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Agbeli kaklo
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Agbeli kaklo

Cassava fritters

Roadside fryers in the Volta Region sell agbeli kaklo by the bagful, golden fingers of grated cassava seasoned with onion and chilli and fried until crunchy outside and chewy within. The classic way to eat them is with chunks of fresh coconut, whose cool sweetness balances the salty, peppery fritters, and they are an afternoon snack or a travel snack on the road from Ho to Accra. Cassava must be cooked through, so fry until deep golden. Chef's tip: squeeze the grated cassava very dry and fry at 170 °C; wet dough spits dangerously, and oil that is too cool, the common mistake, gives greasy, soggy fritters.

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Arroz con pollo peruanoCoriander rice with chicken

Across Spanish-speaking America arroz con pollo means yellow rice, but in Lima it comes out deep green, thanks to a big bunch of coriander blended into the cooking liquid. Mothers make it for Sunday lunch and for birthday parties, and street stalls ladle it out with salsa criolla, the sharp onion-and-lime relish that cuts through the rice. Chicken pieces are browned first, then the rice cooks in the same pot so it takes on all their flavour. Chef's tip: blend the coriander with cold stock right before it goes in, so it stays bright green rather than turning khaki.

70 minPeruvianChickenGluten free
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Pigeon peas in coconut milk (mbaazi)

Mbaazi wa nazi: soft pigeon peas cooked in thick coconut milk with onion, raw mango, ginger-chilli paste and a pinch of turmeric until creamy. It's mild, rich and comforting. Serve with mamri (mandazi) for the classic Swahili pairing.

60 minAfricanCurriesVeganGluten free
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Arroz doceRice pudding

Arroz doce is set out on every Portuguese table at Christmas, at weddings and at the summer romarias (village saints' festivals) of the Minho, poured into wide, shallow platters and dusted with cinnamon in lattices, initials or little hearts. Short-grain carolino rice is first boiled in water with lemon peel and cinnamon, then simmered slowly in milk and sugar, and finally thickened off the heat with egg yolks, which turns it pale gold and custardy; that last step is what sets it apart from Spanish or Mexican rice puddings. It is eaten cold or at room temperature, by the spoonful straight from the platter. Chef's tip: cook the rice in water first until it has swollen, and only then add the milk; starting in milk scorches easily and leaves the grains firm in the middle.

50 minPortugueseDessertsGluten free
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Maraq digaagChicken and vegetable stew

Maraq digaag is the gentle chicken stew Somali mothers make on ordinary weekdays, and the one people ask for when they are unwell: chicken simmered with potato, carrot, tomato and green pepper in a light broth fragrant with xawaash and garlic. It is served with rice, canjeero or bread for dipping. The mistake is boiling it hard, which makes the chicken stringy; keep it at a lazy simmer. Chef's tip: stir in chopped coriander and a little lemon at the end to lift the broth.

60 minSomaliChickenGluten free
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Momiji manjuMaple leaf sponge cakes

Momiji manju are the souvenir of Miyajima, the sacred island off Hiroshima famous for its floating red torii gate and its maple trees, which turn scarlet each November. A confectioner there first baked them around 1906, and today shops along the island's main street still turn them out of iron moulds while visitors watch. The cake is a soft, honey-scented sponge, the filling smooth red bean paste. Tokyo's Asakusa sells a near twin, ningyo-yaki, baked in the shapes of dolls and temple lanterns; this recipe makes both, depending on your mould. Serve with green tea. Chef's tip: rest the batter for 30 minutes before baking. The flour hydrates, the bubbles settle and the cakes come out smooth and evenly brown.

40 minJapaneseDesserts
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Moules marinièresMussels in white wine

Along the coast of Normandy and Brittany, from Le Mont-Saint-Michel to Saint-Malo, summer means big black pots of moules marinières and a cone of frites, eaten at a seaside table with fingers and an empty shell as tongs. Fresh mussels steam open in minutes with shallot, garlic, thyme and white wine. The wine boils only briefly, so some alcohol stays; for an alcohol-free version use 150 ml fish or vegetable stock with 1 tbsp lemon juice. Chef's tip: buy mussels the day you cook them and keep them in the fridge in an open bowl covered with a damp cloth, never in water or a sealed bag.

