Featured recipe

Pasta with chickpeas

A simple, filling one-pan sauce of chickpeas, onion, celery and garlic simmered in tomato puree and tossed with pasta. Finished with chopped parsley, it is a good everyday supper.

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Biang biang noodlesHand-pulled belt noodles

Biang biang mian are the wide, belt-like noodles of Xi'an in Shaanxi, named, some say, after the slapping sound the dough makes as it's pulled and banged on the counter. The written character for biang is one of the most complicated in Chinese. Each noodle is as wide as a belt and chewy; the classic topping is chilli flakes, garlic and spring onion, sizzled with smoking hot oil, then splashed with vinegar and soy. Chef's tip: let the oiled dough pieces rest for at least 30 minutes, longer if you can; relaxed gluten stretches long and thin without snapping.

60 min

Chinese Pasta & Noodles

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LohikeittoCreamy salmon soup

Lohikeitto is what Finns cook when they want something warming after a day outside, ladled up in Helsinki lunch cafés and in lakeside summer cottages alike. Chunks of salmon and potato simmer in a light fish stock with leek and allspice, then a little cream turns it pale and gentle and a big handful of dill makes it taste of summer. It takes about forty minutes and is served with dark rye bread and butter. The common mistake is boiling the salmon hard, which turns it dry and stringy; it only needs a few minutes at a bare simmer. Chef's tip: add the salmon last and switch off the heat with the lid on; the fish finishes in the hot soup and stays in juicy flakes.

30 minScandinavian Soups

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Sugar-bean bunny chowBean curry in a bread loaf

Bunny chow was born in Durban, among the city's Indian community, where curry in a hollowed loaf became the takeaway lunch of dockworkers and caddies. Many Durbanites say the first bunnies were vegetarian, filled with sugar beans, and cafés around Grey Street still sell a bean bunny beside the mutton one. A quarter loaf of unsliced white bread is scooped out and filled with a fiery, red Durban curry, with the scooped-out bread (the 'virgin') put back on top for dunking. It is eaten with your hands, with grated carrot and chilli salad on the side. Chef's tip: the curry needs to be thick and saucy, not watery; a runny curry soaks through the loaf before you've finished the first bite.

60 min

South African Fast Food

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Locro de papaPotato and cheese soup

Locro de papa is Quito's comfort soup, eaten on cold afternoons in the Andean highlands where nights drop near freezing. Potatoes are cooked until half of them dissolve into a thick, achiote-tinted broth, then finished with milk and cubes of fresh cheese that soften into strings. Bowls are crowned with avocado slices and served with ají (chilli sauce) on the side. Ecuador uses two potatoes, a floury one to thicken and a waxy one to hold its shape. Chef's tip: add the cheese off the heat; it should soften and go stretchy, not melt into an oily layer.

50 minAndean Soups

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Bhutte ka keesGrated corn cooked in milk

Bhutte ka kees is a monsoon favourite from Indore in Madhya Pradesh, sold at the city's famous night market, Sarafa. Fresh corn is grated and cooked in ghee with mustard seeds and green chilli, then simmered in milk until it turns thick, creamy and gently sweet. A squeeze of lemon, fresh coriander and grated coconut finish it. Eat it hot with a spoon as an evening snack. Chef's tip: grate the corn off the cob on the coarse side of a box grater rather than blending it; you get juicy, starchy pulp that thickens the milk naturally.

25 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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SukumawikiSautéed collard greens

Sukumawiki (collard greens) finely chopped and cooked quickly with cumin, onion, tomato and a little turmeric, chilli and coriander-cumin powder until just tender. Its name means 'push the week', because it's cheap enough to stretch the budget to the end of the week. Serve hot with ugali.

22 minAfrican Sides

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Locro argentinoCorn, bean and meat stew

Locro comes from the Andean northwest, from Salta, Jujuy and Tucumán, and today the whole country eats it on 25 May and 9 July, the two national holidays, when it simmers in huge pots at clubs and church halls. Dried white corn, white beans and squash cook down with beef, pork belly and chorizo into a stew so thick a spoon stands up in it. This is a pork dish. It is topped with quiquirimichi, a red oil of paprika, chilli and spring onion. The classic mistake is not soaking the corn and beans overnight; without it they never soften. Chef's tip: stir often in the last hour, scraping the bottom, as the squash breaks down and the locro catches easily.

240 min

Argentinian Soups

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LobioRed bean stew

Lobio simply means beans, and in Georgia it means this thick, herb-scented stew of red kidney beans, cooked and served in a clay pot (a ketsi or kotani). In Imereti and Racha it is everyday winter food and a mainstay of the Lenten table, eaten with hot mchadi, pickled cabbage or green chillies and a spoon of tkemali. Some of the beans are crushed so the stew turns creamy while the rest stay whole. A common mistake is mashing everything to a purée; crush only about a third. Raw kidney beans must also boil hard for 10 minutes before simmering, or they can make you ill. Chef's tip: stir in the fresh coriander and garlic only at the end, off the heat, so they stay bright and sharp against the soft beans.

95 min

Georgian Curries

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Bhutte ka halwaSweetcorn halwa

In monsoon Indore, when the fields around the city are full of tender maize, sweet shops turn the same corn into halwa: kernels ground coarsely, roasted in ghee until they smell like buttered popcorn, then cooked with milk and sugar until glossy. It is lighter and less cloying than many halwas, with a gentle bite from the corn. Families make it for guests and for small festivals, and it is just as good warm from the pan or at room temperature the next day. Chef's tip: grind the corn in short pulses to a coarse, porridgy texture; a smooth purée turns gluey and sticks.

50 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Sundubu jjigaeSoft tofu stew

All over Korea, small lunch restaurants bring sundubu jjigae to the table still boiling in a black stone pot, with a raw egg on the side to crack in while it bubbles. The stew is built on very soft, unpressed tofu, which breaks into creamy curds in a red, chilli-oil broth. Seafood and pork go in together here, though you can use just one. Have it with a bowl of rice and some kimchi; it's especially welcome on a cold day. Chef's tip: fry the chilli flakes gently in oil with the pork and garlic before adding liquid; this red chilli oil gives the stew its colour and a deep, rounded heat.

