What to eat today?

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Miyan taushe (pumpkin and groundnut soup)

Golden pumpkin, sour sorrel leaves and freshly ground roasted groundnuts meet in this thick, gently sweet soup from Kano and the Hausa north. It is cooked for family meals and special visits alike, and served with tuwon shinkafa or with masa, the little fermented rice cakes. Meat or dried fish usually simmers in it; this version is meat-free, so it leans on dawadawa and a good vegetable stock for savouriness. The groundnut catches on the pot easily, and scorching it is the most common mistake: once it goes in, keep the heat low and stir from the bottom. Chef's tip: leave some pumpkin cubes whole while mashing the rest, so the soup is thick but still has soft pieces to bite.

60 min

Nigerian Soups

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Miyan kuka (baobab leaf soup)

Dried baobab leaves, pounded to a fine green-grey powder, give miyan kuka its earthy, faintly tea-like taste and its slippery body, a little like okra. Northern households from Kano to Sokoto cook it as everyday food and pair it almost always with tuwon shinkafa or tuwon masara. Dried fish or a handful of meat often goes into the pot; this meat-free version, as many homes cook it when the budget is tight, gets its depth from dawadawa, onion and a peppery tomato base instead. A common mistake is tipping the kuka in all at once, which leaves stubborn green lumps; sift it in slowly while whisking. Chef's tip: once the kuka is in, simmer only 2–3 minutes, because long boiling dulls its colour and its fresh, grassy edge.

35 min

Nigerian Soups

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Akidi (Igbo black beans with plantain)

Akidi, a small, glossy black bean, is a quiet staple of Igbo home cooking around Enugu, Anambra and Imo, cooked like beans porridge and usually with ripe plantain for sweetness. After a long simmer the beans turn creamy inside while holding their shape, and they are finished with palm oil, onion, scotch bonnet and a handful of fragrant leaves, so the pot tastes earthy, sweet and peppery. It is a filling meal on its own, often eaten with a cold drink or a side of fried plantain. If you cannot find akidi, black turtle beans are a good substitute. Chef's tip: add the plantain only for the last 15 minutes; put in at the start, it dissolves into the beans, which is the usual mistake.

120 min

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Ofada rice with green pepper sauce

Ofada rice takes its name from a town in Ogun State and is grown on small farms across the Southwest; the grains are short, unpolished and sometimes speckled, with a nutty, earthy aroma that some love and others find strong. It is served wrapped in uma (thaumatococcus) leaves at parties and in Lagos restaurants, with ayamase, a fiery green pepper sauce cooked in bleached palm oil. Ayamase is usually loaded with assorted meats and boiled eggs; this vegan version keeps the green peppers, scotch bonnets and locust beans and adds mushrooms if you like. Banana leaves or a plain plate stand in for uma leaves. The mistake to avoid is skipping the picking and washing: local rice often holds small stones and husk. Chef's tip: bleach the palm oil with the lid nearby, the window open and the extractor on full, and never leave the pan.

75 min

Nigerian Rice & Grains

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Dodo Ikire (Ikire plantain balls)

Travellers on the Ibadan–Ife road stop at Ikire in Osun State to buy cones of dodo Ikire from the women who line the roadside, and the town is famous for little else. Overripe plantain, black-skinned and soft, is fried, mashed with fresh scotch bonnet and salt, moulded into small balls or cones and fried again until it is almost black outside, sticky and chewy inside, with a sweet-hot flavour like plantain caramel with a kick. It keeps well and is eaten as a snack on its own or with roasted groundnuts. Don't use firm plantain: it must be black and very soft, or the balls never turn dark and chewy. Chef's tip: use plantains so ripe they feel soft and the skins are fully black; yellow plantain gives ordinary fried dodo, not the dark, toffee-like Ikire kind.

60 min

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Unripe plantain porridge

Green plantain porridge is everyday home food in Rivers and Delta states and well beyond, and many Nigerians cook it when they want something filling but lighter than yam or rice. Hard, green plantains are cut into chunks and cooked in a pepper broth with a little palm oil until they soften and the starch thickens the liquid into a savoury, slightly tangy stew, finished with peppery scent leaf. Smoked fish, crayfish or periwinkles often go in; this version is meat-free and still deeply savoury. It is a meal in itself. Adding the scent leaf too early is the usual mistake; stir it in at the very end so it stays fragrant rather than bitter. Chef's tip: oil your hands before peeling green plantain to stop the sticky sap staining your skin.

45 min

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Bole (roasted plantain with pepper sauce)

Roadside grills all over Port Harcourt send up smoke from bole, the city's beloved street food, and the Rivers State capital even holds a festival in its honour. Plantains and pieces of yam are roasted over charcoal until the skins blacken and the flesh turns smoky, sweet and creamy, then split and served with a spicy palm-oil pepper sauce. The full version comes with grilled fish; this meat-free way pairs it with a handful of roasted groundnuts, which is also how many people snack on it at the roadside. A gas flame, barbecue or a very hot oven all work at home. Chef's tip: choose plantains that are just yellow and still firm; very ripe ones turn mushy and burn before the inside cooks, the commonest bole mistake.

50 min

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Fio fio (pigeon pea pottage with cocoyam)

Pigeon peas are called fio fio or echicha in Enugu, and around Udi and Nsukka they are cooked into a thick pottage for family meals, sometimes with fresh corn in season and often with cocoyam, which melts into the pot and thickens it. The peas stay firm and nutty, the cocoyam turns soft and creamy, and the palm-oil pepper sauce ties it together into a hearty, savoury meal. Dried pigeon peas are sold in African and South Asian shops (as toor or gandules). Pigeon peas are tough and need a long simmer; the mistake is seasoning or adding cocoyam before they are completely tender. Wear gloves to peel cocoyam, which can itch. Chef's tip: soak the peas overnight and boil them hard for the first 10 minutes; it shortens the cooking and makes them evenly tender.