25 minFrenchFish
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Mousse au chocolatChocolate mousse

Mousse au chocolat is the dessert French children learn to make with their grandmothers and the one every bistro keeps in a big bowl in the fridge. The classic recipe is only dark chocolate, eggs, a little butter and sugar: the yolks make it rich, the whisked whites make it light and airy. It's made a few hours ahead and served in small glasses or scooped from a shared bowl. This version contains raw eggs, so use very fresh ones and avoid serving it to pregnant women, small babies or anyone unwell. For an egg-free version, see our eggless chocolate mousse. Chef's tip: let the melted chocolate cool until just warm before adding the yolks; adding them to hot chocolate is the common mistake and they scramble.

30 minFrenchDessertsGluten free
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Tawa chilli potatoes

A big tawa of potato cubes tossed with a fragrant tempering of mustard, cumin, coriander seeds, aniseed, cloves, cinnamon and black pepper, then onions, ginger, garlic and two kinds of chilli. It's hot, aromatic and great as a barbecue starter. Swap the potatoes for steamed paneer cubes for a change.

40 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten freeSpicy
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Barbequed peas

Tender peas in their pods tossed with chilli, ginger, garlic and lemon, sealed in foil and steamed on the barbecue. Everyone shells their own at the table and gets the spice on their fingers. Use the youngest, sweetest pods you can find.

20 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten freeSpicy
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Arroz negroBlack rice with squid ink

Along the coast from Valencia up to the Costa Brava, arroz negro (arròs negre in Catalan and Valencian) is a seafront restaurant favourite, ordered for the table at lunchtime and brought out in its pan. Squid and its ink turn the rice glossy black and give it a deep taste of the sea, and every forkful gets a dab of garlicky all-i-oli. This version uses the traditional egg-free all-i-oli, just garlic, oil and salt pounded together; if you'd rather make the easier egg version, use a pasteurised egg, and note that raw egg is not suitable for pregnant women, young children, older people or anyone with a weakened immune system. Chef's tip: buy squid ink in sachets or small jars from a fishmonger or Spanish deli; the ink sac inside a whole squid is far too small to colour a whole pan.

60 minSpanishRice & Grains
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Arroz rojoMexican red rice

Arroz rojo (also called arroz a la mexicana) is the rice served beside almost everything in Mexico, from enchiladas to beans to a fried egg. Long-grain rice is fried in oil until golden, then simmered in a blended tomato, onion and garlic broth until every grain is separate, tender and tinted orange-red. Diced carrot and peas add colour and sweetness, and a whole chilli in the pot gives a gentle warmth without heat. Made with vegetable stock it is vegan and a favourite with children. Chef's tip: rinse the rice until the water runs clear and let it dry well before frying; wet rice won't toast and turns out sticky.

35 minMexicanRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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Arroz verdeGreen rice

Arroz verde is red rice's fresher sister, popular across central Mexico as a side for mole, enchiladas and beans. The rice is toasted in oil and then simmered in a vivid green purée of poblano pepper, coriander, parsley and a handful of spinach, so it comes out fluffy, herby and gently peppery, the colour of spring grass. It is vegan with vegetable stock and pairs especially well with mole rojo or roasted vegetables. Chef's tip: blend the greens with cold stock and add it straight to the rice; heated slowly or left standing the purée loses its colour, so make it right before you need it.

35 minMexicanRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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ÄrtsoppaYellow pea soup

For centuries Swedes have eaten ärtsoppa on Thursday: school canteens, army messes and home kitchens all serve thick yellow pea soup, followed by thin pancakes with jam (ärtsoppa och pannkakor). The tradition is said to date from Catholic times, a filling meal before Friday's fast. The soup is usually cooked with salt pork, but the soul of it is the dried yellow peas, onion and a generous hand of thyme and marjoram, so this version is fully plant-based and seasons the broth with a little smoked paprika instead. Each bowl gets a spoonful of sharp Swedish mustard stirred in at the table. Chef's tip: soak whole yellow peas overnight and skim the foam as they come to the boil; the skins that float up can then be lifted off, giving a smoother soup.

105 minScandinavianSoupsVeganGluten free
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Corn & beans kebabs

Soft vegetarian seekh-style kebabs of sweetcorn, kidney beans and potato with fenugreek, spinach, ginger and green chilli, pressed onto skewers and browned over charcoal. They're crisp outside and soft inside. Serve hot with green chutney and mint and yogurt chutney.

