Skip to content
Mint and onion chutney
Featured recipe

Mint and onion chutney

Onions fried gently until soft and sweet, then blended with fresh mint, green chilli and lemon juice. It's a mellow, fresh-tasting chutney that is great with bhajias, samosas, kebabs and tikka, or spread in sandwiches.

Read more 1 views
Can't decide?

What to eat today?

Spin the randomizer, search with what's already in your fridge, or browse recipes from our chefs.

Latest recipes

Lángos

Lángos is the deep-fried flatbread of Hungarian beaches and markets: it is eaten in swimsuits on the shore of Lake Balaton, at Budapest's Great Market Hall and at every summer fair. The dough is soft and yeasted, often enriched with mashed potato, and it fries into a puffy disc that is crisp at the edges and chewy in the middle. The classic topping is garlic water brushed on hot, then sour cream and a snowfall of grated cheese. Chef's tip: stretch the dough thinner in the centre than at the rim; the edge puffs into a crisp crust while the middle stays soft enough to hold the toppings. Choose a cheese made with vegetarian rennet (many supermarket Cheddars and Edams are).

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Flat white

Sydney and Wellington both claim the flat white, first poured in their cafés in the mid-1980s, and today it's the everyday coffee across Australia and New Zealand, from Melbourne's laneway cafés to a beach kiosk in Raglan. It's smaller and stronger than a latte: a double shot of espresso topped with milk steamed to a smooth, glossy microfoam with only a thin layer of froth on top, so the coffee stays at the front. It's velvety, rich and sweet-tasting without sugar. For a vegan version, use a barista-style oat milk. Chef's tip: stretch the milk only for the first few seconds, then sink the wand and let it spin; you want paint-like milk, not a hat of stiff foam.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vegetable mafé

Mafé is the Sunday-lunch stew of Senegal and Mali: a rust-coloured sauce of roasted peanut paste and tomato, simmered until oil glistens on top and ladled over broken rice. In Dakar it usually carries lamb or beef; this version uses sweet potato, carrot, cabbage and okra, which soak up the sauce just as well. In Côte d'Ivoire the same idea is called sauce d'arachide and is eaten with rice or foutou; make it slightly thinner and add aubergine for the Abidjan style. Chef's tip: use plain, unsweetened peanut paste and cook it long enough that a thin layer of red oil rises to the surface; that is the sign the peanut has lost its raw taste.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Salade de niébé

Niébé is the Wolof and French name for black-eyed beans, and this bright salad turns up at Senegalese family lunches, baptism feasts and Ramadan break-fast tables next to grilled dishes and rice. The beans are dressed while warm with lime, mustard and onion, then mixed with crunchy raw vegetables and a little hot pepper. It travels well and tastes better after an hour. Chef's tip: dress the beans while they are still warm so they drink in the lime; cold beans stay bland however much dressing you pour over.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Rakott krumpli

Rakott krumpli means 'layered potatoes', and it is a family supper baked all over Hungary, especially in winter in the north-east around Miskolc and Eger, where every household layers it slightly differently. Slices of boiled potato are stacked with hard-boiled eggs and plenty of sour cream, then baked until bubbling and golden. Many versions add smoked sausage; this vegetarian one uses sautéed mushrooms and a dusting of smoked paprika for depth. It is rich, creamy and needs only a sharp cucumber salad or pickles alongside. Chef's tip: boil the potatoes in their skins and peel them while warm; they slice cleanly and don't soak up water.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kürtőskalács

Kürtőskalács, or chimney cake, comes from the Székely Hungarian villages of Transylvania and is now sold at every Budapest Christmas market and summer festival, turning on spits over glowing coals. A strip of sweet yeast dough is wound around a wooden roller, rolled in sugar and baked until the sugar caramelises into a thin, crackling shell; you unwind the soft, steaming spiral as you eat it. At home you can bake it in the oven on foil-wrapped rolling pins or tins. Chef's tip: press the dough spiral firmly into the sugar before baking; loose sugar falls off, but pressed sugar melts into the glassy crust. A common mistake is leaving gaps between the strips, which makes the cake tear apart when you slide it off.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Thiakry