120 min

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Kokoro (crunchy maize sticks)

Kokoro is sold in clear bags at motor parks, markets and school gates across the Southwest, and it is the snack people tuck into a pocket for a long bus ride. The dough is made by cooking part of the maize flour with water into a thick paste, then kneading in more flour with a little sugar, salt, chilli and ginger, and rolling it into thin sticks that are fried slowly until hard and golden. The result is very crunchy, lightly sweet and peppery, and it keeps for weeks. Children love it, and it is traditionally eaten with roasted groundnuts or coconut. Avoid frying in oil that is too hot; the outside browns before the sticks are crisp all the way through. Chef's tip: roll the sticks no thicker than a pencil and fry them at a moderate heat so they crisp right through; thick sticks fried hot stay hard outside and doughy inside.

65 min

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Dundun (fried yam)

In the evenings, Lagos street corners fill with the smell of dundun: big woks of oil, sliced white yam frying next to plantain and akara, sold by the piece in a twist of paper with a spoon of pepper sauce. Good dundun is golden and crisp outside and soft and fluffy as a baked potato inside, with a faint sweetness from the yam. At home it is a favourite Saturday breakfast or a quick supper, and children happily eat it on its own while the adults pile on the sauce. Don't fry over a very high heat: the outside browns before the middle cooks, the commonest dundun mistake. Chef's tip: soak the yam pieces in salted water for 5 minutes and pat them dry; the salt seasons them through and they fry crisper.

30 min

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Nigerian coconut candy

Children across Nigeria spend their pocket money on coconut candy, little clusters of fresh coconut set in amber caramel, sold in small bags by school gates and at market stalls. Made at home it takes about half an hour, with a chewy-crunchy bite and a toffee flavour against the clean taste of fresh coconut. Taking the caramel too far is the common mistake, since dark caramel tastes bitter, so stop at a deep golden colour. Children can help shape the cooled candy, but keep them away from the hot sugar. Chef's tip: use freshly grated coconut, not desiccated; its moisture keeps the clusters chewy in the centre.

30 min

Nigerian Desserts

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Boiled groundnuts in the shell

Freshly dug groundnuts appear in markets from Ibadan to Kano when the rains come, still muddy in their pale shells, and hawkers sell them boiled in salt water by the cupful, often next to roasted corn. Boiling turns the kernels soft and creamy, like a cooked bean, with salt seeping through the shell. They are eaten warm on the way home, cracked open with the thumbs. Using dried shop peanuts and boiling them for the same time is the usual mistake: they stay hard, so soak dried ones overnight and boil for 2–3 hours. Chef's tip: let them sit in the hot brine for 15 minutes after cooking, so the salt soaks in.

55 min

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Roasted corn and ube (African pear)

When the rains come between June and September, roadside roasters all over southern Nigeria fan charcoal under rows of maize cobs, and next to them sits a basin of ube, the purple African pear, softened in hot water. A bite of chewy, smoky corn and a scrape of the pear's rich, salty, almost avocado-like flesh is the whole point, and at home a grill or a gas flame does the job. Dropping ube into boiling water is a common mistake: the skins split and the flesh turns watery and bitter, so use water that is hot but not bubbling. Chef's tip: no ube? Fresh coconut chunks are the other classic partner for roasted corn.

25 min

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Tuwo masara (stiff maize swallow)

On the Plateau and throughout the north, a pot of white maize flour turned stiff with a wooden paddle is the daily partner to miyan kubewa (okra soup), miyan kuka and vegetable soups. Tuwon masara is smooth, slightly springy and mild, with a faint sweetness of corn. The secret is to start with a thin cooked paste and only then add the dry flour, which keeps it lump-free; dumping all the flour into boiling water is the mistake that gives raw, gritty pockets. Chef's tip: use a sturdy, flat wooden spoon and press the tuwo hard against the side of the pot when you turn it.

30 min

Nigerian Basics

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Ukwa (African breadfruit porridge)

Ukwa is festival and family food in the Igbo Southeast, cooked for guests and for the New Yam season, and its price in the market shows how prized it is. The seeds of the African breadfruit are dehulled and slow-cooked with a little potash until soft and creamy, then finished with palm oil, onion, pepper and fragrant utazi or scent leaves, giving a rich, nutty, slightly beany porridge. Dried fish is often stirred in; this version stays meat-free. Some cooks add fresh sweetcorn or cooked maize in the last 10 minutes. A pressure cooker saves an hour of simmering. Chef's tip: add the salt and stock cube only once the seeds are soft; seasoning early, a common mistake, keeps them hard for much longer.

120 min

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Abacha (African salad)

Abacha is the evening snack of Anambra and Enugu, sold by women on street corners and served at Igbo weddings and funerals, where people call it African salad. Dried cassava shreds are softened in water and tossed in ncha, a thick yellow emulsion made by stirring palm oil with potash water, together with fermented oil bean (ugba), sliced onion, pepper and ground calabash nutmeg, then finished with garden egg leaves and fresh garden eggs. It is chewy, oily, peppery and fresh all at once. Stockfish, ponmo or crayfish are often added; this is the meat-free way. Outside Nigeria, African shops sell abacha and ugba; leave the ugba out if you cannot find it. Chef's tip: soak the abacha only until it is just pliable; left too long it turns mushy, which is the mistake that ruins the texture.

