Featured recipe

Sayur lodeh

Sayur lodeh is everyday cooking in Central Java, made in big pots in Solo and Semarang kitchens and ladled over rice, with lontong rice cakes at Lebaran, or alongside opor and sambal goreng on festive tables. It's soupy rather than thick: a fragrant broth of coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass and lime leaf that carries chunks of aubergine, long beans, chayote and sweetcorn, plus tempeh and tofu to make it a meal. The flavour is mellow and slightly sweet, so the heat comes from sambal on the side. Chef's tip: keep the pot at a gentle simmer once the coconut milk goes in and stir now and then — a rolling boil splits the coconut milk into oily curds.

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Turon

Turon is the afternoon snack sold by vendors on every Filipino street corner, school gate and jeepney stop around three o'clock, often next to banana cue on bamboo skewers. A slice of saba banana and a strip of ripe jackfruit are rolled in a thin spring roll wrapper with brown sugar, then fried in oil that has more brown sugar sprinkled in it, so each roll comes out wrapped in a crackly, glassy caramel shell. It is eaten hot with your fingers, when the banana inside has turned soft and sticky. Saba is a short, firm cooking banana; ripe plantain is the closest substitute. Chef's tip: roll them tightly with no air pockets, or the caramel blows holes in the wrapper.

25 min

Filipino Desserts

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Chelow with tahdig

Chelow is the plain, fluffy steamed rice at the centre of almost every Iranian lunch table, and tahdig ('bottom of the pot') is the crisp golden crust that forms underneath it. In homes from Tehran to Isfahan the pot is turned out at the table and the shards of tahdig are fought over before anyone touches the stew. The method is the master one for all Persian polo dishes: long-grain rice is soaked, boiled briefly, then steamed slowly under a cloth-wrapped lid so every grain stays separate and long. This page gives a yogurt-and-saffron tahdig, with potato and flatbread versions in the steps. Serve it with ghormeh sabzi, a yogurt dip and fresh herbs. Chef's tip: turn the heat up for the first 10 minutes until you hear a steady sizzle, then right down; that early burst is what sets the crust.

90 min

Persian Rice & Grains

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Sabzi polo

Sabzi polo is the rice of Nowruz, the Persian New Year on the spring equinox, when families across Iran sit down on the first evening to a mound of rice speckled green with dill, parsley, coriander and chives. Fresh green herbs stand for renewal, and the dish is traditionally paired with fish on the New Year table; a vegetarian house serves it with kuku sabzi, the herb omelette, fried eggs or a bowl of yogurt. The rice tastes bright and grassy, with a gentle garlic note and a golden lavash crust underneath. Chef's tip: chop the herbs the day before and spread them on a tray to dry slightly; damp herbs make the rice heavy and clumpy.

75 min

Persian Rice & Grains

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Adas polo

Adas polo is a homely Tehran weekday rice, also served at the Yalda winter-solstice gathering in December, when tables fill with dried fruit. Brown lentils and long-grain rice are layered and steamed together, then topped with dates and raisins warmed in butter with cinnamon, so every spoonful is savoury, earthy and lightly sweet. Unlike Levantine lentil-and-rice dishes, the rice keeps its long separate grains and gets a saffron crust underneath. Serve it with yogurt, a herb plate and salad shirazi for a complete meal. Chef's tip: cook the lentils separately until just tender but whole; they finish softening during the steam.

75 min

Persian Rice & Grains

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Shirin polo

Shirin polo ('sweet rice') is the wedding rice of Iran, especially among Azerbaijani families in Tabriz, where a gleaming platter of it is carried out at the celebration feast to wish the couple a sweet life. Long grains of saffron rice are layered with candied orange peel, fine strips of carrot, slivered almonds and pistachios, all perfumed with cardamom and rosewater. It is fragrant and only gently sweet, with a citrus bitterness that keeps it from being cloying. Serve it as the centrepiece of a party with yogurt and a herb stew. Chef's tip: blanch the orange peel three times in fresh water; skip this and the whole platter tastes bitter.

