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Amba
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Amba

Tangy 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.

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Kik alichaMild yellow split pea stew

Kik alicha is the gentle golden stew on Ethiopian platters: 'alicha' means a mild dish made without berbere, so it is coloured with turmeric instead and flavoured with garlic, ginger and onion. Cooks in the Amhara highlands and in Addis make it all through the fasting seasons, and it sits next to fiery shiro and misir wat to cool things down. Yellow split peas are simmered until they collapse into a thick, smooth purée. Chef's tip: stir it regularly towards the end; split peas thicken suddenly and catch on the bottom of the pan.

45 minEthiopianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Kimchi jjigaeKimchi stew

Every Korean home has a version of kimchi jjigae, and it turns up on the table from Seoul to Busan at breakfast, lunch and late at night. It is the classic way to use up kimchi that has fermented for weeks and turned properly sour. Pork belly gives the broth richness, tofu soaks up the heat, and the pot comes to the table still boiling, next to a bowl of plain rice. Chef's tip: fry the kimchi in the pork fat for a full 5 minutes before any water goes in; that is where the deep, savoury flavour comes from.

30 minKoreanSoupsSpicy
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KinderpunschHot spiced fruit punch

At every German and Austrian Christmas market, from Nuremberg to Vienna's Rathausplatz, the stalls selling Glühwein also sell Kinderpunsch: a steaming, alcohol-free mix of fruit tea and juices with cinnamon, cloves and orange, served in the market's own decorated mugs. Children love it, but so do drivers and anyone who just wants something warm to hold on a cold evening. It takes 20 minutes at home and makes the whole house smell of Advent. Chef's tip: keep it just below a simmer; boiling makes the spices bitter and dulls the fruit flavour.

20 minGermanDrinksVeganGluten free
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Kinema curryFermented soybean curry

Kinema is the Limbu and Nepali fermented soybean of Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills: boiled soybeans wrapped in leaves and left by the hearth for a couple of days until sticky and pungent. Cooked with onion, tomato, turmeric and fiery dalle or green chilli, it becomes a thick, savoury curry eaten with rice in Gangtok and Kalimpong homes, especially in winter. It is rich in protein and has a deep, almost meaty savour. Chef's tip: dry-fry the kinema before adding the masala; it tames the smell and brings out a toasted flavour. Outside the hills, Japanese natto is the closest substitute.

30 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Kiri bathCoconut milk rice

Kiri bath is the first food eaten at Sinhala and Tamil New Year (Aluth Avurudu) in mid-April, cooked at the exact auspicious time the astrologers announce, and it also starts the first day of each month, birthdays and new jobs across Sri Lanka. White rice is boiled until very soft, then cooked again with thick coconut milk and salt until it sets into a creamy slab that is cut into diamonds. It's eaten with lunu miris, a fierce red onion and chilli paste, or with jaggery and bananas for the sweet-toothed. Lunu miris often contains Maldive fish; ours doesn't. The common mistake is adding the coconut milk before the rice is completely soft: the grains stay hard. Chef's tip: press the hot rice flat with a banana leaf or the back of a spoon dipped in coconut milk; it stops sticking and gives the classic glossy top.

35 minSri LankanRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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Kiritanpo nabeRice stick and chicken hot pot

In Akita, in Japan's snowy north-west, the new rice harvest in October marks the start of kiritanpo season, and the town of Odate holds a festival for it every autumn. Freshly cooked rice is half-pounded, pressed around sticks and toasted, then cut up and dropped into a soy-seasoned chicken broth with burdock, maitake mushrooms and crunchy Japanese parsley called seri. Locals use the region's Hinai-jidori chicken; any good free-range bird works. The toasted rice soaks up the broth but keeps a little chew. Chef's tip: toast the rice sticks until dry and golden in patches all over, as a crisp outer skin keeps them from dissolving in the pot.

75 minJapaneseSoups
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KısırBulgur salad with pepper paste

Kısır comes from southeastern Turkey but is now the dish women across the country bring to 'altın günü', the afternoon gatherings where friends meet at each other's homes over tea. Fine bulgur is softened with hot water and kneaded with tomato and pepper paste until rosy, then mixed with spring onion, parsley, mint, lemon and pomegranate molasses. It is served at room temperature, often wrapped in crisp lettuce leaves. The typical mistake is pouring in too much water, which turns the bulgur mushy; use just enough to cover. Chef's tip: knead the pastes into the warm bulgur with your hands for a full minute so every grain turns red and the flavour goes right through.