40 min

Nigerian Salads

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Ojojo (water yam fritters)

Ojojo is what Yoruba households do with water yam when they want a snack instead of a pottage, and roadside fryers in the Southwest sell it hot in paper with akara. The grated yam is mixed with chopped onion, fresh chilli and salt, then dropped by the spoonful into hot oil, where it puffs into craggy, golden fritters with a crisp shell and a soft, slightly chewy centre. Eat it hot with a pepper sauce, or with ogi (fermented corn pap) for breakfast. Wear gloves to peel and grate water yam, which makes the skin itch. Chef's tip: grate the yam just before frying and don't let the batter sit; it darkens and loosens as it stands.

30 min

Jamaican Snacks & Starters

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Gullisuwa (fried milk balls in syrup)

Small kiosks in Kano sell gullisuwa in twists of plastic, and Hausa families make platefuls for Sallah and weddings. Milk powder, a little flour and sugar are worked into a soft dough, rolled into balls and fried slowly until deep golden, then soaked in syrup, which gives a rich, fudge-like centre and a faintly caramel crust. They recall Indian gulab jamun, but they are firmer and less spiced. Milk sugars burn fast, so the common mistake is hot oil that browns the outside in seconds while the inside stays doughy; keep it low. Chef's tip: oil your palms when rolling, so the balls stay smooth and don't crack in the pan.

50 min

Nigerian Desserts

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Reform tortaWalnut meringue chocolate cake

Belgrade pastry shops have sold reform torta since the early twentieth century, and it is still the cake Serbian families bring out for birthdays, weddings and the slava. Three thin layers of walnut meringue, crisp at the edge and chewy inside, are stacked with a dense chocolate butter cream made with egg yolks cooked over steam until thick. It is very rich, so cut thin slices and serve with strong coffee. The usual slip is beating the butter into a chocolate mixture that is still warm, which melts it and splits the cream; let it cool to room temperature first. Chef's tip: assemble the cake the day before; overnight in the fridge the meringue softens a little and the cake slices cleanly with a hot knife.

150 minBalkan Baking

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Jamaican roast corn

Drive the road over Mount Diablo or past Faith's Pen and you will see vendors fanning half-drums of glowing coal, with corn cobs turning slowly until the kernels are charred, chewy and smoky. Jamaican roast corn is drier and nuttier than boiled corn, closer to a snack to gnaw on the move, sometimes rubbed with salted butter and sometimes eaten plain with a cup of hot "fish tea" soup. The most common mistake is roasting over flames rather than embers, which blackens the outside before the inside cooks. Starchy, slightly mature cobs are traditional; very sweet corn burns faster, so keep it moving. Chef's tip: pull off the husks before roasting, as the vendors do, so the kernels char directly and pick up all the smoke.

30 min

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Mchewek (almond cookies)

Mchewek means something like 'prickly', which is exactly how these cookies look: balls of almond paste rolled in flaked almonds so the flakes stick out like spines, each topped with half a candied cherry and baked only until the tips turn gold. Inside they stay soft and chewy, like a rustic macaroon. Being made with no flour, they suit anyone avoiding gluten, and they appear on Eid and wedding trays all over Algeria, often brushed with a little honey syrup for shine. Chef's tip: take them out when the edges are just golden and the centres still feel soft; overbaking is the classic mistake and leaves them dry and crumbly once cool.

38 min

Algerian Baking

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Alu kesel curryPlantain turmeric curry

Alu kesel, the grey-skinned cooking plantain whose name means ash banana, is picked green and treated like a vegetable, and this creamy curry is a regular on Kandyan lunch tables and at temple almsgivings, where it fills out the spread cheaply and well. The slices are rubbed with turmeric and salt, fried until golden at the edges, then simmered in coconut milk with unroasted curry powder, fenugreek, cinnamon and pandan, so they turn soft and starchy like potato with a hint of banana sweetness. It sits happily beside parippu, a green mallung and a sharp pickle. Peeling the plantains with dry hands is a messy mistake, because the sap stains skin and knives black; oil your hands and the blade first. Chef's tip: frying the slices before they go into the gravy keeps them in neat pieces; unfried plantain tends to fall apart and thicken the curry into paste.

40 min

Sri Lankan Curries

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AluwaRice flour diamond sweets

Pale, smooth and cut into precise little diamonds, aluwa brings a touch of order to the crowded Avurudu sweet tray, and it is often the first sweet children learn to help make because there is no deep-frying involved. Rice flour is roasted until it smells like biscuits, then kneaded with hot sugar syrup, chopped cashews and cardamom into a firm dough, rolled out and cut. The finished sweet is dense, slightly crumbly and not too sweet, with a gentle nuttiness, and it keeps for weeks in a tin to be offered to visitors with tea. The point where it goes wrong is the syrup: too thin and the aluwa never sets, too thick and the dough cracks before you can roll it, so aim for the one-thread stage. Chef's tip: roll the dough between two sheets of baking paper and cut it while it is still warm and pliable; once cold it breaks instead of slicing.

45 min

Sri Lankan Desserts

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Ang ku kuehRed glutinous rice cakes

Red for luck and shaped like a tortoise for long life, ang ku kueh are carried to Hokkien and Teochew family altars and handed out in boxes at a baby's first-month celebration, at elders' birthdays and at temple festivals across Singapore, from Chinatown shophouses to neighbourhood confectioners in Bukit Merah. The skin is soft, chewy and slightly elastic, made from glutinous rice flour kneaded with mashed sweet potato, and it wraps a smooth, mildly sweet filling of split mung bean (or crushed peanut and sugar). Each cake is pressed in a carved wooden mould and steamed on a square of banana leaf. The usual mistake is steaming over a fierce boil, which makes the skin puff up, crack and lose the printed pattern; steam gently with the lid slightly open. Chef's tip: brush the cakes with a little oil the moment they come out of the steamer, so the pattern shines and the skin doesn't dry out or stick together.