25 min

Korean Soups

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LobianiBean-filled bread

Lobiani is a round bread stuffed with spiced mashed kidney beans, and in Georgia it belongs above all to Barbaroba, St Barbara's Day on 17 December, when households across the country bake it for neighbours and guests. In the highland region of Racha it is often made with ham; this is the plain bean version that is also baked through Orthodox Lent, so the dough here is made with water and oil and the whole bread is vegan. The filling is soft and peppery with coriander and blue fenugreek, and the crust is thin and chewy. A common mistake is making the bean filling too wet, which turns the dough soggy and makes it burst: the mash should hold its shape on a spoon. Chef's tip: fry the onion for the filling until properly golden, not just soft; its sweetness is what makes the beans taste of something.

95 min

Georgian Breads & Parathas

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LlapingachosPotato cheese patties

Llapingachos come from the central highlands of Ecuador, especially Ambato and the markets of Riobamba, where women fry them by the dozen on huge round griddles. The patties are mashed potato coloured with achiote, stuffed with cheese and spring onion, and browned until crisp. A full plate adds peanut sauce, a lime-dressed onion and tomato salad, avocado and a fried egg (the market version also includes chorizo, left out here). Chef's tip: chill the shaped patties for 30 minutes; cold patties hold their shape and get a better crust.

80 minAndean Vegetarian

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LlajwaTomato and chilli salsa

No Bolivian table is set without llajwa, the fiery, bright salsa that goes on soups, potatoes, cheese empanadas and anything grilled. In La Paz and Cochabamba it's ground on a batán, a flat grinding stone with a rocking stone on top, which crushes tomatoes and locoto (a fleshy, very hot chilli) into a rough, juicy sauce. The signature herb is quirquiña, with a smell somewhere between coriander and rocket. Chef's tip: no stone? Pound in a mortar or pulse briefly; a blender whips in air and turns llajwa pink and foamy.

10 minAndean Chutneys & Dips

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UnniyappamBanana and rice fritters

Unniyappam are small, round sweet dumplings that Kerala families make for Vishu and Karthika, and they are a well-known temple offering at Guruvayur and Sabarimala. A batter of ground rice, ripe banana and jaggery, studded with ghee-fried coconut bits and sesame, is fried in the round hollows of an unniyappa chatti until crisp and dark brown outside and soft and spongy in the middle. They keep for a couple of days in a tin and are perfect with tea. Chef's tip: let the batter rest for an hour; it softens and puffs a little, giving lighter unniyappam.

50 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Litti chokhaStuffed wheat balls with mashed vegetables

Litti chokha is Bihar's signature meal, cooked on street corners and at village gatherings over smouldering embers. Litti are rustic wheat balls stuffed with sattu (roasted gram flour) sharpened with garlic, ginger, mustard oil and pickle masala; they bake until crusty outside and crumbly inside. Chokha is a smoky mash of fire-roasted aubergine, potato and tomato with raw mustard oil and green chilli. Together they are filling, protein-rich and deeply savoury. Many Biharis dunk hot litti in melted ghee; for a vegan plate, brush them with mustard oil instead. Chef's tip: roast the aubergine and tomatoes right on a gas flame until the skins are black all over; that charring is the whole flavour of chokha.

75 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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SupplìFried rice croquettes

In Rome supplì are bought from pizza-by-the-slice shops and friggitorie and eaten standing up, wrapped in paper, before the pizza arrives. Unlike Sicilian arancini they are oval and the rice is cooked in tomato sauce, so the inside is orange-red; when you bite one in half, the mozzarella stretches into a long 'telephone cord', which is where the nickname al telefono comes from. Roman bars usually add meat ragù; this version keeps it vegetarian with a basil-scented tomato rice. Chef's tip: cook the rice a day ahead and chill it in a thin layer; cold, firm rice shapes neatly and does not split in the oil.

75 min

Italian Snacks & Starters

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LinseneintopfLentil stew

Linseneintopf is the one-pot lentil stew that German families cook on cold weekdays, and in many school and works canteens it's still the Thursday or Saturday lunch. Brown lentils simmer with potatoes, carrots, celeriac and leek until thick and soft; the finishing touch, all over Germany, is a good splash of vinegar at the table, which wakes the whole bowl up. It's usually made with smoked sausage or bacon; here smoked paprika and vegetable stock give the smoky depth instead. Chef's tip: add the vinegar only at the end, because acid added early keeps the lentils hard.

55 min

German Soups

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SuqaarSpiced beef stir-fry

Suqaar is the quick beef dish found everywhere from Mogadishu tea shops to Somali cafés in Minneapolis and London: small cubes of beef or lamb browned with onion, peppers and garlic, seasoned with xawaash, the house spice mix of cumin, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon and turmeric. Somalis eat it for breakfast with canjeero (spongy flatbread) or for lunch with rice or pasta. The mistake is cutting the beef in big chunks, which go chewy; cut it into small 1–2 cm cubes so it cooks fast and stays tender. Chef's tip: add a squeeze of lime and a handful of coriander just before serving.

30 min

Somali Meat

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Lentilles du Puy saladGreen lentil salad

Le Puy-en-Velay, in the volcanic hills of the Auvergne, grows a small, slate-green lentil with its own protected name. Lentilles du Puy hold their shape when cooked and have a peppery, almost mineral taste, which makes them perfect for salad. In French homes and bistros this salad is dressed while warm with a sharp mustard vinaigrette, shallot, carrot and parsley, then eaten as a starter, a packed lunch or a side to a quiche. Chef's tip: dress the lentils while they're still warm so they absorb the vinaigrette; dressing them cold is the common mistake and the flavour just sits on the outside.