55 minIndianSnacks & StartersSpicy
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Barbequed paneer and vegetables

Party skewers of paneer, onion petals, capsicum, tomato, mushroom and cassava, each marinated in a thick, garlicky tandoori yogurt marinade and grilled over charcoal until charred at the edges. Make the marinade the day before and string the skewers just before the barbecue. Serve hot with mint and yogurt chutney.

325 minIndianSnacks & StartersGluten freeSpicy
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Sabudana khichdiSago with peanuts and potato

Sabudana khichdi is the dish that sees Maharashtra through every vrat (fast), from Navratri to Ekadashi, but it's so good that people eat it any day of the week. Soaked sago pearls are tossed in a pan with crushed roasted peanuts, cubes of potato, cumin and green chilli until each pearl turns glassy and separate, then finished with lemon and coriander. It's soft, chewy, nutty and gently hot. Fasting rules vary from family to family, so check yours; this version uses rock salt and no asafoetida, onion or garlic. Traditionally it's cooked in ghee; use ghee instead of oil if you aren't keeping it vegan. Chef's tip: soak the sago in just enough water to cover by the height of the pearls themselves, no more; too much water is the reason khichdi turns into one sticky lump.

25 minIndianBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
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Asado argentinoGrilled beef short ribs

For Argentines the Sunday asado is less a recipe than a ritual: someone (the asador) lights the fire mid-morning in a backyard in Buenos Aires or a ranch in the Pampas, and lunch happens hours later. Beef is cooked low and slow over glowing embers, seasoned with nothing but coarse salt, and carved at the grill to be eaten with bread, salad and a bowl of chimichurri. This home version uses two favourite cuts: tira de asado (thin cross-cut short ribs) and vacío (flank). The classic mistake is grilling over flames; wait until the coals are covered in white ash, and spread them so the heat is gentle. Chef's tip: hold your hand 15 cm above the grill; if you can keep it there for 8–10 seconds, the heat is right for asado.

140 minArgentinianMeatGluten free
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Asado negroBeef braised in panela

Asado negro is the Sunday lunch of Caracas families: a whole piece of beef eye of round (muchacho redondo) is seared in sugar caramelised almost to black, then slowly braised until the sauce is dark, glossy and sweet-savoury. Despite how it looks, it doesn't taste burnt, just deep and rich. It is sliced and served with white rice, fried ripe plantain and sometimes a mash of potatoes. Many cooks add a glass of red wine to the braise; to keep it alcohol-free, use the same amount of beef stock and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar instead. The mistake to avoid is stirring the panela while it caramelises: it crystallises and goes grainy. Chef's tip: get the caramel really dark, just before it smokes, because the colour and depth of the whole dish come from that minute.

200 minVenezuelanMeat
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Asado uruguayoGrilled beef short ribs and chorizo

Sunday in Uruguay means asado: in Montevideo backyards and the cattle towns of the interior, beef ribs (asado de tira), chorizo and morcilla cook slowly over the embers of a wood fire, with only coarse salt, while the family waits. The parrillero rakes coals under the grill and keeps the heat low and even. This recipe includes pork chorizo. The mistake is cooking over flames; the fire should burn down to embers you can hold your hand above for 6–8 seconds. Chef's tip: salt the meat only when it goes on the grill, with coarse salt, never fine.

140 minParaguayanMeatGluten free
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Kalua pork

Kalua pig is the heart of a Hawaiian lū'au: a whole pig wrapped in ti and banana leaves and cooked all day in an imu, an underground oven, until it falls apart, smoky and salty. This dish contains pork. Families across O'ahu and the other islands make this simpler version at home with pork shoulder, coarse sea salt and a little liquid smoke, wrapped and slow-roasted. It is served with rice, poi or cabbage, or in sliders. The mistake is using fine table salt in the same amount; it makes the pork far too salty, so use coarse sea salt. Chef's tip: stir a little of the cooking juice back into the shredded pork so it stays moist.

