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Bansh
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Bansh

Mutton dumplings in broth

Bansh are the small, half-moon dumplings of Mongolia, smaller than buuz and boiled rather than steamed, made by the hundreds before Tsagaan Sar and frozen in Ulaanbaatar balconies through the winter. They're filled with minced mutton or beef, onion and garlic, then boiled in broth to make a filling soup, or simmered in salty milk tea in the countryside. A common mistake is a dry filling; a splash of water in the mince keeps them juicy. Chef's tip: freeze shaped bansh on a tray before bagging them so they don't stick together.

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MasoubMashed bread and banana with honey

Masoub is a rich breakfast from Aden and the Tihama coast of Yemen, now just as loved in Saudi Arabia, where it is served in cafés on Friday mornings in big bowls. Torn flatbread is mashed with ripe bananas and ghee into a warm, sweet, slightly chewy pudding, then topped with thick cream, honey and sometimes dates or cheese. It is soft, sticky and very filling, a good use for bread that is a day old. The usual mistake is using bananas that are not ripe enough: they need brown-freckled skins to mash smoothly and give sweetness without much honey. Chef's tip: toast the bread pieces in the dry pan first until they are crisp at the edges; they take up the ghee better and give the mash a nutty taste.

20 minGulf ArabianBreakfast & Brunch
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YangbenTree lichen curry

High in the forests of Taplejung, Panchthar and Ilam, Limbu families gather yangben, a pale grey-green lichen that grows on oak and rhododendron trunks, dry it in the sun and keep it for winter, when it becomes one of the most prized dishes of Limbu cooking. It is cleaned, soaked and boiled to remove its bitterness, then fried with mustard oil, onion, tomato, garlic, ginger and chilli, and finished with timur; at feasts it is very often cooked with fatty pork, which soaks up the flavour, but this meat-free version is common too. The texture is springy and chewy, the flavour earthy and smoky, and it is eaten with rice or millet dhido. Outside eastern Nepal yangben is hard to buy, so for a stand-in use dried wood-ear mushrooms, which give a similar bite. The most common fault is not washing the lichen enough, which leaves grit and bitterness. Chef's tip: boil the lichen twice in fresh water and rinse it until the water runs clear.

45 minNepaliVegetarianVeganGluten freeSpicy
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Tsarska turshiyaMixed vegetable pickle

Every autumn Bulgarian balconies fill with jars of turshiya, and the 'royal' one is the prettiest and the most loved: crisp cauliflower florets, carrot rounds, strips of red and green pepper and celery, steeped in a sweet-sour marinade with oil, garlic and peppercorns. It is served with hearty winter stews, with beans and with a glass of something cold at the table in the evening. This version is a fridge pickle, ready in three days and kept chilled, so it needs no sterilising bath. The mistake people make is overcooking the vegetables in the marinade; they should just lose their raw edge and still snap when you bite them. Chef's tip: pack the jars in colour layers, white, orange, red, green, and pour the marinade over while it is hot so the vegetables stay crunchy.

60 minBulgarianChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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TsatsaFried sprats

Beach kiosks from Varna to Sozopol sell tsatsa by the paper cone all summer: handfuls of tiny sprats fried so crisp that you eat them head, bones and all, with a squeeze of lemon and a cold glass of ayran. They taste sweet and briny and crunch like the best chips. At home, serve them with lemon wedges, a tomato and cucumber salad and bread. Buy fish that smell of the sea, with bright eyes and firm bodies; frozen sprats work once thawed in the fridge. Where most people go wrong is frying too many at once: the oil cools, the fish stick together and turn greasy. Chef's tip: shake the floured sprats in a sieve before they go in, so only a thin film of flour clings and they fry up lacy and light.

20 minBulgarianFish
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TopinkyGarlic fried rye bread

Midnight in a Prague beer hall, a basket of topinky arrives: thick slabs of rye-wheat bread fried until shatteringly crisp and rubbed hard with raw garlic, so the rough crust grates the clove like sandpaper. Czech pubs serve them as a snack with beer, and at home they are a quick supper with a glass of buttermilk or a bowl of soup. Some old cooks used lard; frying in oil keeps them vegan. The crumb should stay soft inside the golden crust, and the garlic should be sharp and fiery. A common mistake is frying in oil that is not hot enough, which makes the bread greasy instead of crisp. Chef's tip: choose a dense, day-old rye bread with caraway seeds; fresh, airy bread soaks up oil like a sponge.