30 min

French Salads

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Lentil bobotieCurried lentil bake

Bobotie is the dish Cape Town is proudest of, brought to the Cape by Malay and Indonesian cooks centuries ago and still baked for Sunday lunch in the Bo-Kaap and across the Western Cape. Its flavour sits between sweet, sour and mildly hot: curry spices, apricot jam, fruit chutney and lemon, with a set egg-and-milk custard on top scented with bay leaves. The classic uses beef mince and milk-soaked bread; here brown lentils carry the spices so well that no bread is needed. Serve with yellow rice, chutney and a sliced banana and tomato sambal. Chef's tip: let the lentil filling cook down until thick and almost dry before baking, or the custard sinks into it instead of setting on top.

70 min

South African Vegetarian

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LegimMashed vegetable stew

Legim (from the French légumes) is a Haitian Sunday dish, made in big pots in Port-au-Prince and the countryside and eaten with white rice or diri kole. Aubergine, cabbage, chayote (mirliton), carrots and spinach or watercress are cooked down slowly with epis and tomato paste until soft, then crushed with a pilon or spoon into a thick, rough, savoury mash. It's often cooked with beef or crab; this vegetable version is just as traditional for the days without meat. It tastes deep and green, gently sweet from the carrot and warm from clove and scotch bonnet. Chef's tip: cook it uncovered at the end until the liquid has almost gone and the oil shows at the edges; that's when the flavours concentrate and it stops tasting boiled.

75 min

Haitian Curries

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LefseSoft potato flatbread

In Norway, and among Norwegian-American families in Minnesota and the Dakotas, lefse appears at Christmas in towering stacks wrapped in tea towels. These are soft, almost cloth-thin rounds made from riced potato and a little flour, cooked dry on a hot griddle until freckled with brown spots. The classic way to eat them in Telemark and Hallingdal is spread with butter, sprinkled with sugar and sometimes cinnamon, then rolled up or folded into triangles; savoury rolls with cheese are just as common. Home cooks use a grooved rolling pin and a long wooden stick to turn them, but a floured ordinary pin and a wide spatula do the job. Chef's tip: rice the potatoes while hot and let the mash cool completely, even overnight; warm potato soaks up too much flour and the lefse go tough.

80 minScandinavian Breads & Parathas

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LecsóPepper and tomato stew

Lecsó is what Hungarian kitchens cook in late August, when markets in Szeged and Kecskemét are heaped with pale yellow wax peppers and over-ripe tomatoes. It is a soft, sweet-sour stew of peppers and tomato cooked down in paprika-scented oil; many families add smoked sausage or scramble eggs into it, but this version keeps it vegan and lets the peppers carry the flavour. Eat it hot with crusty bread or rice, or cold the next day, and jars of it are put up for winter. Chef's tip: add the tomatoes only once the peppers have softened; if they go in together, the tomato juice stews the peppers instead of letting them sweeten in the oil.

40 min

Hungarian Vegetarian

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Lechon kawaliCrispy fried pork belly

Lechon kawali is pork belly, boiled with garlic and bay, dried, then fried in a wok (kawali) until the rind blisters into crackling. It is the everyday cousin of the whole roast pig: Manila carinderias sell it by the slice at lunchtime, and home cooks make it for weekend lunches all over Luzon. Each piece should be shatteringly crisp on top and juicy underneath. Serve it chopped with rice and a sharp garlic-vinegar dip, or with the sweet liver sauce sold in jars. Chef's tip: after boiling, leave the belly uncovered in the fridge overnight; a bone-dry rind puffs up and spits far less in the oil.

110 min

Filipino Meat

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Lechón asadoRoast pork with mojo

This is a pork dish. In Cuba a whole pig is roasted for Nochebuena, Christmas Eve, and for big family parties, often in a pit in the yard; at home in Miami or Havana the same flavour comes from a pork shoulder soaked overnight in mojo, the sour-orange, garlic and oregano marinade. The meat roasts slowly until it pulls apart, and the skin turns to crackling. Serve it with moros y cristianos, yuca con mojo and a squeeze of lime. A common mistake is leaving the shoulder in the marinade on the kitchen counter: it must always marinate in the fridge. Chef's tip: if you can't find sour (Seville) oranges, mix two parts orange juice with one part lime juice for the same sharp edge.

330 min

Cuban Meat

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Leche flanCaramel custard

Leche flan is on the table for every Filipino Noche Buena on Christmas Eve, at fiestas and at birthdays, steamed in the oval aluminium tins called llaneras and turned out shining under a dark caramel. Unlike Spanish flan or the Brazilian pudim, it is made with egg yolks only, condensed milk and evaporated milk, so it is much denser and smoother, almost like a firm custard fudge, and a little goes a long way. A grating of calamansi or lime zest cuts the richness, and many cooks steam rather than bake it. The leftover whites go into meringue biscuits. Chef's tip: strain the custard twice and stir, don't whisk; air bubbles become holes in the finished flan.

60 min

Filipino Desserts

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Surti lochoSteamed chana dal batter snack

Locho is a breakfast street snack from Surat in Gujarat. The story goes that a batch of khaman went wrong and came out soft and mushy, and people liked it so much it became a dish of its own; 'locho' means a muddle. A fermented batter of chana dal is steamed until just set and scooped out in soft, spoonable heaps, then drizzled with oil and showered with a spicy locho masala, raw onion, coriander and sev. It's eaten hot with green chutney and a sweet-sour tamarind sauce. Chef's tip: steam it in a shallow layer and take it off as soon as a knife comes out sticky but not wet; locho should be just set and wobbly, and over-steamed it turns into a dull khaman.

50 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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Surti ponk vadaGreen sorghum fritters

Every December and January, farms around Surat roast bundles of young green jowar heads over embers and thresh out ponk, soft, sweet, pale-green grains that last only a few weeks. Surtis turn the trip into a picnic, eating ponk by the handful with lemon-pepper sev and garlic chutney, then frying the leftovers into these crunchy vada. The grains are crushed coarsely with chilli and ginger, bound with a little gram and rice flour, and fried until the outside is lacy and crisp while the inside stays tender and grassy-sweet. Look for frozen ponk in Gujarati grocers outside the season. Chef's tip: crush the ponk only roughly; whole grains popping through the crust is what makes these vada special.