90 min

Persian Rice & Grains

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Baghali polo

Baghali polo is the rice Iranians cook when fresh broad beans appear in the markets of Tehran and Shiraz in late spring, though frozen beans keep it on the table all year and it turns up at parties and weddings across the country. Bright green beans and plenty of dill are folded through steamed saffron rice, giving a soft, buttery, herb-heavy dish with sweet nuggets of bean in every mouthful. It is often served with lamb; at a vegetarian table pair it with a fried egg, mast-o khiar and a sharp salad. Chef's tip: peel the inner skins off the broad beans; the bright green centres are tender and sweet, the skins tough.

80 min

Persian Rice & Grains

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Vegetarian ghormeh sabzi

Ghormeh sabzi is often called Iran's national dish: a dark green stew of slowly fried herbs, kidney beans and whole dried limes that perfumes Iranian kitchens on Friday mornings and turns up at nearly every family gathering. The original is made with lamb; this vegetarian version uses mushrooms and plenty of beans for body, and keeps the deep, sour, almost smoky herb flavour that makes the dish. It is spooned over chelow with its crust on the side. Chef's tip: fry the herbs in oil until they turn very dark green and smell nutty; that long frying is the flavour of the stew.

90 min

Persian Curries

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Kuku sabzi

Kuku sabzi is a deep green, herb-packed egg cake that Iranian families make for Nowruz, the New Year on the first day of spring, often alongside sabzi polo. It is more herb than egg: just enough egg binds a heap of parsley, coriander, dill and chives, with crunchy walnuts and little sour barberries. It is eaten warm or cold, cut into wedges, tucked into lavash with yogurt and radishes, and it travels well to the Sizdah Bedar picnic thirteen days later. Chef's tip: cook it slowly with the lid on; high heat browns the base before the middle sets.

40 min

Persian Vegetarian

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Mirza ghasemi

Mirza ghasemi comes from Gilan, the green, rainy Caspian province around Rasht, where it is eaten as a starter or a light lunch with bread or rice. Aubergines are charred whole until smoky and soft, then cooked down with a lot of garlic, turmeric and tomato, and finished by stirring in eggs so they set in soft streaks through the purée. It tastes smoky, sweet and garlicky, and is best scooped up with warm flatbread and pickles. Chef's tip: char the aubergines over a gas flame or under a hot grill until the skin is papery and black all over; a pale-skinned aubergine gives no smoke.

45 min

Persian Snacks & Starters

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Kashk-e bademjan

Kashk-e bademjan is the aubergine dip that greets you at the start of a meal in Tehran restaurants and at family gatherings all over Iran, swirled on a plate and decorated with fried onions, mint oil, walnuts and white ribbons of kashk. Fried aubergine is mashed with golden onions and garlic, then enriched with kashk, a tangy, salty fermented whey. Most kashk is made from soured yogurt without rennet, but some brands use cheese whey, so check the label if you avoid animal rennet; strained Greek yogurt beaten with a little sour cream and lemon is a good substitute. Serve it with warm flatbread. Chef's tip: fry the dried mint for a few seconds only, off the heat; it should smell sweet, not scorched.

45 min

Persian Chutneys & Dips

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Salad shirazi

Salad shirazi is named after Shiraz, the city of gardens in Fars province, and it is the salad served with almost every Persian rice and kebab meal. Tomato, cucumber and onion are cut into tiny, even dice and dressed simply with lime juice (or sour grape verjuice, ab-ghooreh, in Shiraz itself), dried mint and a little oil. There are no peppers or herbs to muddy it: it is crunchy, sharp and cold, and is spooned onto rice as a relish. Chef's tip: dice everything as small as a pea; the tiny cubes are what make it taste like Shirazi rather than a chopped salad.

10 min

Persian Salads

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Ash reshteh

Ash reshteh is the thick soup Iranians cook in big pots in the days before Nowruz and for Sizdah Bedar, the spring picnic day, when the noodles (reshteh) are said to help you grasp the threads of good luck for the coming year. Chickpeas, beans and lentils are simmered with a mountain of green herbs and spinach, thickened with flat noodles and finished at the table with tangy kashk, crisp onions and a sizzling swirl of mint oil. It is a meal in a bowl, hearty and herby. Kashk is usually made without rennet, but check the label; strained yogurt is a good substitute. Chef's tip: add the noodles only once the beans are soft, and stir often after that, because they thicken the pot and it can catch on the bottom.