Thiakry, called dégué in Mali and Burkina Faso, is the creamy dessert of Senegalese weddings, naming ceremonies and Tabaski: pellets of steamed millet stirred into sweetened yoghurt and soft fromage frais, scented with vanilla and nutmeg and served cold. Ready-made millet granules (arraw or sankhal) are sold in African grocers, which makes it a 15-minute job. Raisins and a little coconut are common in Dakar. Chef's tip: steam or soak the millet fully before it meets the yoghurt; undercooked grains stay hard and gritty in the cold.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Somlói galuska

Somlói galuska was first served at the Gundel restaurant in Budapest in the 1950s and named after the Somló wine hill in western Hungary. Today it is the dessert everyone orders at the end of a Sunday lunch: spoonfuls of three sponges (plain, walnut and cocoa) soaked in rum syrup and layered with vanilla custard, then topped with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. It is assembled the day before and spooned out into rough dumplings, which is where 'galuska' comes from. This version thickens the custard with flour and egg yolk rather than gelatine. Chef's tip: soak the sponge only lightly; it should be moist but still hold a spoon-shaped scoop.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hideg meggyleves

Hideg meggyleves is a chilled sour cherry soup served as a starter in Hungary at the height of summer, from family lunches in the cherry-growing villages around Pest county to the terraces of Balaton restaurants. Sour cherries simmer briefly with sugar, cinnamon and cloves, then the soup is thickened with sour cream and served icy cold, pink and gently tangy. Some cooks add a splash of red wine for grown-ups. It is eaten before the main course, not as dessert, though no one complains if you have it after. Chef's tip: chill it for at least 3 hours; the flavour rounds out and the spices soften as it cools. A common mistake is boiling it after the cream goes in, which curdles it.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ndolé with peanuts and greens

Ndolé comes from the Douala coast and is Cameroon's national dish, cooked for Sunday lunches, weddings and funerals: bitter leaves washed until only a gentle bitterness remains, simmered in a thick sauce of boiled, ground peanuts. Traditionally it is finished with beef, smoked fish and prawns; this version keeps the greens and peanuts at the centre and tops it with crisp fried onions, the way Douala cooks always do. Serve with boiled plantain, miondo or rice. As a variation, add prawns or beef the traditional way. Chef's tip: use raw peanuts, boiled and ground, not peanut butter; ndolé should be nubbly and pale, not like a smooth satay sauce.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gundel palacsinta

Gundel palacsinta is the festive pancake of Budapest, named after the Gundel restaurant by City Park, where it became the showpiece dessert of the mid-twentieth century. Thin Hungarian pancakes are filled with a rum-scented walnut and raisin paste, folded into triangles and drowned in a dark chocolate sauce, sometimes flamed at the table. Everyday palacsinta at home are simpler, rolled with apricot jam, cocoa sugar or sweet túró; this is the version for name days, Christmas and guests. Chef's tip: rest the batter for 30 minutes; the pancakes become thinner and more elastic and stop tearing when you fold them. Common mistake: overfilling, which makes the triangles burst open.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jus de bouye

Bouye is the Wolof name for the powdery white pulp of the baobab fruit, and jus de bouye is the thick, creamy-tart drink sold in reused bottles from coolers all over Dakar and served at every family celebration. It tastes like sherbet with a hint of pear. Most cooks now use baobab powder, which is sold in health shops as well as African grocers. Sweetened condensed milk is optional but common. Chef's tip: whisk the powder into a little water first to make a smooth paste; poured straight into a jug it forms lumps that never dissolve.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ukrainian borscht

Borshch is the soup Ukrainians measure every kitchen by: a deep ruby pot of beetroot, cabbage, potato and beans, soured just enough and finished with garlic and dill. Every region argues for its own version, from Poltava's with beans to Kyiv's with apples, and in 2022 the cooking of Ukrainian borshch was added to UNESCO's list of culture in need of urgent safeguarding. Traditionally it is simmered on a pork or beef bone stock; this version uses a well-seasoned vegetable stock and white beans, which is how many families cook it during Lent anyway. Serve it hot with a spoon of sour cream and garlic pampushky, and know that it tastes even better the next day. Chef's tip: fry the grated beetroot with a splash of vinegar before it goes into the pot; the acid fixes the red colour, so the soup stays bright instead of fading to brown.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Varenyky with potato