10 minCzechSnacks & StartersVegan
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Dominican yaniquequesFried dough discs

Boca Chica, just east of Santo Domingo, is where vendors walk the sand with trays of yaniqueques (the name comes from "johnny cakes"): wide, thin discs of dough fried until they puff, blister and crack like a cracker, sprinkled with salt or sugar and eaten with fried fish and a cold drink. The dough is just flour, baking powder, salt and water with a spoon of oil. The common mistake is rolling them too thick, which gives a bready fritter instead of a shatter-crisp one. Chef's tip: prick each disc a few times with a fork before frying so it blisters evenly instead of ballooning.

30 minPuerto RicanSnacks & StartersVegan
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YantykCheese and herb griddle pastries

Crimean Tatar cafés from Bakhchysarai to the family-run places that opened in Kyiv and Kherson after 2014 make yantyk to order: a paper-thin unleavened dough folded over a filling, cooked on a dry hot griddle and brushed with butter as it comes off. Unlike chebureki, nothing is deep-fried, so the pastry is soft and blistered with charred spots and the cheese inside melts with dill and spring onion. They are eaten hot with sweet black tea or a glass of ayran. Brined white cheeses such as brynza and feta are often made with animal rennet; choose one labelled vegetarian. The common mistake is rolling the dough too thick, which gives a doughy, pale yantyk; it should be thin enough to see the board through. Chef's tip: stack the buttered yantyk on a plate and cover with a bowl for a minute, so the steam softens the pastry the way Crimean cooks like it.

60 minUkrainianSnacks & Starters
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YarmaCracked wheat and lamb porridge

Yarma is a filling porridge of cracked wheat cooked slowly with lamb until the grains break down and the dish turns thick and creamy, a dish of Turkmen homes and of religious gatherings, when it is cooked in huge pots and shared out. It is seasoned simply with salt, pepper and onion fried in butter or fat poured over the top. A common mistake is not stirring enough, which lets the wheat catch on the bottom. Chef's tip: beat the yarma hard with a wooden spoon in the last 15 minutes, so the lamb shreds into the grain and it turns smooth and creamy.

120 minTurkmenRice & Grains
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Ye-beg kikilLamb on the bone soup

On chilly highland mornings, Addis Ababa's small eateries ladle out bowls of ye-beg kikil: chunks of lamb on the bone simmered slowly with onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric and whole green chillies until the meat slips off and the broth turns golden. There is no berbere, so it is gentle and clean-tasting, a welcome change from the red wats, and people sip the broth on its own as a pick-me-up after a long night or an illness. It is eaten with injera or bread, often with a little awaze on the side for those who want more heat. The usual mistake is boiling it hard, which clouds the broth and toughens the meat; keep it at a lazy simmer. Chef's tip: skim the grey foam carefully in the first 10 minutes for a clear, bright soup.

100 minEthiopianSoupsGluten free
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Ye-fyel watGoat in berbere stew

Goat is the everyday meat across Ethiopia's eastern lowlands, where herds do better than cattle in the dry heat, and a pot of ye-fyel wat marks holidays, Eid and the arrival of guests. The meat is cut small on the bone and cooked slowly in a dark, glossy sauce built on a mountain of onions and plenty of berbere, so it is spicy, deeply savoury and slightly sweet, with the faint gaminess of goat coming through. It is eaten from a shared platter of injera, often with a fresh salad of tomato and chilli on the side. This version is cooked in oil and is dairy free. The mistake to avoid is rushing the onions: if they are not cooked down for a good 20 minutes the sauce stays thin and sharp. Chef's tip: make it a day ahead; goat wat thickens and tastes even better after a night in the fridge.

140 minEthiopianMeatGluten freeSpicy
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QishrSpiced coffee husk drink

In the highlands around Sana'a and in the coffee towns of Yemen, qishr is the everyday hot drink, brewed from the dried husks of the coffee cherry rather than the bean, with ginger and often cinnamon or cardamom. It is lighter and sweeter than coffee, amber in colour, with a fruity, tea-like taste and a warming bite of ginger, and it is poured all day for guests, after meals and during long afternoon visits. Serve it hot in small glasses or cups, with dates or bint al sahn. Boiling it for too long makes it bitter, so let it simmer briefly and then steep. Chef's tip: grate fresh ginger straight into the pot; it gives a brighter heat than the dried powder.

