Featured recipe

Malakwang

Sour greens in peanut paste

Gulu and the villages of Acholiland wait for the rains, when malakwang, the tart young leaves of the roselle hibiscus, come into the markets in big bundles. Simmered down with onion and tomato and finished with roasted peanut or sesame paste, they make a thick, dark green, sharply sour and richly nutty sauce that tastes of lemon and cream at once. It is eaten with boiled sweet potatoes, cassava or millet bread at a family meal. Look for fresh or frozen roselle leaves at African grocers, or the same leaf sold as gongura or sorrel leaves in Indian shops; spinach with lime juice is a fallback. Chef's tip: let the leaves collapse fully before the paste goes in, otherwise their sourness stays raw and harsh.

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Belgian Chutneys & Dips

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Sago gula MelakaSago pudding with palm sugar

This cool, wobbly pudding is named after the dark palm sugar made from coconut-flower sap around Melaka, and it's on the menu at Peranakan restaurants there and at many a Malaysian dinner party. Little domes of clear sago pearls are chilled until set, then turned out and drowned in salted coconut milk and smoky gula Melaka syrup. The pearls are soft and bouncy, the sauces rich and caramel-dark, and it can all be made the day before. Chef's tip: pour the sago into the water only once it's at a full rolling boil, and stir straight away; tepid water turns it into a gluey lump.

40 min

Malaysian Desserts

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SpeculaasSpiced biscuits

In the weeks before 5 December, Sinterklaas evening (pakjesavond), Dutch kitchens and bakeries fill with the smell of speculaas: thin, crisp, dark-brown biscuits heavy with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom and a little white pepper. Traditionally they are pressed into carved wooden moulds shaped like windmills or Saint Nicholas himself; at home most people roll and cut them, scatter almonds on top and bake them crisp. Make your own spice mix (speculaaskruiden) once and you'll never buy it again. Chef's tip: let the dough rest overnight in the fridge; the spices bloom into the butter and the flavour is twice as deep the next day.

35 min

Dutch Baking

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Yu xiang aubergineSweet and sour garlic aubergine

Yu xiang is a Sichuan flavour named after the way local cooks once seasoned fish, but it contains no fish at all: pickled chilli, garlic, ginger and spring onion balanced with sugar and black vinegar. Aubergine is the dish most Chengdu households make with it, often for a weekday supper, because the soft, creamy flesh drinks up the sauce. Serve it with rice and a plain green vegetable. Chef's tip: salt the aubergine fingers for 15 minutes and squeeze them dry; they then absorb far less oil and turn silky instead of greasy.

30 min

Chinese Vegetarian

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SpasYogurt and wheat soup

Spas is the yogurt soup of the Armenian highlands, eaten hot through the cold winters of Shirak and Gyumri and cold from the fridge in summer, when it tastes like a thick, savoury ayran. The base is tangy matsun (Armenian yogurt) thickened with egg and a little flour so it can boil without curdling, with plump grains of hulled wheat (dzavar) and a swirl of onions fried in butter with dried mint. Families make it for an ill relative, for a quick supper, and as a gentle start to a long feast. Serve with lavash and fresh herbs. Chef's tip: stir in one direction only, without stopping, until the soup comes to the boil; Armenian grandmothers swear by it, and steady stirring really is what keeps the yogurt smooth.

55 min

Armenian Soups

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Torta fritaFried dough discs

In Uruguay, a grey rainy afternoon has one answer: torta frita and mate. These thin discs of dough, pierced with a hole in the middle, are fried until puffed and golden and either sprinkled with sugar or eaten plain, still hot, between sips passed around the circle. In Montevideo you'll smell them from street stalls on wet days; at home they're made with butter or beef fat, here with butter. Chef's tip: the hole in the middle isn't decoration; it lets the centre cook through at the same speed as the edges.

30 min

Paraguayan Snacks & Starters

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Yuca con mojoCassava with garlic sauce

Yuca con mojo is a fixture of the Cuban Nochebuena feast and of everyday family dinners in Matanzas and Miami alike: chunks of cassava boiled until they crack open and turn soft, then drenched in a hot dressing of olive oil, lots of garlic, onion rings and sour orange juice. The yuca soaks up the tangy, garlicky oil like a sponge. Serve it beside moros y cristianos or black beans. Chef's tip: add a splash of cold water to the pot halfway through boiling; Cuban cooks say it 'shocks' the yuca and helps it split open and turn tender.