375 minPacific IslanderMeatGluten free
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Persian love cake

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

60 minPersianBakingGluten free
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Beetroot curry

Beetroot grows well in the cool hills around Nuwara Eliya and Welimada, and its curry is a jewel-pink regular on lunch packets and home rice-and-curry tables across the island. The beetroot is cut into thin matchsticks and cooked with onion, green chilli, curry leaves and a light, unroasted curry powder, then finished with coconut milk, so it's sweet, mildly spiced and brilliantly coloured. It's a good way to win over people who think they don't like beetroot. One frequent mistake is grating the beetroot, which turns the curry into a wet purée; matchsticks keep a pleasing bite. Chef's tip: add a squeeze of lime at the very end; it brightens the colour and cuts the earthy sweetness.

30 minSri LankanCurriesVeganGluten free
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MotsunabeBeef offal hot pot

In Hakata, the old merchant half of Fukuoka, motsunabe is the winter dish of izakayas and back-street restaurants. Soft pieces of beef small intestine simmer in a garlicky soy broth under a tall heap of cabbage and garlic chives, with slices of chilli on top. When the pot is nearly empty, champon noodles go into the rich broth to finish the meal. Many butchers and Asian grocers sell the intestine already cleaned and boiled, which saves time. Chef's tip: keep the white fat on the intestine; as it melts into the broth it makes the soup rich and sweet, which is the point of the dish.

45 minJapaneseSoups
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Aloo ke gutkePotato cubes with mountain spices

Ask anyone from Kumaon what they miss most from home and aloo ke gutke comes up quickly. Hill potatoes are boiled, cut into rough chunks and tossed in smoking mustard oil with jakhiya, a tiny wild seed that pops and crunches like mustard but tastes more like toasted cumin. It's served at tea time with a mug of chai, on festival plates next to puri, and in local dhabas with cucumber raita. Outside Uttarakhand jakhiya is hard to find, so use cumin seeds with a few black mustard seeds instead; the dish will still taste right. Chef's tip: boil the potatoes a few hours ahead, or the night before, so they firm up and fry into crisp-edged cubes instead of crumbling.

40 minIndianSidesVeganGluten free
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Aloo keemaMinced meat with potatoes

Aloo keema is the dinner that turns up in Pakistani homes from Karachi to Peshawar several times a month: quick, cheap, and loved by children and grandparents alike. Mince is browned with onion, tomato and whole spices, then simmered with potato cubes and peas until the potatoes soak up the masala. It is usually eaten with hot chapati or paratha, and leftovers become a filling for sandwiches and samosas the next day. Chef's tip: keep frying the mince until all the water it releases has gone and it starts to sizzle; that's where the browned, meaty flavour comes from.

55 minPakistaniMeatGluten free
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Aloo acharPotato and sesame salad

Aloo ko achar is the potato salad of Nepal, but tangy, nutty and hot rather than creamy. Boiled potatoes are tossed with ground toasted sesame, lemon juice, green chilli and timur, then finished with mustard oil in which fenugreek seeds have been fried dark. You find it everywhere: in tiffin boxes on the way to school, at picnics and on the long leaf plates of Newar feasts, alongside beaten rice and spicy beans, and it is a fixture at Dashain and Tihar gatherings when food has to sit out for hours. It keeps well, and the flavour improves after a rest. Dressing the potatoes while still hot is the usual mistake: they soak it up and turn mushy, so let them cool first. Chef's tip: toast the sesame until it just starts to pop and smells like popcorn, then grind it to a coarse sandy powder; it thickens the dressing and gives the salad its nuttiness.

30 minNepaliSaladsVeganGluten free
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Korean corn dog

In Korea a 'hot dog' means this: a sausage, often with a stick of mozzarella above it, dipped in a sweet yeasted batter and rolled in breadcrumbs or tiny potato cubes before frying. They are sold from stalls in Myeongdong in Seoul, outside schools and at every busy station, and the cheese pull is half the fun. A roll in sugar straight from the oil, then a zigzag of ketchup and mustard, is the classic finish. Chef's tip: freeze the skewered sausages and cheese for 15 minutes before dipping; the cold cheese holds its shape and the batter grips better.