15 minGulf ArabianDrinksVeganGluten free
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ShafootFlatbread in herby yogurt

Shafoot is the cooling dish set out first on the iftar cloth in Sana'a during Ramadan, before the soups and the hot breads: torn lahoh, Yemen's thin, holey fermented pancake, soaked in garlicky, minty laban until it is soft and sour-fresh. It tastes a little like a cross between a yogurt dip and a bread salad, sharp with green chilli and fragrant with herbs. Make it just before eating and serve it in a wide dish with fresh herbs and chopped vegetables on top. The common mistake is leaving it to soak for too long, until the bread falls into a paste; ten minutes is enough. Chef's tip: if you can't find lahoh, very thin crumpets or spongy flatbreads such as injera take the laban the same way.

20 minGulf ArabianSalads
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Yerevan kyuftaPoached pounded beef

Kyufta is a festive Armenian dish whose making is half the show: lean beef is pounded with a wooden mallet on a stone, traditionally by the men of the family, until it turns into a pale, smooth, springy paste, then mixed with fried onion, egg and a splash of milk (some families use brandy; this version does not), shaped into large balls and poached. In Yerevan homes it is sliced like a terrine and served warm or cold with butter and herbs. A food processor does the pounding at home. A common mistake is letting the meat warm up while processing, which makes the paste greasy and crumbly. Chef's tip: work with very cold beef and add crushed ice to the processor, as the cold keeps the texture silky. Poached meatballs are done at 71 °C in the centre.

120 minArmenianMeatGluten free
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Tsebhi asaFish in berbere tomato stew

Massawa's home cooks make tsebhi asa with whatever came in on the boats that morning, often kingfish, grouper or snapper, simmered in a stew that is redder and more tomato-rich than the lake fish wats of Ethiopia. Plenty of fresh tomato and a little tomato paste go into the berbere and onion base, with garlic and a touch of cumin, so the sauce is spicy, tangy and bright. It is scooped up with injera or with the flatbread of the coast, and leftovers are even better the next morning with bread. Chef's tip: cut the fish into large chunks with the skin on where you can; skin helps the pieces hold together in the simmering sauce.

55 minEritreanFishGluten freeSpicy
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Hong Kong yuenyeungCoffee and milk tea blend

Named after mandarin ducks, which are always seen in pairs, yuenyeung marries brewed coffee and silky milk tea in a single cup, and you will find it on the drinks board of every cha chaan teng in Hong Kong. Office workers order it at lunch with a toasted bun or a plate of noodles, hot in winter and iced through the humid summer, and it tastes of both and neither: the tea's tannic grip, the coffee's roast and the creamy body of evaporated milk, with a double dose of caffeine that makes it a poor choice for children or late evenings. Watery tea is where most homemade versions go wrong, letting the coffee take over; brew the tea strong and stewed. Chef's tip: pour the brewed tea back and forth through a fine strainer four or five times; this 'pulling' smooths out the tannins and gives the drink its silky body.

10 minHong KongDrinksGluten free
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Zagorska juhaPotato and mushroom soup

The green, hilly Zagorje north of Zagreb, in Croatia, is known for castles, vineyards and filling soups like this one, served in country inns before roast duck or as a meal on its own on chilly days. Potatoes and wild or chestnut mushrooms are simmered with paprika and marjoram, then finished with sour cream and a dash of vinegar, so the broth turns velvety with a gentle tang. Some versions add smoked bacon or sausage; this one is vegetarian, with dried porcini for a deep, woodsy flavour. Serve with dark bread. Where most people go wrong is boiling the soup after the sour cream goes in, which makes it curdle; warm it through and keep it below a simmer. Chef's tip: strain the porcini soaking liquid through a paper towel and add it to the pot; it is half the flavour.