40 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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Bhuna khichuriFried rice and moong dal

In Dhaka, the first heavy monsoon downpour sends people home craving bhuna khichuri, and Eid mornings in old Dhaka often start with a pot of it too. Unlike the loose, porridge-like khichdi of north India, the Bangladeshi bhuna version is dry and fluffy: dry-roasted moong dal and short-grain rice are fried in ghee with onions and whole spices until fragrant, then cooked with just enough water so the grains stay separate. Serve it hot with begun bhaja, a bhorta or two and a spoon of pickle. Chef's tip: roast the moong dal in a dry pan until it smells like toasted nuts before you wash it; that roasted note is what makes this khichuri taste of Bangladesh.

55 min

Bangladeshi Rice & Grains

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Suspiro limeñaCaramel custard with port meringue

Suspiro a la limeña, 'the sigh of a Lima woman', is the city's grand dessert from colonial times, said to have been named by the poet José Gálvez for its sweetness. A thick manjar blanco, milk slowly cooked down to a silky caramel cream and enriched with egg yolks, is topped with a cloud of glossy Italian meringue flavoured with port and dusted with cinnamon. It is very sweet and very rich, so serve it in small glasses. Make it in the morning for the evening. Chef's tip: the manjar is ready when a spoon dragged across the bottom of the pan leaves a clear path for a moment; undercooked, it stays runny and the meringue sinks into it.

70 min

Peruvian Desserts

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KaftaGrilled minced meat skewers

Kafta is the everyday grilled mince of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine: a Sunday barbecue staple in the Lebanese mountains and a quick dinner in city flats, cooked on skewers, shaped into fingers for the pan, or baked in a tray with potatoes and tomato. Lamb and beef are mixed with plenty of onion and parsley and warmed with baharat (seven spice). Wrap them in bread with tomato, onion and a smear of hummus or tahini sauce. Chef's tip: grate the onion and squeeze it hard in a clean cloth; dry onion keeps the kafta firm on the skewer and stops it steaming.

27 min

Lebanese Meat

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Łazanki with cabbage and mushroomsSquare noodles with cabbage and mushrooms

Łazanki are short, square egg noodles, and in the Podhale highlands and around Kraków they are tossed with soft-fried white cabbage, a little sauerkraut and mushrooms for a cheap weekday supper, especially in autumn when the cabbage is new. Most cooks add smoked bacon; this version leaves it out and gets its depth from dried ceps, browned fresh mushrooms and plenty of black pepper and marjoram. It is soft, savoury and slightly sour. Serve it on its own with a glass of buttermilk or kefir, as people do in the mountains. Chef's tip: let the cabbage catch and brown in places before you add the noodles; that browning is the flavour bacon would otherwise give.

45 min

Polish Pasta & Noodles

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Suwon galbiGrilled beef short ribs

Suwon, south of Seoul in Gyeonggi province, once had one of the largest cattle markets in Korea, and its galbi houses grew up around that trade. The city's style is unusual: the long, butterflied short ribs are seasoned mainly with salt, garlic and sesame oil rather than the soy marinade most people know. Families and office groups grill them at the table over charcoal, snip them into pieces with scissors and wrap each bite in lettuce with ssamjang and raw garlic. At home a ridged griddle pan or a barbecue does the job well. Chef's tip: score the opened-out meat lightly in a criss-cross pattern on both sides, so the salt seasoning soaks in and the ribbon of meat stays flat on the grill.

90 min

Korean Meat

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SuyaSpiced beef skewers

Suya comes from the Hausa north, from Kano and Kaduna, but now every Nigerian city has a mai suya grilling beef over charcoal by the roadside once the sun goes down. Thin slices of beef are threaded onto skewers, rubbed with yaji, a fiery mix of roasted peanut powder, chilli, ginger and stock spices, and grilled until charred at the edges. It comes wrapped in newspaper with sliced raw onion, tomato and extra yaji for dipping. The common mistake is cutting the beef thick; it needs to be thin enough to see light through, so it cooks fast and stays tender. Chef's tip: put the beef in the freezer for 30 minutes first, and it will slice wafer thin with ease.

45 min

Nigerian Meat

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LaugenbrezelSoft pretzels

The Brezel is the emblem of German bakeries in Bavaria and Swabia: deep chestnut-brown and shiny outside, soft and chewy inside, with a fat 'belly' and thin crisp arms, studded with coarse salt. In Munich it's eaten with sweet mustard and Obatzda in beer gardens; in Stuttgart it's split and buttered for breakfast. Bakeries dip them in a lye solution, which is too caustic for most home kitchens; a bath of baked baking soda gets close in colour and flavour and is safe to handle. Chef's tip: chill the shaped pretzels uncovered for 30 minutes before the bath; a slightly dry skin holds its shape and turns darker and shinier.

120 min

German Baking

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Lasary voatabiaTomato and spring onion relish

Lasary voatabia is the fresh tomato relish served beside the rice at almost every Malagasy meal, from Antananarivo's highland homes to the coast. Tomatoes and spring onion are chopped very small, sharpened with lime or vinegar and a little sakay (chilli), and spooned onto the rice to wake up broths like romazava. It is juicier and finer than a salad. Chef's tip: chop the tomatoes very small, almost to a pulp at the edges; the juice is meant to soak into the rice.

10 min

Malagasy Chutneys & Dips

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Lasary legiomaTurmeric pickled vegetables

Lasary legioma, vegetable lasary, is a tangy, turmeric-yellow pickle of carrot, green beans and cabbage that sits on the table in Malagasy homes and hotelys (small canteens) to brighten rice and plain dishes. It is close to the achards of Réunion and Mauritius and is made in large jars to last the week. Chef's tip: blanch the vegetables for only a minute and cool them fast; they should stay crunchy, not cooked.

33 min

Malagasy Chutneys & Dips

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ShchiFresh cabbage soup

Shchi is the oldest soup in Russian cooking, the one the proverb pairs with porridge: 'shchi da kasha, pishcha nasha' (shchi and kasha, that's our food). In villages from Vologda to Ryazan it was left to mellow in the warmth of the big masonry stove, and in summer and early autumn it is made with fresh young cabbage rather than the sour winter version. Unlike Ukrainian kapusniak there is no sauerkraut or millet here: just sweet cabbage, root vegetables, tomato, bay and dill, with a cold spoon of smetana stirred into each bowl. Chef's tip: shchi tastes better the next day, so make it a day ahead and reheat gently.