25 minTurkishSaladsVegan
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KisraFermented sorghum flatbread

Kisra (kisra rahifa) is the daily bread of northern and central Sudan: a sorghum batter left to sour for a day, then wiped across a very hot iron plate in a single sweep so it cooks into a lacy sheet as thin as paper. In homes it is made early each morning and stacked in folded layers to eat with mullah stews, especially during Ramadan. A wide crêpe pan and a plastic scraper or spatula work at home. Chef's tip: the pan must be hot enough that the batter sets the moment it touches; if it is too cool the sheet sticks and tears.

45 minSudaneseBreads & ParathasVeganGluten free
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KitfoSpiced minced beef

Kitfo comes from the Gurage people south-west of Addis Ababa, and it is the dish Ethiopians order at special kitfo houses or make for Meskel, the September feast of the True Cross. Lean beef is finely minced and stirred with warm spiced butter and mitmita, a hot chilli and cardamom powder. In Ethiopia it is often eaten raw (tire) or barely warmed (leb leb), but raw or lightly warmed minced beef is not safe for home cooks: this version is cooked to 71 °C, which keeps the buttery, fiery flavour with a soft, crumbly texture. Serve with ayib, braised greens and injera or kocho. Chef's tip: mince the beef yourself from a single lean cut if you can, and keep it fridge-cold until the moment it goes into the pan.

30 minEthiopianMeatGluten freeSpicy
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KladdkakaSticky chocolate cake

Kladdkaka, literally 'sticky cake', is the chocolate cake Swedish teenagers learn to make first, because it needs one pan, no mixer and no raising agent. The outside bakes to a thin, crackly crust while the centre stays fudgy and almost molten, somewhere between a brownie and a chocolate pudding. In Sweden it turns up at birthday parties, after Friday tacos and at summer cottages, cut into wedges and served with lightly whipped cream and a few raspberries or lingonberries. Cocoa, not bar chocolate, gives it its classic flavour. Chef's tip: take it out when the middle still wobbles like set jelly; it firms up as it cools and a fully set kladdkaka is just a dry chocolate cake.

28 minScandinavianBaking
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KleponPandan rice balls with palm sugar

Klepon are the jajan pasar, or market cakes, of Java: sold in the morning from baskets lined with banana leaves, bright green from pandan and dusted with grated coconut. Bite one and a pocket of molten palm sugar floods your mouth, so Javanese eat them whole. Malaysians and Singaporeans know the same sweet as onde-onde, made for festive tea tables, so this page covers both. Chef's tip: seal the balls with no cracks and drop them into gently boiling water — the moment they float, give them one more minute, and the sugar inside will be fully molten.

40 minIndonesianDessertsVeganGluten free
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Koba akondroBanana, rice and peanut parcels

Koba is the street sweet of Madagascar's highlands, sold in thick slices from huge logs wrapped in banana leaves at markets and taxi-brousse stops around Antananarivo and Antsirabe. Koba ravina is a dense block of ground peanuts, rice flour and brown sugar; koba akondro adds ripe banana and is softer. This home version makes small parcels that steam in an hour and a half instead of a whole day. Chef's tip: wrap the parcels tightly; loose parcels let water in and the koba turns sticky instead of firm.

120 minMalagasyDessertsVeganGluten free
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Kohu-kohuSmoked tuna salad

Ambon's fish markets sell ikan asar, tuna smoked over coconut husks, and one of the best things to do with it is kohu-kohu. Flakes of the smoky fish are tossed with crisp shredded long beans, bean sprouts, lightly toasted coconut, raw shallot, chilli and plenty of lime, making a salad that is crunchy, smoky, sour and hot all at once. It's a staple at Maluku family meals, often served next to papeda and fish soup or simply with rice. Chef's tip: mix it no more than an hour before eating; fresh coconut goes limp and sour if it sits around, and the salad loses its crunch.