35 min

Cuban Sides

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SaganakiPan-fried cheese

Saganaki takes its name from the small two-handled pan it's cooked in. A thick slice of hard sheep's-milk cheese, usually kefalograviera or kefalotyri, is dusted with flour and fried until it has a crisp, golden crust and a soft, stretchy middle, then splashed with lemon. In Greek tavernas it arrives sizzling at the start of the meal, to share with bread, salad and a cold drink. Traditional Greek hard cheeses are often made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian alternative such as a vegetarian graviera or halloumi. We dust it with rice flour so it is gluten free. Chef's tip: chill the cheese and get the pan properly hot before it goes in; a lukewarm pan is the common mistake and the cheese melts into a puddle before it crisps.

10 min

Greek Snacks & Starters

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YudofuSimmered tofu hot pot

Yudofu is the simplest dish in Kyoto and one of the most loved. The city's soft water makes fine tofu, and the restaurants around Nanzen-ji temple in the Higashiyama hills have served it to pilgrims for centuries as part of Buddhist vegetarian cooking. A block of tofu is warmed in an earthenware pot over a sheet of kombu and lifted out with a little slotted ladle, then dipped in citrusy soy with spring onion and ginger. It's a winter dish, best eaten slowly at the table on a cold evening. Chef's tip: never let the water boil. The tofu is ready when it trembles and starts to rise; boiling makes it spongy and full of holes.

50 min

Japanese Vegetarian

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Tortang talongAubergine omelette

Tortang talong is a weekday lunch in Filipino homes from Luzon to Visayas, the dish a mother makes when the fridge holds only a few eggs and some long aubergines from the market. The aubergines are charred whole over a gas flame until the skin blackens and the flesh goes smoky and soft, then peeled (the stem left on as a handle), flattened into a fan with a fork, dipped in seasoned egg and fried until golden. The result is a thin, smoky omelette shaped like an aubergine. Filipinos eat it with rice and banana ketchup or a dish of vinegar with garlic. Chef's tip: char the aubergines right on the flame, not in the oven; that smoky taste is the whole dish.

25 min

Filipino Vegetarian

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Safed maasMutton in white gravy

Safed maas is the quiet sibling of fiery laal maas, created in the palace kitchens of Rajasthan's princely states such as Jaipur and Udaipur, where cooks prized dishes that looked as refined as they tasted. There is no turmeric, no red chilli and no browning: the mutton is cooked white with yogurt, a paste of cashews and almonds, cream and white pepper, scented with cardamom and kewra. Its heat is gentle and comes from white pepper and a few green chillies. It's served at weddings and festive dinners with soft rotis or saffron pulao. Chef's tip: keep the heat low from start to finish; the moment the meat or the spices brown, the gravy turns beige and loses that ivory look.

125 min

Indian Meat

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Sadza with beef stewMaize porridge with beef stew

Sadza ne nyama, sadza with meat, is the meal most Zimbabweans would call home: a stiff, smooth porridge of white maize meal shaped into rounds with a wooden spoon, served with a beef stew and a side of greens such as covo or rape. Families in Harare and Bulawayo eat it at lunch or supper, rolling a little sadza into a ball in the right hand and dipping it in the gravy. The mistake is adding all the maize meal at once, which makes lumps; stir in a paste first, then add the rest gradually. Chef's tip: let the porridge "rest and cook" under a lid for a few minutes between additions so the meal tastes cooked, not raw.

130 minSouthern African Meat

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Sabzi qovurmaLamb with fresh herbs

Sabzi qovurma is a home dish across Azerbaijan, made especially in spring when the markets of Ganja and Baku are full of bundles of green herbs. Pieces of lamb are fried until golden, then cooked with masses of chopped coriander, dill, spinach, spring onion and leek, sharpened by dried black lime or sour plums. It is served with plain plov rice or bread and a bowl of yogurt. The trap is adding wet herbs straight to the pan; they stew rather than fry and the dish goes flat and grassy. Chef's tip: dry the herbs well and fry them on their own until they darken before they join the meat.

125 min

Azerbaijani Meat

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Tortellini in brodoTortellini in broth

Christmas Day in Bologna and Modena begins at the kitchen table, with whole families folding hundreds of tortellini no bigger than a fingertip around a filling of pork loin, mortadella, prosciutto and parmigiano. They are served in a clear, golden broth made from capon, or from chicken and beef, simmered so gently it barely moves. The pasta should be thin enough to see the filling through, and the little rings bob in the bowl with a spoonful of parmigiano on top. It is a full afternoon's work, so make the broth and tortellini a day ahead and freeze any extras on a floured tray; on a busy weeknight, 500 g of good bought tortellini simmered in the homemade broth is a perfectly respectable shortcut. A common mistake is letting the broth boil: it turns cloudy and greasy instead of clear. Chef's tip: make the filling the day before and keep it in the fridge; it firms up and is much easier to dot onto the tiny squares.