130 min

Singaporean Desserts

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AndijviestamppotEndive and Gouda mash

Stamppot, mashed potato stirred with vegetables, is the Dutch winter dinner, and the endive version is a little lighter: raw, finely shredded curly endive is stirred into piping-hot mash, so it wilts slightly but keeps a fresh, bitter crunch, then cubes of aged Gouda are folded in and start to melt. Dutch families eat it with gravy and a smoked sausage; this vegetarian version uses a pool of brown butter. Aged Gouda is usually made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian aged Gouda-style cheese. A common mistake is cooking the endive, which turns it soggy and grey. Chef's tip: stir the endive in off the heat at the very last moment.

30 min

Dutch Vegetarian

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Arayeche (almond star pastries)

Picture a star with three plump arms: arayeche are shaped from a ball of orange-blossom almond paste wrapped in very thin pastry and pinched into points, baked pale, dipped in honey and then rolled in icing sugar until snow-white. Along with dziriettes and makrout, they are fixtures of the sweet trays at weddings and Eid in Algiers, set out in paper cases with mint tea. The pastry is crisp and fine, the almond filling dense and fragrant, and the coating of sugar sticks to the honey in a sweet crust. Chef's tip: pull them out of the oven while still pale with barely golden tips; browned arayeche are a common mistake and taste dry once the sugar goes on.

120 min

Algerian Desserts

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Seven-layer tea

Visitors to the tea gardens of Srimangal, in Sylhet's Moulvibazar district, queue at small tea cabins to see a glass of tea striped in seven distinct bands, from creamy white at the bottom to pale green-gold at the top. The original recipe is a closely guarded secret of the tea-maker who made it famous, but the principle is simple physics: each layer carries a different amount of sugar, so the heaviest sits at the bottom and the lightest floats on top. This home version uses condensed milk, green tea, strong black tea, milk tea, lemon tea, spiced tea and plain tea, and it is drunk slowly, layer by layer, with a long spoon. Pouring too fast is what ruins it; each layer should trickle down the inside of the glass over the back of a spoon. Chef's tip: let all the brews cool to warm, about 50 °C, so temperature differences don't stir the layers.

35 min

Bangladeshi Drinks

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Sharmout (Sudanese dried beef, oven method)

Across Darfur and Kordofan, and in kitchens throughout Sudan around Eid al-Adha, strips of lean beef are salted and hung to dry in the hot, dry air for several days until they turn hard and dark. That sharmout is then pounded and fried with onion to give tagalia, kawal and other stews their rich, savoury depth. Air-drying raw meat at home is risky, so this safer version heats the strips to 71 °C first and then dries them slowly in a low oven, and the finished sharmout is kept in the fridge. The traditional raw air-dried version is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Leaving fat on the strips is the usual mistake: fat does not dry and turns rancid, so trim every bit. Chef's tip: partly freeze the beef so you can slice it into even 5 mm strips along the grain.

330 min

Sudanese Basics

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Kamounia (Sudanese cumin offal stew)

Named after kammoun, cumin, this Sudanese stew of lamb offal is a Khartoum favourite after Eid al-Adha, when every household has fresh heart, kidneys and liver from the sacrifice, and it is also sold in restaurants for breakfast and lunch. The meat is cooked with lots of onion, garlic, tomato and a heavy hand of cumin until the sauce is thick and dark and smells wonderful. It is eaten with bread or kisra and a squeeze of lime. Putting the liver in with the heart is the classic mistake: liver turns grainy and dry when overcooked, so add it only in the last 10 minutes. Chef's tip: toast whole cumin seeds in a dry pan and grind them yourself; the flavour is twice as strong.

90 min

Sudanese Meat

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Anday ka halwaEgg halwa

Sweet, golden and grainy like a rich crumble, egg halwa is the quick showpiece of Hyderabadi and Karachi home kitchens, made when unexpected guests arrive or for a winter Sunday, and it fills the house with the smell of ghee and cardamom. Eggs are beaten with milk, sugar and milk powder, then stirred in ghee until the custard sets, breaks and finally fries into soft, sandy granules that cling together like khoya; there is no eggy taste once it is properly cooked. It is served warm in small bowls, topped with almonds and pistachios, sometimes with a few saffron threads. The commonest failure is stopping too soon, when the halwa is still wet and scrambled-egg-like, rather than cooking on until it turns granular and golden and the ghee separates. Chef's tip: strain the beaten egg mixture through a sieve before cooking, which removes the stringy whites and gives a smooth, even grain.

50 min

Pakistani Indian Sweets

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Anda parathaEgg-stuffed paratha

At the dhabas along the GT Road and the breakfast stalls of Rawalpindi's Saddar, the paratha-wala cracks an egg straight into a bowl with onion and chilli, half-cooks a paratha, pours the egg over and flips the whole thing onto the tawa so the egg fries into the bread. The result is one golden, layered disc that is crisp at the edges, soft where the egg meets the dough, and peppery with green chilli. Truck drivers, students and office workers eat it folded in half with chai, ketchup or green chutney, and it is a common packed lunch for school because it needs no curry. The problem most people run into is pouring the egg onto a raw paratha, which tears, or onto a fully cooked one, which will not let the egg stick. Chef's tip: cook the first side only until brown spots appear, then add the egg to the cooked side and flip so the egg sets against the hot iron.

30 min

Pakistani Breakfast & Brunch

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AnababeroLayered injera with spiced butter

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

13 min

Ethiopian Breads & Parathas

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SulguniStretched cheese

Sulguni is the famous cheese of Samegrelo, made in Zugdidi homes by taking fresh, slightly soured curd, cutting it up and working it in hot water until it can be pulled into a glossy, layered, salty ball. It is eaten in thick slices, melted into elarji and khachapuri, and smoked over embers for a darker version. The curd has to be acidic enough to stretch, so you make the cheese one day and stretch it the next, or buy fresh Imeretian cheese and start from there. Traditionally animal rennet is used; vegetarian rennet works too. A common mistake is trying to stretch fresh, sweet curd; it melts into a puddle instead of pulling. Chef's tip: test a small piece in hot water first; if it stretches 30 cm without breaking, the curd is ready.