20 minIndonesianSaladsGluten free
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Kok choyGreen tea

In an Uzbek chaikhana, from Tashkent's shady teahouses to the courtyards of Khiva, the first thing to arrive is a teapot of kok choy, green tea, with small bowls (piala) and a plate of raisins, almonds and sweets. The host performs qaytarish: pours a bowl, tips it back into the pot, and repeats three times to blend the brew, then serves each guest a bowl only half full, a sign they should stay and be topped up. Green tea is drunk with plov to cut the oil, and all through hot summer days. Chef's tip: use water just off the boil (about 90°C) and warm the pot first; boiling water straight from the kettle makes Chinese green tea taste harsh.

8 minUzbekDrinksVeganGluten free
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KokiSteamed black-eyed bean pudding

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.

180 minCameroonianVegetarianVeganGluten free
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KokisCrisp rice flour flowers

Kokis are the lacy, wheel-shaped crisps that every Sri Lankan family fries in the days before Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April, piled onto the Avurudu table beside kavum, kiri bath and banana. A thin batter of rice flour, thick coconut milk, egg and a little turmeric is picked up on a hot brass kokis mould, dipped into the oil, and shaken free as it sets, so each one is light, salty-sweet and shatteringly crunchy. They're a cousin of the rosette cookie but savoury rather than sugary. The usual mistake is dipping the mould right under the batter, so the kokis sticks and won't release; dip it only three-quarters of the way up its sides. Chef's tip: heat the mould in the oil for a full minute before the first dip, and return it to the oil between every kokis; a cold mould won't pick up batter.

45 minSri LankanSnacks & StartersGluten free
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KokodaLime-cured fish in coconut cream

Kokoda (said "ko-kon-da") is Fiji's answer to ceviche, made in villages on Viti Levu and served at Suva's restaurants and family feasts in a half coconut shell: cubes of white fish soaked in lime juice until they turn white, then mixed with fresh coconut cream, onion, tomato, chilli and a little cucumber. Lime "cooks" the look of the fish but does not kill bacteria or parasites like heat does, so this is written as a safer version: use only very fresh fish that has been frozen first (sold as sashimi or sushi grade), keep everything cold and eat it within 2 hours. Raw or lime-cured fish is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system; for them, use the lightly poached option in the steps. The mistake is leaving the fish in lime too long, which turns it chalky; 15–20 minutes is enough. Chef's tip: drain off the lime juice before adding the coconut cream so the dish stays creamy, not sour.

30 minPacific IslanderFishGluten free
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Kol posolaBanana stem stir-fry

Kol posola is the pale inner core of the banana plant, chopped and cooked down with mustard oil, ginger and green chilli until it is soft, juicy and faintly sweet. In Assamese villages, where banana plants grow in every yard, it is cheap everyday food, and it is also a favourite on Bihu tables and in Assamese thalis in Guwahati restaurants. It has a mild, cucumber-like flavour and is prized as a cooling, cleansing food. Chef's tip: as you chop the stem, twirl a finger or a skewer through the slices to catch and pull away the fine fibres; otherwise they stay stringy.

45 minIndianSidesVeganGluten free
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Kolhapuri tambda rassa with pandhra rassaFiery red mutton broth

In Kolhapur, in the far south of Maharashtra, Sunday lunch at a khanaval (a family-run eating house) means mutton cooked one way and served two: a thin, blazing-red tambda rassa and a soothing white pandhra rassa made from the same stock. Diners sip the white one between spoonfuls of the red, with bhakri, rice and raw onion on the side. The heat comes from Kolhapur's own chilli blend and a dark-roasted coconut and onion masala. Chef's tip: roast the dried coconut and the onions until they are properly brown, almost mahogany; that roasting, not extra chilli, is what gives the rassa its deep colour and smoky taste.

135 minIndianMeatGluten freeSpicy
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Kolkata aloo dumBaby potatoes in ginger tomato gravy

In Kolkata, aloo dum is the partner of luchi: hot puffed puris at a Sunday breakfast, or at the sweet shops and roadside stalls that sell 'luchi-alur dom' as a plate. Bengali aloo dum is thicker, sweeter and more gingery than its Kashmiri cousin, with no yogurt or fennel, and the potatoes are fried until their skins crinkle before they go into the gravy. A little sugar balances the chilli, and a final pinch of roasted cumin-coriander powder gives it the smell of a Bengali kitchen. Chef's tip: prick each boiled potato with a fork so the gravy gets inside.