55 min

Russian Soups

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Svíčková na smetaněBeef in creamy vegetable sauce

Svíčková is the dish Czech families make for weddings, name days and big Sunday lunches, and in Prague pubs it appears on the menu as the proud centre of the week. Beef is marinated for a day or two with root vegetables and spices, slow-roasted, and the vegetables are then blended into a smooth, sweet-sour cream sauce. It is always served the same way: sliced beef, a pool of sauce, bread dumplings, a spoonful of cranberry sauce, a twist of whipped cream and a slice of lemon. Many cooks under-season the sauce; it should taste clearly of vinegar, sugar and allspice, not just cream. The optional smoked bacon that flavours the vegetables is pork; leave it out and the sauce is still rich. Chef's tip: blend the sauce until completely velvety, then push it through a sieve; that silky finish is what makes svíčková special.

220 min

Czech Meat

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Lasaniya batakaGarlic potatoes

Lasaniya bataka is a dhaba favourite along the highways of Kathiawad, where it lands on the table next to bajra rotla, a lump of white butter, raw onion and a glass of chaas. Baby potatoes are boiled, lightly fried, then coated in a thick paste of pounded garlic and red chilli that has been cooked down until it smells sweet rather than sharp. It is hot, garlicky and a little tangy, the kind of side dish that turns plain flatbread into a meal. Make it for a winter lunch with Kathiawadi kadhi and khichdi. Chef's tip: pound the garlic and chilli in a mortar instead of blending; a slightly coarse paste clings to the potatoes and gives you little bursts of garlic.

40 min

Indian Sides

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Larb gaiSpicy chicken salad

Out in the rice-farming provinces of Isan, a plate of larb turns up at almost every family meal and roadside som tam shack, always with a basket of sticky rice and a pile of raw greens. Warm minced chicken is tossed with fish sauce, plenty of lime, dried chilli and a fistful of mint, then finished with nutty, crunchy toasted rice powder. The result is bright, sour, salty and hot all at once, with a pleasing coarse texture. Wrap spoonfuls in lettuce, or eat it with sticky rice, cucumber and long beans. Chef's tip: toast your own rice powder; shop-bought tastes flat, and freshly ground grains smell like popcorn.

25 min

Thai Salads

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LángosFried bread with garlic and cheese

Lángos is the deep-fried flatbread of Hungarian beaches and markets: it is eaten in swimsuits on the shore of Lake Balaton, at Budapest's Great Market Hall and at every summer fair. The dough is soft and yeasted, often enriched with mashed potato, and it fries into a puffy disc that is crisp at the edges and chewy in the middle. The classic topping is garlic water brushed on hot, then sour cream and a snowfall of grated cheese. Chef's tip: stretch the dough thinner in the centre than at the rim; the edge puffs into a crisp crust while the middle stays soft enough to hold the toppings. Choose a cheese made with vegetarian rennet (many supermarket Cheddars and Edams are).

60 min

Hungarian Fast Food

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SyrnykyCurd cheese pancakes

Syrnyky are the Sunday breakfast of Ukrainian childhoods: small, thick pancakes made almost entirely of tvorih, the dry farmer's cheese sold at every market in Odesa and Lviv, held together with an egg and a little flour and fried until golden. Inside they should be soft and creamy, like a baked cheesecake, outside lightly crisp. They are served with sour cream and cherry jam, or honey. Tvorih is made with lactic culture rather than rennet, so it suits vegetarians; dry cottage cheese pressed through a sieve or quark also works. Chef's tip: if your cheese is wet, wrap it in a cloth and press it under a weight for an hour; common mistake is adding extra flour to rescue a wet mixture, which makes syrnyky dense and rubbery.

30 min

Ukrainian Breakfast & Brunch

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SzarlotkaApple cake

Szarlotka is the apple cake every Polish café and grandmother has a version of, from Zakopane mountain inns to the cake counters of Poznań. In the classic home style, a sweet, crumbly shortcrust (kruche ciasto) is pressed into a tray, filled with a thick layer of tart apples cooked briefly with cinnamon, and topped with the rest of the pastry grated over like crumble. It is served in squares, dusted with icing sugar, often warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Sharp autumn apples such as Szara Reneta or Bramley give the right sour-sweet balance. Chef's tip: grate the frozen top layer of dough straight onto the apples; it bakes into a light, sandy crust instead of a heavy lid.

85 min

Polish Baking

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Lamprais (home version)Rice parcel with meat curry

Lamprais came to Sri Lanka with the Dutch Burgher community, and Colombo's Burgher families still make it for Sunday lunch, christenings and Christmas. Each banana-leaf parcel holds rice cooked in rich stock, a mixed meat curry, little fried meatballs called frikkadels, a hard-boiled egg, aubergine moju and seeni sambol, all baked together until the leaf perfumes everything. The traditional version uses three meats including pork; this home version keeps it to chicken and beef so it is manageable in one day, and the steps still take time. Chef's tip: make the curry and frikkadels the day before; on lamprais day you only cook the rice and wrap.

210 min

Sri Lankan Rice & Grains

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LamingtonsChocolate coconut sponge squares

Lamingtons are said to be named after Lord Lamington, Governor of Queensland at the turn of the twentieth century, and they're the cake of Australian school fundraisers, Country Women's Association stalls and morning tea at work; there's even a National Lamington Day on 21 July. Cubes of light butter sponge are dunked in a thin, glossy chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated coconut, so each one has a soft, chocolate-soaked outside and a fluffy middle. Some bakeries split them and fill them with jam and cream. Chef's tip: bake the sponge a day ahead, or freeze the cut squares for an hour; fresh sponge crumbles in the icing, firm sponge dips cleanly.