70 min

Georgian Basics

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Amra chutneyHog plum chutney

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

40 min

Bangladeshi Chutneys & Dips

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Ambarella curryJune plum curry

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

50 min

Sri Lankan Curries

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Kartoshka cakeCocoa and cake crumb truffles

Soviet cafés and school canteens sold these knobbly brown 'potatoes' for a few kopecks, and they began as a thrifty way to use up sponge and biscuit trimmings at the bakery. Crumbs are bound with butter and sweetened condensed milk, flavoured with cocoa and vanilla, shaped into little potatoes, rolled in cocoa and finished with two dabs of pale butter cream for the sprouts. They are fudgy and dense like a brownie truffle, need no oven, and children love making them. Traditional bakers added a spoonful of rum, an optional extra for adult batches only; this version is alcohol-free with vanilla. The usual slip is coarse crumbs, which make the potatoes crack, so blitz them as fine as sand. Chef's tip: chill the shaped potatoes for at least 20 minutes so they hold their shape and slice cleanly.

30 min

Russian Desserts

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AmandineChocolate sponge cakes

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

155 min

Romanian Baking

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Kawari (Sudanese trotter soup)

Small restaurants in Khartoum's markets open early to sell bowls of kawari, a soup of cow's or sheep's trotters cooked for hours until the meat and gelatinous skin slip off the bone and the broth turns rich and sticky. It is seasoned simply with onion, garlic, cardamom and black pepper and then brightened at the table with lime, chilli and raw garlic, and it is eaten with bread, especially on cold mornings and as a reviving breakfast. The flavour is deep and meaty, the texture silky. Skipping the first blanch is the usual mistake: it leaves the soup murky and smelling of the farmyard. Buy trotters already cleaned and cut by the butcher, and scrape off any remaining hair. Chef's tip: a pressure cooker cuts the simmering to about 1½ hours.

270 min

Sudanese Soups

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Amala ko acharGooseberry pickle

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

30 min

Nepali Chutneys & Dips

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Mullah tagalia (Sudanese dried-meat and okra stew)

Tagalia is the stew northern Sudanese families turn to for everyday lunches and when guests arrive unannounced, because it is made almost entirely from the store cupboard: pounded sharmout, dried okra powder called weika and a mountain of onions fried slowly until dark. Unlike mullah bamia, which uses fresh okra, it is smooth, thick and dark brown, with a rich, savoury, slightly smoky taste, and it is scooped up with kisra or aseeda from one shared bowl. Cooks in Nubia and along the Nile say good tagalia is all in the onion. Dumping the weika in at once is the classic mistake, and it sets into slimy lumps; sprinkle it slowly while whisking. Chef's tip: keep frying the onions until they are a deep chestnut colour but never black; burnt onion makes the whole pot bitter.

75 min

Sudanese Curries

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Aloo tukTwice-fried pressed potatoes

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

40 min

Pakistani Snacks & Starters

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Mullah kawal (Darfur fermented-leaf stew)

Kawal is one of Darfur's great pantry secrets: the leaves of a wild legume that grows among the sorghum are pounded, fermented in a buried pot for a couple of weeks and dried into dark little balls with a smell as strong as blue cheese. Crumbled into a stew of fried onion, dried meat and tomato and thickened with okra powder, it gives a deep, savoury, almost meaty flavour that people in Darfur and Kordofan crave, and the stew is eaten with aseeda or kisra. Kawal is very hard to find outside Sudan; fermented locust beans (dawadawa or iru) from West African shops are the closest substitute, or use mashed fermented black beans. Too much kawal is the beginner's mistake; start with a little and taste. Chef's tip: soak the kawal in warm water for 10 minutes and mash it before it goes in, so it dissolves evenly.

90 min

Sudanese Curries

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Agashe (Sudanese peanut-crusted beef skewers)

On Khartoum evenings the smoke from agashe grills drifts across the streets: thin slices of beef threaded onto sticks, coated in a dry rub of ground roasted peanuts, ginger, chilli and garlic, and grilled fast over charcoal until crusty and fragrant. The style came to Sudan with West African communities and is close cousin to Nigerian suya, but it has become a Khartoum favourite in its own right, served with sliced onion, tomato, lime and a sprinkle of extra spice. Slicing the beef too thick is the usual error, because the crust burns before the inside is done; aim for 5 mm. Marinate in the fridge, never on the counter. Chef's tip: dust the skewers with a second coat of peanut mix halfway through grilling for the best crust.

40 min

Sudanese Meat

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Sudanese shorba (lamb and peanut Ramadan soup)

Every evening during Ramadan, Khartoum tables are set with dates, juices and a big pot of shorba, a lamb broth full of carrots, potato and onion made creamy with peanut butter and sharpened with lime. It is the first thing many families eat after the dates, warm and gentle on an empty stomach, and it is made in quantity to share with neighbours. The soup is savoury, nutty and lightly spiced, thick enough to coat a spoon. Adding peanut butter straight into the pot is a mistake, as it clumps; whisk it smooth with hot broth first. Chef's tip: skim the broth carefully in the first 10 minutes for a clean taste, and finish with lime just before serving.

90 min

Sudanese Soups

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Dama (Sudanese beef and tomato stew)

Thick, red and full of garlic, dama is the tomato stew that Khartoum families make for weekday lunches and that restaurants serve in shiny steel bowls with gurasa, the soft, thick Sudanese pancake, or with bread and rice. Beef is browned, then simmered with a generous amount of onion, fresh tomato, tomato paste and gentle warm spices, cardamom and a little cinnamon, until the sauce is rich enough to cling to every piece. The meat ends up spoon-tender. Adding all the liquid at once is the common mistake; it gives a thin, watery sauce, so add water little by little as the stew needs it. Chef's tip: grate the onions rather than chopping them, so they melt into the sauce and thicken it without flour.