240 min

Italian Soups

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SpanakorizoSpinach and rice

Spanakorizo is a spring dish from Greek home kitchens, made when the markets fill with spinach and fresh dill. Rice is cooked right in the pot with wilted spinach, spring onions and olive oil until it is soft and a little loose, then squeezed with lemon. It isn't meant to be fluffy like a pilaf: Greek cooks like it moist, almost creamy. It is a full meal with a slab of feta and bread, or a side to fried eggs for those who eat them. Chef's tip: take it off the heat while it still looks a bit wet and let it rest covered for 5 minutes; cooking it until dry is the usual mistake and the rice turns stodgy as it cools.

35 min

Greek Rice & Grains

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YukjeonEgg-battered fried beef

In Gwangju, yukjeon is a restaurant meal in its own right: the server sits by a hot plate at your table and fries slice after slice of egg-coated beef, handing them over while they're still sizzling. Elsewhere in Korea it's more often a festive pancake, made for Chuseok and Lunar New Year along with other jeon. The beef is cut very thin, so it cooks in the time it takes the egg to set. Gwangju places serve it with a sharp salad of finely shredded spring onion and a little salt and sesame oil for dipping. Chef's tip: half-freeze the beef for 40 minutes before slicing; firm meat is easy to cut into slices 2 to 3 mm thick.

25 min

Korean Meat

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SpanakopitaSpinach and feta pie

Spanakopita turns up everywhere in Greece: cut into squares at bakeries for a mid-morning snack, carried to the beach wrapped in paper, and set out on Easter and name-day tables beside the salads. A tray of it is a mass of soft, herby spinach and salty feta under layers of fillo that shatter as you cut. Spring onions and plenty of dill keep it fresh rather than heavy. Serve it warm or at room temperature with a tomato salad and olives; it tastes even better a few hours after baking. Feta is often made with animal rennet, so choose one labelled vegetarian. If you want to make your own pastry, our home-made fillo recipe works here. Chef's tip: squeeze the wilted spinach in a clean tea towel until it stops dripping; leaving the water in is the classic mistake that gives a soggy bottom.

80 min

Greek Baking

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Spaghetti with sukumawikiSpaghetti with collard greens

A Kenyan twist on pasta: spaghetti tossed with sukumawiki (collard greens) cooked down with onions, garlic, fresh tomato, tomato paste, green chillies and lots of coriander. It's quick, green and full of flavour. Serve hot with garlic bread.

40 minAfrican Pasta & Noodles

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Spaghetti alle vongoleSpaghetti with clams

Naples cooks this on Christmas Eve, when the feast is meatless, and all summer long in seaside trattorie along the bay. The clams open in a hot pan of garlicky oil and white wine and release their sea-salty juice, which the half-cooked spaghetti then drinks up as it finishes cooking, so every strand tastes of the shore. Neapolitans keep it in bianco, without tomato, with just a little chilli warmth and a heap of parsley. Most clams in shops are sold already purged of sand; if yours are not, soak them in cold salted water in the fridge for 30 minutes first. Serve with a glass of something cold and bread for the juices. Chef's tip: drain the spaghetti 2 minutes early and finish it in the clam liquor, tossing hard with a little extra oil, so the juices turn into a light, clinging sauce rather than a puddle in the bowl.

30 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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Sabzi poloGreen herb rice

Sabzi polo is the rice of Nowruz, the Persian New Year on the spring equinox, when families across Iran sit down on the first evening to a mound of rice speckled green with dill, parsley, coriander and chives. Fresh green herbs stand for renewal, and the dish is traditionally paired with fish on the New Year table; a vegetarian house serves it with kuku sabzi, the herb omelette, fried eggs or a bowl of yogurt. The rice tastes bright and grassy, with a gentle garlic note and a golden lavash crust underneath. Chef's tip: chop the herbs the day before and spread them on a tray to dry slightly; damp herbs make the rice heavy and clumpy.

75 min

Persian Rice & Grains

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ZaaloukAubergine and tomato salad

Zaalouk is one of the cooked salads that open almost every Moroccan meal, from Fez to Essaouira, set out in small dishes with taktouka and carrot salad and scooped up with bread. Aubergine and tomato are cooked down together with garlic, cumin and paprika until they become a soft, spoonable relish, sharpened at the end with lemon and olive oil. It tastes even better the next day, so many cooks make a big batch. Chef's tip: char the aubergine over a gas flame or under the grill first if you can; the smoky skin flavour gives the best zaalouk.

35 min

Moroccan Salads

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