50 minKoreanFast Food
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Aloo postoPotatoes in poppy seed paste

Aloo posto is one of West Bengal's best-loved everyday dishes: cubes of potato cooked gently in a thick paste of ground white poppy seeds, green chilli and mustard oil. The poppy seeds give a nutty, creamy coating without any dairy, and the nigella seeds and raw mustard oil add a sharp, fragrant edge. It's simple, mild and comforting, eaten with plain rice and dal in Kolkata homes. Chef's tip: grind the soaked poppy seeds with the green chillies and a splash of water until truly smooth; a gritty paste never turns creamy.

30 minIndianSidesVeganGluten free
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Aloo potala rasaPointed gourd and potato curry

Aloo potala rasa is Odisha's favourite party curry: you will find it on the menu of every Odia wedding and thread ceremony, ladled over rice or eaten with puri. Pointed gourds (potala, parwal) are scraped, fried until blistered, and simmered with potatoes in a thick onion, tomato and ginger-garlic gravy perfumed with whole garam masala. Unlike the light everyday dishes of the state, this one is rich and slow-cooked. Chef's tip: scrape the potala lightly rather than peeling; the green streaks look pretty and hold the shape.

55 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Profiteroles

Profiteroles are a Parisian brasserie dessert: small, crisp choux pastry puffs split and filled with vanilla ice cream, then drowned at the table in warm dark chocolate sauce. The contrast is the point: hot sauce, cold ice cream, crisp pastry. Choux is easier than it looks and needs no special tools, just a wooden spoon and some elbow grease. The puffs can be baked in the morning and filled at the last minute. Check your ice cream is free of gelatine. Chef's tip: bake the puffs until deep golden and firm; taking them out pale is the common mistake and they collapse as they cool.

60 minFrenchDesserts
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Madeleines

Madeleines come from Commercy, a small town in Lorraine, where they've been sold in boxes to travellers since the 1700s, and Proust made them famous dipped in lime-blossom tea. These little scallop-shaped sponges are crisp and golden at the edges, soft and buttery inside, and should have a proud hump on the back. French children eat them for goûter, the after-school snack, and they are best within an hour of baking. You'll need a madeleine tin. Chef's tip: chill the batter and the buttered tin before baking; putting room-temperature batter in a warm tin is the common mistake and the madeleines come out flat with no hump.

25 minFrenchBaking
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Aloo tamaPotato and bamboo shoot curry

Aloo tama is the curry that tells you you are in Nepal: potatoes (aloo) and black-eyed beans (bodi) simmered with tama, slivers of bamboo shoot that have been fermented until they are pleasantly sour and funky. It is a Newar dish at heart, cooked all over the Kathmandu Valley for weddings, feasts and cold winter evenings, and every Nepali restaurant abroad keeps a pot of it. The sourness comes from the bamboo, sharpened with tomato, and the warmth from fenugreek seeds burnt nearly black in mustard oil and a dusting of timur, the Nepali Sichuan pepper that numbs the lips. Eat it with rice or beaten rice (chiura). Don't skip rinsing the bamboo: straight from the jar it can be so sharp that it takes over the whole pot. Chef's tip: let the fenugreek seeds turn a deep reddish brown before anything else goes in; that bitter-sweet, almost maple smell is the backbone of the curry.

50 minNepaliCurriesVeganGluten free
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Aloo tikki chaatPotato patties with chutneys

In Delhi, aloo tikki is fried on a giant iron tawa at the edge of a busy market, flattened with a spatula until the outside is shatteringly crisp, then smothered in spiced chickpeas, cool yogurt and green and tamarind chutneys. Places like Chandni Chowk and Lajpat Nagar have queues for it on winter evenings. Delhi tikkis are often stuffed with a little spiced chana dal, which adds bite inside the soft potato. Unlike Mumbai's ragda pattice, it's served with chole and a lot of yogurt. Chef's tip: let the tikkis sit undisturbed on the hot pan for the first 5 minutes; a crust forms that stops them breaking when you turn them.

65 minIndianSnacks & StartersSpicy
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Vichyssoise

Vichyssoise is a creamy leek and potato soup served cold, named after the spa town of Vichy and made famous by a French chef in New York in 1917, who based it on his mother's hot potage. In France it's made in hot weather, when a bowl of something cool and silky is all anyone wants, and served in small portions as a starter, sprinkled with chives. It needs only a few ingredients, so the leeks must be cooked gently to keep the colour pale and delicate. Chef's tip: let the leeks soften without browning; colouring them is the common mistake that turns the soup grey-beige and bitter.