45 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Kolo meeDry egg noodles with pork

Ask anyone from Kuching what they miss most and the answer is usually kolo mee, a bowl that looks almost too simple: curly, springy egg noodles tossed in fragrant shallot oil, a little soy and white pepper, then crowned with savoury minced pork and slices of char siu. There is no thick gravy and no chilli on top; the flavour is clean, porky and aromatic, and the texture is the whole point, each strand bouncy and separate. Stalls often add a dash of red char siu oil for the 'red' version. It is eaten at any hour with a small bowl of clear soup and pickled green chilli on the side. Chef's tip: cook the noodles in small portions in a big pot of fiercely boiling water and shake them really dry; any leftover water dilutes the shallot oil.

40 minMalaysianPasta & Noodles
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KolokithokeftedesCourgette and feta fritters

Kolokithokeftedes are what happens to a glut of courgettes in a Greek summer: grated, squeezed, mixed with feta, spring onion, mint and dill, and fried into crisp little patties. Tavernas serve them as a meze with a bowl of tzatziki, and at home they are a light dinner with salad. Outside they are golden and crunchy; inside they stay soft and herby. Use feta labelled vegetarian. Chef's tip: squeeze the salted courgette until it's almost dry; wet courgette is the usual mistake and makes fritters that spit, soak up oil and fall apart.

40 minGreekSnacks & Starters
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KompotFruit and berry drink

Kompot is the drink of Russian summers: a big pan of water with whatever the garden or market offers, apples, cherries, redcurrants, strawberries, plums, simmered for a few minutes, lightly sweetened and served cold from the fridge. It is what children drink with lunch at school canteens and summer camps from Moscow to Novosibirsk, and dacha cellars are lined with three-litre jars of it bottled for winter. The fruit at the bottom of the glass is everyone's favourite part. Chef's tip: switch off the heat as soon as it boils and let the fruit steep as it cools; long boiling makes it taste stewed and dull.

20 minRussianDrinksVeganGluten free
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Kontomire stewCocoyam leaf stew

Kontomire stew comes from the Ashanti region around Kumasi, where young cocoyam (taro) leaves are picked from farms and cooked down with palm oil, tomatoes and ground agushie (egusi) seeds. It is a thick, dark green, nutty stew eaten with boiled yam, ampesi (boiled plantain) or rice. Many families add smoked fish or salted fish; this version uses boiled eggs instead, which is also common. Spinach is the best stand-in when fresh cocoyam leaves are not available. Chef's tip: cocoyam leaves must be cooked thoroughly; under-cooked ones leave an itchy, scratchy feeling in the throat.

45 minGhanaianCurriesGluten free
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KopiCoffee with condensed milk

Kopi is the strong, thick coffee poured from long-spouted pots at kopitiams all over Singapore. The beans are dark-roasted with sugar and margarine, which gives a bittersweet, almost chocolatey brew, and the classic cup is sweetened with condensed milk. Order it like a local: kopi-o is black with sugar, kopi-c has evaporated milk, and kopi peng is iced. At home, a dark-roast robusta or espresso blend in a cloth sock or cafetière gets close. Chef's tip: pour the coffee back and forth between two jugs a few times; it cools slightly, aerates and gets the smooth, frothy kopitiam texture.

7 minSingaporeanDrinksGluten free
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Koraishutir kochuriGreen pea stuffed puris

Koraishutir kochuri is a winter treat in Kolkata and across West Bengal, made when sweet new-season peas arrive in the markets. Soft maida dough is filled with a smooth, gingery green pea paste, rolled thin and fried until it puffs into a pale golden pillow with a green blush showing through. It's a Sunday breakfast or a festive snack, classically served with aloor dom (Bengali spiced potatoes) or cholar dal and a sweet to finish. Chef's tip: cook the pea paste until it's dry enough to roll into a ball that doesn't stick to your fingers; a wet filling tears through the thin dough as you roll.

