac, in southern Serbia, is the country's grill capital, and its late-summer barbecue festival fills the main street with smoke; mućkalica is what the grill cooks make with meat that has spent time over the coals. Chunks of pork neck or shoulder are charred, then stewed with roasted peppers, onion, tomato and hot paprika until the sauce turns thick, glossy and fiery. This home version marinates the pork in the fridge and sears it on a griddle pan for that charred note. Serve straight from the pot with flatbread and a cucumber salad. The name comes from shaking the pan, and constant stirring is the usual mistake; swirl the pot instead so the pepper strips keep their shape. Chef's tip: char the peppers until black and blistered, then steam them in a covered bowl for 10 minutes and the skins slip off in seconds.

80 minBalkanMeatGluten freeSpicy
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Check riceJute leaf and okra rice

Liberians call it check rice because the grains come out flecked green with chopped jute leaves and okra, a checked pattern on a white field. It is a Monrovia home favourite, cooked in one pot so the rice absorbs the palm oil, onion and pepper while the greens soften into the grains and give them a gentle silkiness. Dried fish or meat often goes in; this version stays meat-free and is good alongside a pepper sauce, fried plantain or a simple bean stew. Chef's tip: lay the jute leaves on top of the rice instead of stirring them in; they steam gently, and you fold them through only at the end, which keeps the grains separate.

45 minAfricanRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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Palm butterPalm nut stew

Sunday and holiday tables in Liberia often centre on palm butter, a thick, velvety, orange-red stew made from the pulp of boiled palm nuts and cooked down with beef, smoked fish and whole hot peppers. In Monrovia it is spooned over rice, while families upcountry often pair it with fufu or dumboy. The taste is rich, nutty and gently sweet, with smoke from the fish and slowly building heat. Canned palm nut concentrate from African grocers makes it practical at home; pounding fresh nuts is the village way. A frequent slip is boiling hard once the palm cream goes in, which splits the oil out and makes it greasy. Chef's tip: drop the peppers in whole and pierce them once; you get flavour and warmth without the stew turning fiercely hot, and you can lift them out before serving.

125 minAfricanMeatGluten free
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LihapiirakkaFried meat and rice pastry

Lihapiirakka is the late-night kiosk snack of Finland, sold from grills in Helsinki and Tampere and at summer markets: a soft yeasted dough wrapped around minced beef and rice, deep-fried until golden, then split and filled with sausages, egg or pickles if you ask for the 'atomic' version. This recipe uses beef mince and keeps it plain. A common mistake is a wet filling, which makes the dough soggy and burst. Chef's tip: cook the filling until all the liquid has gone, cool it completely and fry the pies at 175 °C so they puff and stay light. Mince must be cooked to 71 °C.

80 minScandinavianFast Food
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Limburgs zuurvleesSweet-sour beef stew

Zoervleisj, sour meat, is the signature dish of Limburg in the south of the Netherlands, eaten with fries and apple sauce in every café in Maastricht and Heerlen: beef marinated overnight in vinegar with bay and cloves, then braised slowly with onions and thickened with Limburg apple-pear syrup (stroop) and slices of spiced gingerbread until dark, glossy and sweet-sour. Traditionally horse meat was used; beef is the usual choice today. A common mistake is skipping the marinade, which leaves the meat bland. Chef's tip: marinate in the fridge for at least 12 hours and use the marinade in the braise.

200 minDutchCurries
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Limburgse vlaaiCherry lattice tart

Vlaai is the pride of Limburg, the southern province around Maastricht: a thin yeasted pastry base filled with fruit, often sour cherries, apricots or plums, or with a creamy rice custard (rijstevlaai), topped with a lattice and baked. Every birthday, funeral and Sunday visit in Limburg has vlaai on the table, and bakeries sell them whole in boxes. A common mistake is a runny filling, which soaks the base. Chef's tip: thicken the cherry juice with cornflour and cook it until glossy before it goes in, so the base stays crisp.

75 minDutchBaking
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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
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LingonsyltLingonberry preserve

Lingonsylt is the bright red preserve on every Swedish table: with meatballs, Wallenbergare, potato pancakes and kroppkakor, and in Finland and Norway with reindeer and porridge. Swedish families pick the berries in September in the forests and either stir them raw with sugar (rårörda lingon) or cook them very briefly so they stay whole and sharp. A common mistake is boiling them long, which makes a dull, jelly-like jam. Chef's tip: cook for only 3–5 minutes, then cool fast; lingonberries are rich in natural preservatives and keep well.

20 minScandinavianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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