Varenyky with potato are the everyday dumplings of central Ukraine, the ones Gogol's Poltava characters dream about and the ones that fill freezers in Kyiv flats before every holiday. Unlike Polish pierogi ruskie, these have no curd cheese: the filling is simply mashed potato beaten with plenty of onion fried in sunflower oil, so they are vegan and appear on the meatless Holy Supper table on Christmas Eve. They are boiled, then tossed in more golden onion and eaten with dill. Chef's tip: let the filling cool completely before you fill the dough; warm mash steams the dough from inside and the dumplings tear in the pot.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Koki

Koki is a dense, orange-red bean cake from the Douala and Bakweri country of Cameroon, made from skinned black-eyed beans blended with red palm oil, chilli and greens, then wrapped in banana leaves and steamed for hours. It is weekend food and market food, eaten with boiled plantain, cassava or ripe banana. It is related to Nigerian moi moi but heavier, richer with palm oil and full of cocoyam leaves or spinach. Chef's tip: warm the palm oil just until liquid before beating it in; poured in cold and solid it leaves streaks of fat instead of an even orange colour.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Xawaash

Xawaash (pronounced 'ha-wash') is the spice mix every Somali kitchen keeps in a jar, used in rice, soups, stews, sambuusa fillings and even tea. Families toast and grind their own, often in quantity before Ramadan, and the balance of warm cumin, earthy coriander and sweet cardamom and cinnamon varies from house to house. It is different from Yemeni hawaij and Ethiopian berbere: there is no chilli in it. Chef's tip: toast each spice only until it darkens a shade and smells warm; burnt cumin turns the whole jar bitter.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Banosh

Banosh is the shepherds' dish of the Hutsul highlands in the Ukrainian Carpathians, around Verkhovyna, Kosiv and Yaremche. Coarse cornmeal is stirred into simmering sour cream over a fire until the butterfat beads on the surface, then heaped on plates and crumbled with salty bryndza sheep's cheese and forest mushrooms; tourists queue for it in the mountain kolyba restaurants. Traditionally it is also topped with crisp pork crackling, which this vegetarian version leaves out in favour of extra buttery mushrooms. Bryndza is usually made with animal rennet, so look for a sheep's or feta cheese labelled vegetarian. Chef's tip: stir in one direction only with a wooden spoon, as the Hutsuls insist; it keeps the porridge smooth and helps the fat separate out, which tells you it is ready.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Attiéké with tomato and onion

Attiéké is the light, slightly sour cassava 'couscous' of the Ébrié and Adjoukrou peoples around Abidjan's lagoons, and it is eaten across Côte d'Ivoire every day of the week. In maquis (open-air restaurants) it comes heaped beside grilled fish with a raw salad of tomato, onion and chilli; at home many people eat it simply with that salad, fried plantain and a fried egg, which is how it is served here. Buy it frozen or dried in African shops. Chef's tip: steam attiéké rather than boiling it; water turns it to paste, while steam keeps the grains fluffy and separate.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Green borscht

When the first sorrel comes up in village gardens around Chernihiv and Sumy in May, Ukrainian grandmothers stop making red borshch and switch to green: a light, lemony soup of sorrel, potato and herbs, served with halved boiled eggs. It is the soup of early summer and of Trinity Sunday, eaten hot with sour cream or chilled on a warm day. Sorrel gives it a clean sourness, so no vinegar is needed. This version uses vegetable stock instead of the chicken or pork stock some families use. Chef's tip: add the sorrel only in the last two minutes; it turns olive green the moment it hits the heat, but if it boils longer it collapses into stringy khaki threads.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sanga

Sanga is a home dish of the Beti people around Yaoundé in the Centre region of Cameroon, made in the maize season: young corn is grated off the cob and cooked with finely shredded njama njama (huckleberry leaves) and the orange pulp pressed from palm nuts. It is eaten warm from a bowl, sometimes with a little sugar stirred in. Spinach and tinned palm nut concentrate make a good version abroad. Chef's tip: grate the kernels off the cob rather than slicing them; the milky pulp is what thickens sanga.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Varenyky with cherries