45 minFrenchSoupsGluten free
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Fonio with vegetables

Fonio is a tiny ancient grain grown in the Sahel and in southern Senegal's Casamance and Fouta regions, where it is steamed like couscous and eaten with a vegetable or peanut sauce. It cooks in minutes and has a light, nutty taste, which has made it popular again in Dakar restaurants. Here it is fluffed with a little oil and topped with a quick stew of courgette, carrot, aubergine and tomato. Chef's tip: wash fonio in several changes of water and drain it in a fine sieve; it often carries fine sand, and gritty fonio is the most common complaint.

30 minSenegaleseRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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Mushroom and cheese galette

In Brittany, a galette is a large, lacy pancake made from buckwheat flour, water and salt: nutty, a little earthy and crisp at the edges. Crêperies all over the region fold them around savoury fillings and serve them with a bowl of dry cider. This one is filled with garlicky mushrooms, melted cheese and chives, folded into a square so the centre shows. Pure buckwheat is naturally gluten free, but check the packet, as some is milled alongside wheat. Emmental and Gruyère are usually made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian alternative. Rest the batter if you have time: it can be made the night before. Chef's tip: the first galette is always a test; a pan that isn't hot enough is the common mistake that makes them pale and floppy instead of lacy and crisp.

25 minFrenchBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
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French onion soup

Soupe à l'oignon gratinée was the late-night meal of Les Halles, the old Paris food market, where porters and party-goers ate it at dawn; in Lyon, the city of onions, it's a winter bistro classic. Onions are cooked very slowly in butter until they turn a deep mahogany brown, then simmered in stock with a splash of wine and topped with toasted bread and melted cheese under the grill. The traditional soup uses beef stock; this version uses a rich vegetable stock and lets the deeply browned onions carry the flavour. Gruyère and Comté are made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian alternative. Chef's tip: give the onions a full hour on a low heat; rushing them over a high heat is the common mistake and they burn before they sweeten.

90 minFrenchSoups
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AmbaTangy mango pickle sauce

Amba is the golden, sour mango sauce that Iraqi Jews brought from Baghdad (where it had come from Indian traders), and in Israel it is the signature of sabich and a favourite in falafel pitas. Traditionally green mangoes are salted and left in the sun for days to ferment; this quicker stovetop version cooks unripe mango with turmeric, fenugreek, mustard seed and vinegar, then blends it into a smooth, pourable sauce with the same tangy, curry-like flavour. Chef's tip: use mangoes that are hard and green right through; ripe ones make a sweet jam, not amba.

30 minIsraeliChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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Mushroom bourguignon

Burgundy's famous stew is traditionally made with beef, but the flavours that make it special are all in the sauce: red wine from the region's vineyards, small whole onions, carrots, thyme and mushrooms. This meat-free version gives the mushrooms the starring role, browned hard so they turn meaty and dark, then simmered in a glossy wine sauce. It is a winter dinner in French homes, served over creamy mashed potatoes, buttered noodles or with a crusty baguette. Pick a vegan-friendly wine if that matters to you. Chef's tip: brown the mushrooms in a hot pan in batches until the liquid they release has evaporated; adding them all at once is the common mistake and they boil instead of browning.

60 minFrenchVegetarianVeganGluten free
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Ratatouille

Ratatouille comes from Nice, where it was a peasant stew of whatever the late-summer garden gave: aubergines, courgettes, peppers, onions and very ripe tomatoes, simmered in olive oil with garlic and thyme. Cooks in Nice argue about method, but the most respected version fries each vegetable on its own first, so each keeps its colour and shape before they are brought together in one pot. It's eaten warm with rice, cold the next day with bread, or as a side to an omelette. Chef's tip: brown the aubergine in batches and don't crowd the pan; piling it in is the common mistake that makes it steam into a grey mush.

75 minFrenchVegetarianVeganGluten free
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Andong jjimdakSoy-braised chicken and potatoes

Andong jjimdak took shape in the 1980s in the old market of Andong, a city in North Gyeongsang province, where an alley of small restaurants still serves it on big platters for sharing. Chicken on the bone is braised in a dark, sweet soy sauce with potatoes, carrots and a few dried chillies, then slippery glass noodles are stirred in at the end to soak up the sauce. It is salty, sweet and only gently hot. Serve with rice and kimchi. Chef's tip: soak the glass noodles in warm water for 30 minutes before you start, so they only need 5 minutes in the pot.