60 minIndianBreads & ParathasVegan
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KosambariMoong dal and cucumber salad

No Karnataka festival lunch on a banana leaf is complete without a spoonful of kosambari at the top left corner. This raw salad of soaked split moong dal, cucumber, carrot and fresh coconut, sharpened with lemon and finished with a mustard-seed tempering, is especially made for Ram Navami, when it is offered in temples with panaka (jaggery water), and for Ugadi and weddings. It is crunchy, cool and refreshing, and packed with protein. Chef's tip: add the salt and lemon only just before serving; salted cucumber weeps water and turns the salad soggy within half an hour.

17 minIndianSaladsVeganGluten free
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Kosha mangshoSlow-fried mutton curry

Sunday lunch in a Bengali home in Kolkata often means kosha mangsho: goat on the bone, fried patiently in mustard oil until the masala turns almost mahogany and clings to every piece. The word 'kosha' describes that long stirring over the heat, and it is what separates this dish from an ordinary mutton curry. Families eat it with luchi or plain rice, and it also turns up at Durga Puja feasts and wedding dinners. Chef's tip: buy bone-in goat or mutton shoulder cut into curry pieces; the bones and a little fat give the gravy its body.

135 minIndianMeatGluten free
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KoshariRice, lentil and pasta bowl

Koshari is the dish of Cairo's streets: whole shops, from Abou Tarek downtown to small corner counters, sell nothing else, and office workers queue for a metal bowl of it at lunchtime. Brown lentils and rice are cooked together, then piled with macaroni, vermicelli and chickpeas, drowned in a sharp cumin-tomato sauce and finished with dakka (garlic vinegar), shatta (chilli sauce) and a heap of dark fried onions. It is cheap, filling and naturally vegan, and every Egyptian eats it differently, so put the sauces on the table. Chef's tip: fry the onions first and cook everything else in their oil; that onion-scented oil is what makes koshari taste like the shops' and not like a plate of separate leftovers.

75 minEgyptianRice & GrainsVegan
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Kothimbir vadiCoriander and gram flour fritters

When the winter coriander in the Nashik markets comes in huge, fragrant bunches for a few rupees, Maharashtrian kitchens make kothimbir vadi. A batter that is mostly fresh coriander, held together with gram flour and sesame, is steamed into a cake, cut into squares, then shallow-fried until each piece has a crunchy shell and a soft, herby middle. It's a tea-time snack in Pune homes, a side on the festive thali and a favourite in tiffin boxes because it's good at room temperature. Serve with green chutney or tomato ketchup. Chef's tip: dry the coriander well after washing; wet leaves make the batter loose and the vadi soggy.

55 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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Kotlet schabowyBreaded pork cutlet

Kotlet schabowy is the Polish Sunday dinner, served in homes and milk bars from Warsaw to Wrocław, usually with buttery dill potatoes and mizeria (cucumber in soured cream) or braised cabbage. It is a pork dish: slices of boneless pork loin are pounded thin, dipped in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fried in lard or oil until crisp and golden. Chef's tip: pound the meat between sheets of cling film to an even 5 mm; even thickness means the coating browns just as the meat is done.

35 minPolishMeat
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KotletyPan-fried meat patties

Kotlety are what a Russian grandmother makes on an ordinary Tuesday and what Soviet school canteens served at lunch: soft, oval patties of minced pork and beef, fried golden and finished with a splash of water under a lid. They contain pork. Bread soaked in milk is the secret to their tenderness; the patties stay juicy enough to eat cold the next day in a sandwich. Serve them with mashed potato or buckwheat (grechka), a few pickles and a spoon of the pan juices. The mistake most people make is leaving out the soaked bread or using breadcrumbs instead, which gives dense, dry burgers rather than kotlety. Chef's tip: wet your hands with cold water before shaping each patty, so the soft mince doesn't stick and the surface stays smooth.