In late June, when the sour-cherry trees in every yard from Vinnytsia to Cherkasy turn red, Ukrainian families sit around the kitchen table pitting cherries for varenyky. These sweet dumplings are boiled, piled into a bowl and drenched in a syrup made from the cherry juice, a taste of summer holidays at grandmother's. The dough here is the simple water and oil kind, so the recipe is vegan; most Ukrainians also add a spoon of sour cream, which you are welcome to do if you are not cooking vegan. Chef's tip: sugar the cherries in a sieve and let the juice drain before filling, then put a pinch of sugar on each portion only as you seal it, so the dough stays dry at the edges.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kasha with mushrooms

Buckwheat, hrechka, is the grain Ukrainians grow up on: cooked loose and fluffy, it turns up as a weekday side in Kharkiv kitchens, in student dorms in Lviv and on every school canteen tray. Cooked with fried mushrooms, onion and carrot it becomes a filling meal of its own, and in autumn it is made with wild mushrooms picked in the Polissia forests. It is naturally gluten free and, with no butter, vegan. Chef's tip: dry-toast the grains until they smell nutty and crackle; it gives the kasha its deep flavour and keeps each grain separate.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Alloco

Alloco is the evening street food of Abidjan, fried in palm or vegetable oil in big pans by vendors around the Allocodrome in Cocody and in every neighbourhood. Very ripe plantain is cut into thick slices or cubes, fried until caramelised at the edges, and eaten with a fiery raw sauce of onion, tomato and chilli. Unlike Ghanaian kelewele it is not marinated in spices: the sweetness of the fruit against the sharp sauce is the whole point. Chef's tip: wait until the plantain skins are mostly black; yellow plantain fries up dry and starchy.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Imeruli khachapuri

In Imereti, the region around Kutaisi in western Georgia, this flat round cheese bread is everyday food, and it is the one most families make at home: a tender, quick dough leavened with matsoni (Georgian yogurt) and soda, wrapped around a cheese ball and cooked in a dry frying pan. It is cut into wedges like a pizza and set on the table for breakfast, for a feast, or packed for a long car journey. Georgian imeruli and sulguni cheeses are hard to find outside Georgia, so this uses mozzarella with feta for the salty tang. Choose cheeses labelled vegetarian (microbial rennet). Children love it plain, still warm. A common mistake is rolling it out with heavy pressure, which tears the thin dough so the cheese leaks and burns in the pan. Chef's tip: press it out gently with your fingertips from the centre outwards, and if a small hole appears, pinch a scrap of dough over it before it reaches the pan.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Lablabi

Lablabi is the working breakfast of Tunis, served from steaming cauldrons in tiny shops near the medina and the markets from dawn, and eaten all over Tunisia on cold winter mornings. Torn day-old bread goes into the bowl first, then hot chickpeas and their garlicky broth, and everyone dresses their own with harissa, cumin, olive oil, lemon and capers; many add a soft-poached egg that is broken through the bread. Chef's tip: let the bread soak for a minute before you stir in the harissa, so it turns soft and spoonable but not mushy.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Vinegret

Vinegret is the ruby-coloured salad that sits on almost every Ukrainian New Year and Christmas table, alongside olivier, and fills lunch boxes through the winter. Cooked beetroot, potato and carrot are diced small and tossed with sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers and beans, then dressed with fragrant unrefined sunflower oil, the kind sold by the bottle at markets in Poltava and Kherson. Despite the name there is often no vinegar at all; the sourness comes from the pickles. It is vegan, cheap and keeps for days. Chef's tip: dress the diced beetroot with oil on its own first, then mix in everything else; the oil coats it so the potatoes stay pale and the salad looks like a mosaic rather than all pink.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Syrnyky

Syrnyky are the Sunday breakfast of Ukrainian childhoods: small, thick pancakes made almost entirely of tvorih, the dry farmer's cheese sold at every market in Odesa and Lviv, held together with an egg and a little flour and fried until golden. Inside they should be soft and creamy, like a baked cheesecake, outside lightly crisp. They are served with sour cream and cherry jam, or honey. Tvorih is made with lactic culture rather than rennet, so it suits vegetarians; dry cottage cheese pressed through a sieve or quark also works. Chef's tip: if your cheese is wet, wrap it in a cloth and press it under a weight for an hour; common mistake is adding extra flour to rescue a wet mixture, which makes syrnyky dense and rubbery.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 27 of 4,484 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 362 of 499