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Mansaf
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Mansaf

Lamb in yogurt sauce with rice

Mansaf is Jordan's national dish and the centrepiece of its weddings, Eid gatherings and big family days, set down on a huge round tray for everyone to eat from together. Bone-in lamb is simmered until tender in a sauce of jameed, the dried, salted goat's-milk yogurt of the Bedouin, then served on thin shrak bread and turmeric-tinted rice, scattered with almonds and pine nuts and drenched in more of the hot sauce. If you can't find jameed, a mix of thick yogurt and labneh gives a fair stand-in. Chef's tip: stir the yogurt sauce in one direction constantly as it heats, and never let it boil hard before the lamb goes in; that is what keeps it smooth.

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KalitsouniaSweet cheese pastries

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Kallaj appears in the sweet shops of Beirut and Tripoli only during Ramadan, when bakers sell paper-thin starch sheets to wrap around cream or cheese and fry for after iftar. Home cooks recreate it with filo: square parcels of thick milk cream, baked until they crackle, then soaked briefly in rose and orange-blossom syrup and finished with pistachios. Serve them warm, a few minutes after the syrup goes on, while the outside is still crisp. Common mistake: drowning them in syrup and leaving them to sit; spoon it over just before serving. Chef's tip: a cheese version — fill with half mozzarella, half unsalted ricotta — is just as traditional; choose a vegetarian-rennet mozzarella if you need it.

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Kebab karazLamb meatballs in sour cherry sauce

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Kebab khashkhashLamb kebabs with spicy tomato topping

In Aleppo's grill houses, kebab khashkhash comes to the table sizzling: long, juicy skewers of lamb mince with pepper paste and chilli, laid over flatbread and covered with a hot, chunky sauce of tomatoes, garlic, chilli and parsley that soaks into the bread. It is bold and fiery, eaten with grilled tomatoes and green chillies and a cold glass of ayran. Common mistake: using lean mince — kebabs need around 20% fat to stay juicy on the grill. Chef's tip: chill the shaped skewers for 30 minutes before grilling so the meat clings and doesn't slip off.

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Kefalonian kreatopitaLamb, rice and potato pie

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145 minGreekMeat
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Kemalpaşa tatlısıCheese dumplings in syrup

Named after the town of Mustafakemalpaşa near Bursa, these small golden rounds are made from a soft unsalted cheese, semolina and flour, baked dry and then simmered in syrup until they swell and soak it up like sponges. In Bursa they are eaten after a plate of İskender, warm with a spoon of clotted cream or a scattering of pistachio. They are lighter than they look, with a faint cheesy tang under the sweetness. Chef's tip: let the syrup cool to lukewarm and the dumplings be at room temperature; if both are hot the dumplings collapse into mush.

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Kentish gypsy tartEvaporated milk and muscovado tart

Gypsy tart is the school-dinner pudding of Kent, remembered fondly by anyone who grew up in Margate, Maidstone or the Medway towns. Evaporated milk is whisked with dark muscovado sugar until it doubles into a toffee-coloured mousse, poured into a pastry case and baked just long enough to set into a fluffy, sticky, intensely sweet filling. Chef's tip: chill the evaporated milk overnight; cold milk whips up much more volume.

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