105 min

Sudanese Meat

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Abreh (Sudanese white sorghum flake drink)

Where hilu-mur is dark and spiced, abreh abyad, white abreh, is its pale, gentle partner: a batter of white sorghum flour is left to sour lightly, then baked into thin cream-coloured flakes that are soaked in cold, sweetened water and served at iftar across northern Sudan. The drink is cloudy, refreshing and faintly tangy, a good way to rehydrate after a long day of fasting; some families add a splash of lime or a little cardamom. The overnight souring takes 12–18 hours and is not counted in the totals; it is non-alcoholic, and the flakes are dried hard on the griddle. Spreading the batter too thickly is the classic mistake, so work fast and thin. Chef's tip: make a big batch in one session; the dry flakes keep for months in a tin, so a jug of abreh is only an hour away.

110 min

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Hilu-mur (Sudanese spiced sorghum Ramadan drink)

Weeks before Ramadan, households across Sudan fill with the smell of hilu-mur, literally 'sweet-bitter', as sorghum is sprouted, dried, ground and mixed with flour, dates and a heady spice blend, left to sour for a day, then spread paper-thin on a hot griddle into brittle reddish-brown flakes. Each evening during the month a handful is soaked in water, strained and sweetened, giving the dark, tangy, clove-and-ginger-scented drink that breaks the fast. The souring is short, like a sourdough, and the flakes are cooked dry; the drink is non-alcoholic and served to the whole family. The full process takes about 5 days: 3 days to sprout, 1 to dry and a night to sour, so only active and cooking time are in the totals. Many people buy ready-made flakes from Sudanese shops. Discard any grain that smells musty or shows mould while sprouting. The usual mistake is pouring the batter too thick on the griddle; the flakes should be paper-thin to dry crisp. Chef's tip: spread the batter as thinly as you can; thick flakes stay chewy and go mouldy in storage.

210 min

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Madeeda (Sudanese warm millet and milk drink)

Thick enough to sip slowly from a glass but thinner than porridge, madeeda is a warming drink from northern Sudan made by cooking flour, often pearl millet, in milk and sweetening it with sugar or dates. Families make it on cool winter mornings, for anyone feeling under the weather and for new mothers, and it is a gentle way to break the fast in Ramadan. This version uses millet flour with cardamom and a little cinnamon, so it is smooth, nutty and lightly spiced. Lumps are the usual problem: whisk the flour into cold milk before it goes onto the heat. A frequent slip is not stirring enough, so the millet catches and the milk scorches. Chef's tip: for a date version, blitz 6 soft pitted dates with the milk and halve the sugar.

20 min

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Aradeib (Sudanese tamarind drink)

Tamarind trees shade villages throughout Darfur and Kordofan, and their sticky brown pods become aradeib, one of the best-loved Sudanese cold drinks. The pulp is soaked, rubbed and strained, then sweetened to make a deep amber, puckeringly sour drink that cuts through rich food and is much loved at iftar through Ramadan. It is also drunk as a home remedy for upset stomachs and heat. Seedy block tamarind from any Asian or African shop works perfectly. Pouring boiling water straight onto the pulp and leaving it too long draws out a harsh, tannic edge, so use hot rather than boiling water and strain after an hour. Avoid squeezing the soaked tamarind through a cloth too hard; fibres get through and make the drink cloudy and gritty. Chef's tip: make a concentrate and keep it in the fridge for up to a week; dilute with cold water by the glass.

20 min

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Guddaim (Sudanese grewia berry drink)

Small, round guddaim berries, the fruit of a wild grewia shrub that grows across Kordofan and Darfur, are dried and sold by the cupful in Sudanese markets. Soaked in water and rubbed off their stones, they give a cloudy reddish-brown drink that tastes a little like dates and sour cherries, with a pleasantly sharp finish. It is drunk ice-cold in the heat of the day, at iftar and to welcome guests. Look for dried guddaim in Sudanese or East African shops. If you cannot find it, a mix of 150 g pitted dates and 50 g tamarind pulp soaked the same way gives a similar sweet-sour drink, though not the same. Rubbing too hard and breaking the stones is the usual mistake, as it clouds the drink with grit; rub gently. Chef's tip: soak the berries in cool water overnight in the fridge for the fullest flavour.

20 min

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Tabaldi (Sudanese baobab drink)

The great baobab trees of Kordofan and Darfur drop hard pods full of chalky, cream-coloured pulp, and Sudanese cooks soak it in water to make tabaldi, a thick, milky-looking drink with a sherbet-like tang. It is sold from big cool-boxes in Khartoum markets in summer, served at weddings, and appears on the iftar table during Ramadan. Fresh pulp pieces with seeds are sold in African and Middle Eastern shops; baobab powder is a good substitute and needs no straining. Leave the drink to soak for an hour in the fridge before straining (soaking time is not counted in the total). The usual mistake is blending the seeds, which makes the drink bitter; rub the pulp off by hand instead. Chef's tip: a few drops of rose water or a pinch of ground cardamom makes it feel festive.

20 min

Somali Breakfast & Brunch

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Bitifoor (Sudanese Eid butter biscuits)

During the last days of Ramadan, Khartoum neighbourhoods smell of butter and vanilla as women bake bitifoor, the piped biscuits whose name comes from the French petit four, for the Eid visits that follow. They are piped into rosettes, fingers and swirls, sometimes topped with a piece of glacé cherry or dipped in chocolate, and arranged on platters with ka'ak and sweets for guests. The texture is melt-in-the-mouth, short and delicate. Over-soft butter is the classic mistake, giving biscuits that spread into flat puddles; use butter soft enough to dent, not oily, and chill the piped trays for 15 minutes. Chef's tip: a little cornflour in the flour keeps them extra tender and crisp.