45 minRussianMeat
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Swedish meatballsMeatballs with cream gravy

In Sweden köttbullar turn up everywhere from Stockholm school canteens to the Christmas julbord, and most families keep a bag of homemade ones in the freezer for busy weeknights. These are small, soft and lightly spiced with allspice, made from a mix of beef and pork, so this recipe contains pork. They come to the table in a pale, peppery cream gravy with buttery mashed potato, sharp lingonberry jam and quick pressed cucumber. The usual slip is rolling them too big and packing them tight: they should be the size of a walnut and shaped with wet hands, never squeezed. Chef's tip: soak the breadcrumbs in milk for a full five minutes before mixing in the meat; that panade is what keeps them tender.

65 minScandinavianMeat
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Kroeung (Khmer lemongrass paste)Lemongrass and galangal paste

Almost every Khmer kitchen, from Phnom Penh flats to village houses around Siem Reap, starts the day's cooking by pounding kroeung in a heavy stone mortar. This is the yellow kind, coloured with fresh turmeric and built on lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime leaf, garlic and shallot; it goes into amok, samlor korko, noodle curries and stir-fries. Homemade, it smells brighter and more citrusy than any jar, and a batch keeps for a week in the fridge or months in the freezer. Chef's tip: slice the lemongrass into paper-thin rounds across the grain before it goes near the mortar or blender; long fibres never break down and leave the paste stringy.

15 minCambodianBasicsVeganGluten free
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KrupnikBarley soup with smoked pork

Krupnik is a thrifty, warming soup from every Polish grandmother's kitchen, from the villages of Podlasie to city milk bars, and it is the soup people make when someone in the house has a cold. Pearl barley (kasza jęczmienna), carrot, celeriac, parsley root and potato simmer in a broth of smoked pork ribs, which gives it a gentle smoky depth; this version contains pork. Dried mushrooms add an earthy note. Chef's tip: rinse the barley well and add it early; it releases starch that gives krupnik its slightly creamy body.

95 minPolishSoups
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Kuchen de murtaBerry custard tart

Around Lake Llanquihue, in Frutillar and Puerto Varas, German settlers of the 1850s left Chile a love of kuchen, now served with coffee in every café of the south. The Chilean twist is the fruit: murta (Chilean guava), a small, red, perfumed berry that grows wild there in autumn. A buttery base holds the berries in a light custard under a crumble of butter and sugar. Outside Chile, cranberries with a few blueberries give a similar sharp-sweet balance. Chef's tip: blind-bake the base for 10 minutes first; a pre-set base stays crisp under the wet custard.

85 minChileanBaking
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Kueh pie teeCrisp pastry cups with jicama

Pie tee are thin, crunchy fried cups shaped like little top hats, made with a brass mould dipped in batter and plunged into hot oil. Peranakan cooks in Melaka and Penang fill them with finely shredded jicama and carrot braised in garlic, then top them with egg, coriander and a dot of sweet chilli sauce. They are a festive starter for Chinese New Year and weddings. Prawns usually crown each cup; this version uses fine strips of omelette. If you have no mould, shop-bought cups are fine. Chef's tip: heat the mould in the oil before each dip; a cold mould won't hold the batter.

90 minMalaysianSnacks & Starters
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Kuih lapisSteamed layered coconut cake

Kuih lapis is the striped, bouncy cake piled on trays at Malaysian pasar malam (night markets) and laid out for guests at Hari Raya, Deepavali and Chinese New Year open houses. It's built from a thin coconut-milk batter of rice flour and tapioca starch, steamed one layer at a time, so each slice shows nine neat stripes, and children everywhere peel them off one by one. The texture is soft, springy and slightly chewy; the flavour is gentle coconut and pandan. It takes patience rather than skill. Chef's tip: steam the empty tin for 5 minutes before the first layer, so it sets evenly from the bottom.

120 minMalaysianDessertsVeganGluten free
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Kuih seri mukaSticky rice and pandan custard cake

Seri muka is one of the most loved kuih in Melaka and all over Malaysia, sold in neat diamonds at morning markets and Ramadan bazaars. The base is glutinous rice steamed in coconut milk and pressed firm; the top is a silky, green custard of pandan juice, eggs and coconut milk, steamed until it just sets. Each bite is salty-sweet, chewy then smooth. Chef's tip: rough up the top of the hot rice with a fork before pouring on the custard, so the two layers stick together instead of sliding apart.

90 minMalaysianDessertsGluten free
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