60 minKoreanChicken
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Greek yogurt with honey and walnuts

This is the dessert Greek tavernas bring out on the house at the end of a meal, and a common breakfast in homes and hotels from Crete to Corfu. Thick strained yogurt, ideally the sheep's-milk kind with a skin on top, is drizzled with dark thyme honey and scattered with walnuts. Simple as it is, the details matter: rich yogurt, good honey and nuts toasted just before serving. Add fresh figs or a spoon of quince preserve if you have them. Chef's tip: warm the honey for a few seconds so it runs in ribbons; cold honey is the common mistake and just sits in a blob.

8 minGreekDessertsGluten free
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Halloumi with watermelon

In Cyprus, halloumi and watermelon is the taste of an August afternoon: icy wedges of watermelon eaten alongside salty halloumi, either fresh and squeaky or grilled until golden. Cypriots have eaten the two together for generations, on beaches, village verandas and after a long lunch. Here the halloumi is seared, then tossed with chunks of cold watermelon, mint, red onion and lime. It is a starter, a light lunch or a side for any barbecue. Some halloumi is made with animal rennet, so look for one labelled vegetarian. Chef's tip: don't cook the halloumi until everyone is ready to eat; it turns rubbery as it cools, which is the most common halloumi mistake.

10 minGreekSaladsGluten free
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Fava (Santorini split pea purée)

On Santorini, fava is made from a tiny yellow split pea that has grown in the island's volcanic soil for thousands of years. Cooked slowly with onion until it collapses, it is whipped with olive oil and lemon into a purée as smooth as hummus but lighter and sweeter. In island tavernas it comes warm, with raw red onion, capers and a puddle of green olive oil, and you scoop it up with bread. Ordinary yellow split peas work well at home. Serve it as a meze or a light meal with salad. Chef's tip: skim off the white foam that rises in the first 10 minutes; leaving it is the common mistake that gives the purée a bitter, grey edge.

60 minGreekChutneys & DipsVeganGluten free
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Amritsari aloo wadiyanPotato and lentil dumpling curry

Every winter, rooftops in Amritsar's old city are covered with trays of wadiyan: little cones of spiced urad-dal paste studded with black pepper and dried in the sun until rock hard. Punjabi homes break them into chunks, fry them until they smell nutty, and simmer them with potatoes in a mustard-oil gravy. The wadiyan soften into chewy, spicy, almost meaty pieces, and the potatoes soak up their pepper. It is everyday comfort food, eaten with hot phulkas or rice and a raw onion on the side. Chef's tip: wadiyan are already salted and spiced, so add salt only at the end, after tasting.

55 minIndianCurriesVegan
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Amritsari fishCrisp fried fish

On winter evenings in Amritsar, roadside stalls near the old city fry river fish in huge karahis and sell it by weight, hot and crisp, sprinkled with chaat masala and lemon. The batter is made from gram flour rather than wheat and is fragrant with ajwain (carom seeds), which Punjabis say makes fried food easier to digest. It is a snack or starter, eaten with mint chutney and sliced onions; at home it is the treat that comes out when guests arrive. Use any firm white fish: singhara is traditional, but cod, haddock, basa or tilapia all work. Chef's tip: a little rice flour in the batter is what keeps it crisp for longer after frying.

45 minIndianFishGluten freeSpicy
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Amritsari kulchaStuffed flatbreads

Amritsari kulcha is the pride of Amritsar's dhabas in Punjab: a layered, leavened flatbread stuffed with potato, onion and sour pomegranate seed, slapped onto the wall of a tandoor and smothered in butter the moment it comes out. The outside shatters into crisp, flaky layers while the inside stays soft and steamy. In Amritsar it comes with a bowl of chole, a tangy onion-tamarind chutney and a glass of lassi. At home a very hot oven and a heavy tray stand in for the tandoor. Chef's tip: keep the filling dry and cool, with the onion squeezed of its juice, or the kulcha will tear and steam instead of turning crisp.

90 minIndianBreads & Parathas
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