75 min

Australian Baking

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Lal sahRed tea

In Assam, the home of half of India's tea, the everyday cup is lal sah, 'red tea': strong CTC or orthodox Assam leaf brewed briefly, poured off, sweetened and drunk black. It is what tea-garden workers, Guwahati office-goers and grandmothers drink from morning till evening, often with a slice of lemon, a crushed piece of ginger or, in upper Assam, a bay leaf. Its colour is a deep, clear red and its taste is malty and brisk, never stewed. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat before adding the leaves; boiling them makes the tea harsh and cloudy.

7 min

Indian Drinks

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LaksamRice noodles in coconut fish gravy

Kota Bharu's morning market has its own noodle: laksam, thick sheets of steamed rice batter rolled up like little carpets and sliced into wheels. They are drowned in a pale, creamy gravy of pounded fish and coconut milk, then heaped with raw herbs and vegetables (ulam): cucumber, long beans, bean sprouts, daun kesum and torch ginger flower, with a spoonful of fiery chilli and budu, the region's fermented anchovy sauce. The result is soft and slippery, rich and cool at the same time. Locals eat it for breakfast or as a mid-morning snack. Chef's tip: pound the cooked fish with the shallots instead of blending it smooth; the gravy should feel faintly textured, like a thin porridge.

60 min

Malaysian Pasta & Noodles

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LaingTaro leaves in coconut milk

Laing is the pride of Bicol, the chilli-loving region at the southern tip of Luzon. Dried taro leaves are simmered for close to an hour in coconut milk with ginger, lemongrass and siling labuyo until they collapse into a dark, creamy, spicy mass, then finished with thick coconut cream. Bicolano cooks usually add pork or dried fish and shrimp paste; this vegetarian version leans on extra ginger and a little salt and stays rich. Eat it with plain rice, often as a Friday or Lenten dish. Chef's tip: lay the leaves on top of the coconut milk and don't stir until they have soaked it up; stirring raw taro leaves early is said to leave an itchy taste.

70 min

Filipino Vegetarian

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Lahpet thokePickled tea leaf salad

Lahpet thoke is how Myanmar welcomes a guest: a lacquered tray of pickled tea leaves surrounded by fried beans, peanuts, sesame and garlic, offered after meals, at weddings and at monk feasts from Mandalay to Yangon. Mixed into a salad with cabbage, tomato, chilli and lime, it becomes the country's most famous dish: bitter, sour, salty and crunchy at once, with a gentle caffeine lift. Ready-made lahpet sometimes contains fish sauce and the crunchy mix often has dried shrimp, so this version quick-pickles loose green tea at home. Chef's tip: soak the tea in several changes of hot water and squeeze it hard each time; that's what tames the bitterness.

25 min

Burmese Salads

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TacacáHot tucupi broth with shrimp

Around four in the afternoon in Belém, capital of Pará, the tacacazeiras open their street stalls and people queue for tacacá, served scalding hot in a cuia, a bowl made from a dried gourd. The broth is tucupi, the sour yellow juice of wild manioc, with a spoonful of tapioca gum, dried shrimp and jambu, an Amazon herb whose leaves make your lips and tongue tingle and go pleasantly numb. You drink the broth straight from the bowl and pick out the rest. Tucupi is sold cooked and bottled (or frozen) in Brazilian shops; it must be properly boiled before eating, which is explained in the steps. Chef's tip: soak and briefly boil the dried shrimp before they go in; straight from the bag they make the broth far too salty.

60 min

Brazilian Soups

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TacachoMashed roasted green plantain balls

Tacacho is the breakfast of the Peruvian Amazon, from Tarapoto to Iquitos: green plantains roasted over coals, mashed with fat and salt and shaped into balls. There it comes with cecina (smoked pork) and is mashed with lard and crackling; this vegan tacacho uses good oil and a pinch of smoked paprika for the same savoury, smoky depth. The balls are dense, chewy and starchy, crisp at the edges where the plantain charred, and they are eaten hot with a fiery chilli sauce or alongside stews. Use plantains that are fully green and firm. Chef's tip: mash the plantains while they are still very hot; as green plantain cools its starch sets and it won't bind into a smooth ball.

35 min

Peruvian Sides

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Lahori charghaSteamed and fried spiced chicken

Chargha is a Lahore speciality, sold from the busy food streets of Lakshmi Chowk and the old city, where whole birds are coated in a red, tangy masala, steamed in big pots and then dropped into hot oil to order. It is the centrepiece of wedding dinners and Saturday-night family outings, and makes an impressive home dinner for guests. Steaming keeps the meat moist and cooked through before frying gives it a crisp, spicy skin. Serve it with naan, raita, salad and a squeeze of lime. Chef's tip: slash the chicken deeply to the bone so the masala and steam reach the thickest parts.

90 min

Pakistani Chicken

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Bhetki paturiFish steamed in banana leaf

Paturi means 'wrapped in a leaf', and in Bengal the favourite fish for it is bhetki, the meaty barramundi of the Sundarbans estuaries. Fillets are coated in a sharp paste of mustard, coconut and green chilli, tied up in banana leaf and steamed or cooked on a griddle, so they come out moist and fragrant. It is a dish for celebration lunches in Kolkata and is unwrapped at the table over hot rice. Chef's tip: no banana leaves? Use baking paper inside foil; you lose a little aroma but none of the texture.

55 min

Indian Fish

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Tacu tacuPan-fried beans and rice cake

Tacu tacu was born in the Afro-Peruvian kitchens of Lima, as a thrifty way to turn yesterday's beans and rice into something new; today it appears on the menus of smart criollo restaurants too. Mashed canario beans and rice are fried with garlic, onion and ají amarillo, then shaped in the pan into a long, crisp-edged cake, soft inside and golden outside. It is a hearty lunch for two with a sharp salsa criolla of onion and lime, and often a fried ripe plantain on the side. Canario beans are pale yellow and creamy; pinto or cannellini beans work well. Chef's tip: use cold, day-old rice and beans; warm, freshly cooked ones are too soft to hold their shape and the tacu tacu falls apart.