60 min

Sudanese Baking

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Sudanese shata (dried chilli, garlic and lime sauce)

No Sudanese meal is complete without a little dish of shata on the side, and every household and roadside grill from Port Sudan to Nyala has its own version. This one is the classic everyday type: dried red chillies soaked soft and pounded with raw garlic, salt and plenty of lime juice into a loose, brick-red sauce that is fiery, sour and garlicky all at once. A spoonful goes over ful, fried fish, grilled meat, salads and stews. Wear gloves when handling the chillies, and do not rub your eyes. Using the soaking water in place of fresh water is a mistake, as it can taste bitter and dusty; drain it off. Chef's tip: make it a few hours ahead and keep it in the fridge; the heat settles and the garlic mellows.

15 min

Sudanese Chutneys & Dips

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Soor (Somali maize porridge with butter and milk)

Herding families in Somaliland and the countryside around Hargeisa have long relied on soor, a thick porridge of maize meal stirred until it holds its shape on a plate. It is shaped into a mound, a well is pressed into the centre and filled with melted butter or ghee, then warm milk and a little sugar are poured round the edge; on other days the well is filled with a meat sauce instead. You eat it with your right hand or a spoon, scooping porridge through the butter. The result is mild, sweet and very filling. Lumps are the usual complaint, and they come from tipping the meal in all at once; mix part of it with cold water first, then rain the rest in while stirring. The usual mistake is adding the maize meal too fast, so it goes lumpy; whisk constantly as you pour. Chef's tip: cover the pan and let the porridge steam for 5 minutes at the end to cook out any raw taste.

30 min

Somali Sides

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Kimis (Somali thick pan bread)

Thicker and plainer than sabaayad, kimis is the everyday bread of Hargeisa and the north, cooked in a heavy pan and cut into wedges to soak up maraq, the thin spiced meat or vegetable broths eaten at lunch. The dough is simple flour and water raised with a little baking powder, so it puffs into a soft, bready round about 2 cm thick with a lightly freckled crust. It is also good for breakfast with tea and a spoonful of sugar or honey. This version uses oil, so it is vegan. Cooking over too high a heat is the classic mistake: the outside scorches before the middle is done, so keep the flame medium-low and cover the pan. Chef's tip: knock the bread on its base when you think it is ready; it should sound hollow.

40 min

Somali Breads & Parathas

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Sabaayad (Somali flaky layered flatbread)

Hargeisa cooks are proud of their sabaayad, a soft, flaky flatbread made by brushing a thin sheet of dough with oil or ghee, rolling it into a coil and flattening it again so it cooks into dozens of buttery layers. It is eaten for breakfast with sugar and shaah, torn into pieces with muqmad or liver, and served at lunch with beef or chicken stews; at Eid and weddings it is made in big stacks. The texture should be tender and pliable with crisp spots, never dry. Rolling the dough straight after kneading is a common mistake: it springs back and tears, so give it at least 20 minutes to relax. Chef's tip: once each bread is cooked, scrunch it between your hands while hot to open up the layers.

60 min

Somali Breads & Parathas

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Shushumow (Somali syrup-soaked rolled pastries)

Trays of shushumow appear for Eid across Somalia and in Somali homes abroad, made by the dozen a day or two ahead so there is plenty for visitors. A soft, buttery dough is rolled very thin, rolled up like a cigar, sliced and pressed so the layers show, then fried until crisp and soaked briefly in cardamom syrup. The result is flaky and crunchy at the edges with a sticky, sweet centre that is perfect with black tea. Soaking for too long is the usual error; a quick dip of a few seconds keeps the crunch, while minutes in the syrup leaves them soggy. Chef's tip: have the syrup warm and the pastries hot from the oil when they meet, so the syrup soaks in evenly without making them heavy.

75 min

Somali Desserts

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Doolsho (Somali cardamom sponge cake)

Ask a Somali host what goes with afternoon shaah and doolsho will be near the top of the list: a plain, airy sponge flavoured with cardamom and sometimes a little vanilla, baked in a tray and cut into generous squares. It turns up at Eid visits, weddings and family get-togethers, and is just as welcome at breakfast. The crumb should be fine and springy, never dense, which comes from whisking the eggs and sugar for a long time. Knocking the air out when the flour goes in is the mistake that ruins it; fold gently with a large spoon, in three goes, and stop as soon as no dry flour shows. Chef's tip: use eggs at room temperature; cold eggs never whip to the thick, pale ribbon that holds the cake up.

55 min

Somali Baking

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Kac kac (Somali fried dough cubes in cardamom sugar)

Jars of kac kac sit on the table at Somali weddings, Eid gatherings and afternoon tea across the country and in the diaspora, ready to be handed round by the fistful. The dough is enriched with egg and butter, cut into small cubes, fried until hard and golden, then tossed in hot cardamom syrup that dries to a frosty white crust. Each piece cracks loudly when bitten, which is how it got its name. Undercooking the syrup is the usual problem: it stays sticky instead of turning to a dry, sugary coat, so boil it until it forms a thread and keep stirring the cubes as it cools. Chef's tip: cut the cubes no bigger than 1.5 cm; small pieces fry right through and stay crunchy for weeks in an airtight jar.