120 min

Persian Soups

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Sholeh zard

Sholeh zard is the bright yellow rice pudding that Iranians cook in huge pots as nazri, food given away to neighbours and strangers, especially during the month of Muharram and on religious feast days; neighbourhoods in Tehran and Mashhad fill with its smell of saffron and rose. Rice is simmered until it almost melts, then sweetened, coloured gold with saffron and perfumed with rosewater and cardamom. It sets softly as it cools and is decorated with cinnamon lines, almonds and pistachios. This version uses a little oil instead of butter, so it is vegan. Chef's tip: add the sugar only when the rice is completely soft; sugar added early stops the grains from breaking down.

75 min

Persian Desserts

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Faloodeh

Faloodeh is the summer treat of Shiraz: thin rice noodles frozen in a rosewater syrup to make an icy, crunchy, chewy sorbet, sold in ice-cream shops across the city and in Tehran on hot evenings. Each glass is finished at the counter with a squeeze of fresh lime and, for many, a spoon of sour cherry syrup. It is very different from Indian falooda, which is a creamy milk drink; this one is dairy-free, sharp, floral and refreshing. Chef's tip: scrape the mixture with a fork every 30 minutes while it freezes, so you get snowy crystals rather than a solid block.

240 min

Persian Desserts

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Persian love cake

Persian love cake is not an old Iranian recipe but a modern one from the Iranian diaspora, popular in cafés in London and Melbourne, built on the flavours of Persian sweets: almond, cardamom, nutmeg, rosewater and pistachio. The name comes from a story about a woman who baked a spell-binding cake for a prince. It has a crunchy almond base and a soft, moist, yogurt-rich top, finished with rose-scented cream, green pistachios and pink petals, and it is lovely for birthdays and Nowruz tea. Made with ground almonds and no wheat flour, it is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: press the base layer firmly into the tin; that crunchy bottom is the signature of this cake.

60 min

Persian Baking

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Doogh

Doogh is the salty, fizzy yogurt drink served in tall glasses with lunch across Iran, and above all with kebab and rice at the chelow-kababi restaurants of Tehran. Bottled sparkling doogh from the mineral springs of Abali, in the mountains east of the capital, is the famous one; at home it is mixed from yogurt, cold water and soda water with crumbled dried mint, and sometimes wild pennyroyal (kakuti) or rose petals. Its bubbles and mint set it apart from plainer, still yogurt drinks. It is cooling and good with rich, herby food. Chef's tip: add the sparkling water last and stir gently, or the fizz disappears before it reaches the glass.

5 min

Persian Drinks

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Caldo verde

Caldo verde comes from the Minho, the green, rainy corner of northern Portugal above Porto, where couve galega (a tall, flat-leaved cabbage) grows in every back garden. It is a plain purée of potato and onion with ribbons of dark green cabbage cut as fine as string, finished with a thread of raw olive oil, and it is drunk from earthenware bowls at the Santos Populares street festivals in June, at weddings at midnight and on any cold evening with a slice of broa (maize bread). In the north a coin of chouriço is usually floated on top; this version keeps the soup vegetarian and lets a little smoked paprika in the oil stand in for it. Chef's tip: shred the greens as thinly as you can, rolled up tight like a cigar, because they only cook for a few minutes and thick strips stay chewy.

40 min

Portuguese Soups

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Açorda alentejana

Açorda à alentejana is the shepherd's supper of the Alentejo, the wide, hot plain of cork oaks and wheat fields south of Lisbon. It is barely cooked at all: raw garlic, salt and a big handful of fresh coriander are pounded to a paste in the bowl, sliced day-old bread goes on top, and boiling water poured over turns it all into a fragrant, green broth, crowned with a soft poached egg. Unlike Spain's sopa de ajo, nothing is fried and there is no paprika; the flavour is fresh herbs, sharp garlic and fruity olive oil. Alentejanos eat it at home in summer and winter alike, and in Évora's tascas in the evening, sometimes with a few olives or a slice of fresh cheese. Chef's tip: use firm, dense, two-day-old country bread; soft sandwich bread collapses into mush the moment the water hits it.

20 min

Portuguese Soups

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