25 min

Peruvian Rice & Grains

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WatalappanJaggery and coconut custard

Watalappan came to Sri Lanka with the island's Malay and Muslim communities, and no Eid table in Colombo, Beruwala or Kandy is complete without it; it now turns up at weddings and birthdays across every community. Thick coconut milk and eggs are sweetened with kithul jaggery, the dark palm sugar from the fishtail palm, and spiced with cardamom, nutmeg and a little clove, then steamed until it sets into a wobbly, honeycombed custard the colour of toffee. Cashews scattered on top add crunch. Dark muscovado sugar works if you can't find kithul jaggery. The common mistake is steaming it on a fierce boil, which makes it full of large holes and watery; a steady, gentle simmer gives a smooth set with the fine honeycomb that's prized. Chef's tip: strain the mixture through a sieve before steaming to remove any stringy egg and jaggery grit.

60 min

Sri Lankan Desserts

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LahmacunThin spiced meat flatbread

Lahmacun belongs to south-east Turkey, especially Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa, where bakeries slide dozens at a time into wood-fired ovens and people eat them on the street at any hour, often with a cold ayran. The dough is rolled almost see-through and spread with a raw paste of minced lamb, onion, peppers, tomato and herbs that cooks in minutes in fierce heat. To eat, squeeze lemon over, add a handful of parsley and onion, roll it up and fold. Chef's tip: blitz the topping vegetables to a fine paste and squeeze out the excess juice, so the meat spreads in a thin, even layer that bakes crisp rather than soggy.

90 min

Turkish Pizza

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Tagliatelle al ragùTagliatelle with meat sauce

Ask for spaghetti bolognese in Bologna and you will get a polite smile: at home the ragù goes on wide ribbons of fresh egg tagliatelle, or into lasagne, never on thin spaghetti. It is a Sunday-lunch sauce, made with beef and pork mince, a little pancetta, a soffritto of onion, carrot and celery, white wine, milk and only a spoonful or two of tomato, then left to murmur for three hours until it turns deep, savoury and almost creamy. Freshly made tagliatelle are traditional, but good bought fresh or dried egg tagliatelle are absolutely fine. Grated parmigiano goes on at the table, and the ragù keeps for three days in the fridge or three months in the freezer. Chef's tip: make the ragù a day ahead; it thickens and tastes rounder after a night in the fridge, and reheating it gently with a splash of water brings it back to life.

210 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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BorhaniSpiced mint yogurt drink

At a Bangladeshi wedding in Dhaka, the moment the kacchi biryani comes out, so do glasses of pale green borhani. It's a thin, salty-spicy yoghurt drink blended with mint, coriander, green chilli, black salt and a whisper of ground mustard, made to cut through a rich meal and settle the stomach. Pour it alongside any spiced rice dish, including a vegetable biryani or bhuna khichuri. Chef's tip: the ground mustard seed is the signature; toast it lightly first and grind it fine, or the drink turns bitter.

10 min

Bangladeshi Drinks

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Bhatt ki churkaniBlack soybean curry

Black soybeans, called bhatt, grow on the slopes around Almora and Pithoragarh, and churkani is the everyday Kumaoni way of eating them: roasted in a dry iron pan until they crack, then simmered with garlic, ginger and a little rice flour into a thick, nearly black gravy. It's the kind of food that keeps people warm through a hill winter, eaten with steamed rice, a spoonful of ghee and a sharp radish raita. The roasting gives a nutty, almost smoky taste you won't get from boiling the beans. Chef's tip: cook it in an iron kadhai if you have one; the metal reacts with the beans and gives churkani its traditional dark colour.

75 min

Indian Curries

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Ladakhi skyuWheat dough and root vegetable stew

Skyu is what Ladakhi families in Leh and the villages along the Indus cook when the passes close and fresh vegetables run short: a thick stew of turnip, potato and carrot with little cups of wheat dough pressed with the thumb, a bit like orecchiette. It is filling, gently peppery and made in a single pot on the kitchen stove that also heats the house. Some homes finish it with a splash of milk or a crumble of dried cheese; this version keeps it plant-based and lets the vegetables flavour the broth. Chef's tip: press each piece of dough thin enough to see the thumbprint clearly; thick pieces stay doughy in the middle.

60 min

Indian Soups

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LabraMixed vegetable curry

Labra is the vegetable dish of Durga Puja bhog: in community pandals across Bengal it is ladled out beside khichuri and a sweet tomato chutney to hundreds of people sitting in rows. It is a loose jumble of pumpkin, potato, aubergine, radish, sweet potato, raw banana and spinach stalks, cooked with panch phoron and ginger until some pieces melt and others hold. No onion or garlic goes in, because it is temple food. Chef's tip: add the vegetables in order of hardness, so the pumpkin goes soft and sweet while the radish and banana keep their shape.

50 min

Indian Curries

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Labneh with za'atarStrained yogurt with za'atar

Labneh is the thick, tangy strained yogurt that Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian families spread on a plate every morning, swirl with olive oil and scatter with za'atar, the wild-thyme, sumac and toasted sesame mix of the Levant. It sits beside olives, cucumber, tomato and warm khubz at breakfast in Beirut and on the mezze table at night, and the firmer version is rolled into small balls and kept in jars of olive oil for weeks. Here salted yogurt hangs for a full day until it is as thick as cream cheese, then goes out two ways: spread in a dish, and rolled into balls. A common mistake is using low-fat or set yogurt with gelatine; it gives a thin, chalky labneh, so choose full-fat plain yogurt with only milk and cultures. Chef's tip: stir the salt in before straining, not after, because it draws out more whey and seasons the yogurt all the way through.

15 min

Lebanese Chutneys & Dips

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LablabiChickpea soup with bread

Lablabi is the working breakfast of Tunis, served from steaming cauldrons in tiny shops near the medina and the markets from dawn, and eaten all over Tunisia on cold winter mornings. Torn day-old bread goes into the bowl first, then hot chickpeas and their garlicky broth, and everyone dresses their own with harissa, cumin, olive oil, lemon and capers; many add a soft-poached egg that is broken through the bread. Chef's tip: let the bread soak for a minute before you stir in the harissa, so it turns soft and spoonable but not mushy.