60 min

Somali Desserts

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Malawax (Somali cardamom crepes)

Fragrant with cardamom and just sweet enough, malawax are the thin, soft pancakes Somali families make on weekend mornings and for guests, stacked high and eaten with honey, sugar or a smear of ghee beside a pot of shaah. They are thinner than canjeero and contain egg and milk, so they cook in a minute and stay tender rather than spongy. Children roll them up and eat them in their hands; adults tend to tear them and dip them in tea. The batter should be as thin as single cream, and the classic mistake is a pan that is not hot enough, which gives pale, rubbery crepes that stick. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for 10 minutes so the flour hydrates; the first crepe is always a tester, so adjust the heat after it.

30 min

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Digaag qumbe (Somali chicken in coconut milk)

Coconut milk is the signature of the Benadir coast from Mogadishu south to Kismayo and Barawa, where the Swahili-speaking world meets Somali cooking, and digaag qumbe shows it off: chicken pieces simmered in a creamy coconut sauce with tomato, garlic, a hint of turmeric and xawaash. The sauce is mellow and gently spiced, coloured golden-orange, and generous enough to soak into rice, canjeero or sabaayad. Families make it for Friday lunch and to welcome guests. Boiling the sauce hard after the coconut milk goes in is the mistake to avoid, as it splits and turns oily; keep it at a gentle bubble. Chef's tip: brown the chicken well first, as the caramelised skin gives the mild sauce its savoury backbone.

60 min

Somali Chicken

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Kalluun duban (Somali grilled whole fish)

Seafront restaurants on Mogadishu's Lido beach are famous for kalluun duban, whole fish rubbed with a paste of garlic, lime, chilli and xawaash and grilled over charcoal until the skin blisters. Diners pick a fresh catch, often snapper, grouper or kingfish, and it comes to the table on a platter of spiced rice with lime, salad, banana and fiery basbaas. The flesh should be moist and smoky, tangy with lime. Marinating fish for hours in lime juice is a mistake: the acid starts to 'cook' it and the flesh turns mushy, so 20–30 minutes in the fridge is plenty. Chef's tip: slash the fish deeply down to the bone on both sides, so the marinade gets in and the thick part cooks as fast as the tail.

40 min

Somali Fish

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Hilib geel (Somali fried camel meat)

Camels are wealth in Somaliland, and their meat, lean and slightly sweet with a deep red colour, is a favourite in Hargeisa restaurants, where hilib geel is served fried with onion, garlic and xawaash alongside rice or sabaayad, banana and lime. Camel is a hard-working muscle, so it is first simmered until tender and then fried quickly in a hot pan until browned and fragrant. Halal butchers serving East African communities often sell it; if you cannot find it, beef chuck is the closest substitute and cooks the same way. Skipping the simmer and frying the raw meat straight away is the usual mistake, and it leaves the cubes tough as boots. Chef's tip: keep the simmering liquid; a ladle of it in the pan at the end makes a little glossy sauce for the rice.

85 min

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Muqmad (Somali spiced meat preserved in ghee)

Before fridges, nomadic families in Somaliland preserved meat as muqmad, also called oodkac: beef or camel cut into tiny cubes, dried in the sun, fried in ghee with garlic and spices and packed into a container topped with more ghee. A spoonful is eaten for breakfast with sabaayad or canjeero and tea, and jars are made for Eid, weddings and travellers. Sun-drying raw meat is risky in a home kitchen, so this safer version cooks the cubes through to 71 °C first, then dries them in a low oven and keeps the finished jar in the fridge. The traditional raw-dried version is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system. Cutting the cubes unevenly is the common mistake: big pieces stay moist inside while small ones burn, so aim for 1 cm all round. Chef's tip: partly freeze the meat for 45 minutes and it cuts into neat cubes far more easily.

240 min

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Cambuulo (Somali adzuki beans with butter and sugar)

Small red adzuki beans, cooked slowly until they almost collapse, are the heart of cambuulo, a dish Mogadishu households make for a cheap, filling evening meal. Once the beans are soft they are glossed with butter, a spoonful of sugar and a pinch of salt, so the flavour lands somewhere between savoury and gently sweet. Many families stir the beans into plain rice or serve the two side by side, with a drizzle of sesame oil and a banana on the plate. The texture should be creamy, with some beans still whole. The usual mistake is pulling the pot off too early: firm beans never turn creamy, so keep simmering until one crushes easily against the side of the pan. Chef's tip: soak the beans overnight and change the water before cooking; they cook more evenly and are easier to digest.

90 min

Somali Vegetarian

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Hilib ari (Somali slow-cooked goat with xawaash)

Goat is the festive meat of Somaliland, slaughtered for weddings, Eid and the arrival of guests, and hilib ari, goat on the bone cooked until it falls away, is the centrepiece of those meals. The meat is first simmered slowly with onion, garlic and xawaash, then the liquid is boiled away and the pieces are fried in their own fat until browned and crisp at the edges, so you get both tenderness and crunch. It is piled on a big platter of spiced rice with banana, lime wedges and green chilli sauce. Rushing the first stage is the mistake to avoid: goat stays chewy unless it simmers gently until a knife slides through. Chef's tip: ask the butcher for shoulder or leg cut into 5 cm pieces on the bone; the bones give the meat flavour and the leftover broth makes a good maraq.

125 min

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Beer (Somali fried liver)

Beer means liver in Somali, and a plate of it, cut into small cubes and fried hard with onion, green pepper and xawaash, is a breakfast institution in Mogadishu cafés, especially on weekends and through Eid when there is fresh lamb or goat liver at hand. It arrives sizzling, with canjeero or sabaayad to scoop it up, a wedge of lime and a cup of sweet spiced tea. Good beer is tender and browned on the outside, cooked through with no pink left in the centre. The classic mistake is salting the liver at the start, which draws out moisture and makes it tough; add the salt at the very end. Lamb, goat, calf or beef liver all work. Chef's tip: cut the liver into even 2 cm cubes so every piece cooks through in the same few minutes.

22 min