45 minBalkanSoupsGluten free
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Zalai dödölleFried potato dumplings

Zala county, in the green hills of south-west Hungary, is so proud of dödölle that villages hold festivals for it. Potatoes are boiled, mashed with flour into a stiff dough right in their pot, then scooped into little lumps with a spoon dipped in hot fat and fried with plenty of onion until crisp and brown on the outside and soft inside. The old way is to fry them in lard; this version uses oil, so it is vegan, though a knob of butter is lovely if you eat dairy. Eat them as a side, or as a main with sauerkraut, cucumber salad or a mushroom stew. A common mistake is drying the dough out with too much flour, which makes heavy, gluey lumps; it should be thick but still a little sticky. Chef's tip: dip the spoon in the hot oil before every scoop, and the dödölle slide off smooth.

50 minHungarianSidesVegan
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Zamarod palawSpinach rice with lamb

Herati cooks call this rice zamarod, emerald, for its colour: long-grain rice steamed with a purée of spinach and herbs so that every grain is tinted a soft green, with pieces of lamb tucked inside that have been braised until they fall from the bone. It is served at family gatherings and for guests in spring when spinach is sweet, piled on a platter with yogurt, salad and pickles on the side. The rice tastes gently grassy and savoury, rounded out by the lamb broth and a little cumin. Cooking the spinach too long dulls it to khaki, so wilt it briefly and blend it straight away. Chef's tip: use a generous handful of fresh coriander and dill with the spinach; they make the green brighter and the flavour more lively.

105 minAfghanRice & GrainsGluten free
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Tuhum barakEgg and milk dumplings

Tuhum barak is a speciality of Khorezm and the old walled city of Khiva: large square dumplings of thin dough filled not with meat but with liquid, eggs beaten with milk and a little butter, sealed tight and dropped into boiling water so the filling sets into a soft omelette inside. It is served with butter and katyk. Making it takes practice, because the dumplings are filled through a gap and must not leak. A common mistake is overfilling, which bursts the seams in the pot. Chef's tip: seal three sides first, stand the pocket in a cup, pour in the egg, then pinch the last side shut. Pumpkin barak is made the same way with grated pumpkin and onion.

75 minUzbekPasta & Noodles
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Tula pryanikStamped honey-spice cake

Tula, a few hours south of Moscow, has pressed these slabs in carved wooden boards since the seventeenth century, and a pryanik stamped with the town's crest or a samovar is still the souvenir every visitor carries home. It is made from a cooked dough: honey, sugar and butter are warmed with cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and clove, then flour is beaten in, giving a dense, soft and fragrant cake. A layer of thick plum jam runs through the middle and a thin sugar glaze sets white and crisp on top. Cut it into fingers and serve with black tea. The usual slip is a runny jam that leaks from the seams, so use a stiff jam or cook it down first. Chef's tip: wrap the glazed cake and leave it overnight; it softens and the spice deepens, which is why Tula bakers never sell it warm.

85 minRussianBaking
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ZardaSweet saffron rice

Its name comes from the Persian word for yellow, and at a Pakistani shaadi the great degh of zarda arrives after the biryani and korma, glowing gold and fragrant with cardamom, cloves and kewra. The grains should be long, separate and glossy with ghee, sweet but not syrupy, studded with almonds, pistachios, plump raisins and often a few cubes of crumbled khoya or glacé cherries. Families also cook a smaller pot for Eid, for a new baby or to send round to neighbours on a happy day, and it is eaten warm or at room temperature on its own. The classic error is boiling the rice all the way before adding the sugar; the sugar then melts into syrup and the over-soft grains break into mush. Chef's tip: boil the rice only until it is two-thirds cooked with a firm centre, because it finishes cooking in the sugar's own moisture during the dum.

80 minPakistaniDessertsGluten free
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ZeamăSour chicken noodle soup

In the Republic of Moldova, zeamă is the soup of weddings, christenings and Sunday lunches, and a pot of it is said to cure everything from a cold to a hangover. A homegrown chicken gives a golden broth, thin homemade egg noodles go in, and it is soured with borș, the fermented wheat-bran liquid sold in bottles at every market from Chișinău to Bălți, then scented with a big bunch of lovage. The taste is clean, bright and tangy, with the green, celery-like note of lovage on top. It is eaten piping hot, often with a raw onion or a hot pepper on the side. A common mistake is cooking the noodles in the broth for too long, which clouds it; boil them only until just tender. Chef's tip: if you cannot find borș, use the juice of 1 lemon instead, adding it at the end and tasting as you go.

90 minRomanianSoups
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