95 min

Tunisian Soups

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Tahu gejrotFried tofu in sweet-sour sauce

Tahu gejrot is street food from Cirebon on the north coast of West Java, where vendors carry their kit on a shoulder pole and serve it in little clay plates called cobek. Hollow fried tofu puffs are snipped into pieces and drenched in a runny palm sugar and tamarind sauce, poured over freshly crushed garlic, shallot and bird's eye chilli. It's a mid-afternoon snack: sweet, sour, garlicky and as hot as you can take it, with the puffy tofu soaking up every drop. Chef's tip: crush the garlic, shallot and chilli raw in the serving bowl and pour the sauce over while it's still warm, so the aromatics bloom without losing their bite.

20 min

Indonesian Snacks & Starters

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Tahu telurTofu and egg omelette

Tahu telur is a night-market favourite in Surabaya, East Java: cubes of tofu are stirred into beaten egg and fried in a small wok so the omelette rises into a thick, crisp-edged tower. It is topped with bean sprouts, cucumber and a dark sauce of peanuts and sweet soy. Sellers in Surabaya stir shrimp paste (petis) into the sauce; this vegetarian version uses a little extra garlic and kecap manis instead. Eat with rice or lontong for a filling supper. Chef's tip: use a small, deep pan so the egg piles up around the tofu instead of spreading thin.

25 min

Indonesian Vegetarian

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Laal maasFiery red mutton curry

Laal maas grew out of the Rajput hunting tradition in the desert country around Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, where game was cooked with plenty of garlic and red chillies to carry it. Today it's made with goat or lamb and is the dish Rajasthanis cook for a winter feast, served with bajra roti or plain rice and a bowl of yogurt to cool things down. The fierce colour comes from Mathania chillies, grown near Jodhpur, which are deep red, aromatic and properly hot. Some cooks finish it with a burning coal set in the pot to give it a smoky edge, an optional step included here. Chef's tip: soak and grind the dried chillies to a paste instead of using chilli powder; it gives the deep red colour and a rounder heat that doesn't scorch.

140 min

Indian Meat

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La Paz batchoyPork noodle soup

La Paz batchoy was born in the market of La Paz, a district of Iloilo City on Panay, where stalls ladle it out from early morning to late at night. It is a pork noodle soup through and through: fresh egg noodles (miki) in a deep pork-bone broth seasoned with a little shrimp paste, topped with sliced pork, liver, crushed pork crackling (chicharrón) and lots of fried garlic. Locals often crack a raw egg into the bowl and ask for extra broth. It is a warming, savoury bowl for rainy afternoons. Chef's tip: make the broth the day before and chill it; the fat sets on top so you can lift most of it off and fry the garlic in it.

180 min

Filipino Soups

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La bandera dominicanaRice, beans and chicken plate

Across the Dominican Republic, from Santo Domingo office canteens to family kitchens in Santiago, the midday meal is la bandera, named after the flag: white rice, red beans stewed with squash, and braised chicken. It is eaten almost every weekday, often with a green salad and fried plantain. Dominican cooks start the chicken by caramelising sugar in the oil, which gives the sauce its deep brown colour, and they prize the concón, the crisp layer of rice at the bottom of the pot. The mistake to avoid is letting the sugar go past dark amber; burnt sugar makes the whole stew bitter. Chef's tip: marinate the chicken with lime, garlic and oregano the night before; it takes on far more flavour than a quick 30 minutes.

105 min

Puerto Rican Chicken

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Kyrgyz shorpoLamb and vegetable broth

Shorpo is the soup that keeps Kyrgyz herders warm in the summer pastures around Issyk-Kul and in yurts high in the Tian Shan: big pieces of lamb on the bone simmered slowly with whole potatoes, carrots and onion until the broth is clear and golden. The meat and vegetables are often served on a plate and the broth in bowls, with fresh herbs and bread torn into it. It is simple, so the quality of the lamb matters. Letting it boil hard is the usual mistake; a rolling boil makes the broth cloudy and the meat stringy. Chef's tip: start the lamb in cold water and skim patiently for the first 15 minutes.

145 min

Kazakh Soups

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Kyoto takiawaseSimmered vegetables

Obanzai is what Kyoto calls its everyday home cooking: thrifty, seasonal side dishes that families keep in the fridge and that small restaurants line up in bowls along the counter. Takiawase, 'simmered together', is one of its finest. Each vegetable is cooked separately in a pale, delicate broth, so the kabocha stays orange, the daikon turns translucent and the carrot keeps its colour, then they are arranged side by side in one dish. Kyoto cooks season with light-coloured usukuchi soy, which is saltier than regular soy but doesn't darken the food. Serve it warm or at room temperature with rice and miso soup. Chef's tip: let everything cool in its broth. The vegetables soak up most of their flavour as they cool, not while they boil.

55 min

Japanese Sides

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Kyiv cakeHazelnut meringue cake

Kyiv cake was created in 1956 at the Karl Marx confectionery factory in Kyiv, and for decades a round box tied with string, bought at the station kiosk, was the souvenir every visitor carried home from the capital. Two crisp, chewy layers of nut meringue are sandwiched with a rich vanilla and cocoa buttercream and decorated with more cream. It contains no flour, so it is naturally gluten free, and no gelatine. Our home version uses hazelnuts, as the original did before cashews became the norm. Chef's tip: dry the meringue long and slow and let it cool in the switched-off oven; common mistake is pulling it out too early, when it is still soft inside, and then it turns sticky and collapses under the cream.

210 min

Ukrainian Baking

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Kway chapRice sheets in braising broth

Breakfast in Shantou and Chaozhou often means a steaming bowl of kway chap from a market stall: squares of rice sheet simmered until soft and silky in a dark, gently spiced broth, with braised pork belly, tofu and eggs on the side. Teochew emigrants carried it to Singapore, where it became a hawker centre favourite, but the original is simpler, cheaper and very comforting on a cool morning. The broth tastes of soy, star anise and cinnamon, slightly sweet, and the rice sheets drink it up. Eat it with chilli vinegar, pickled mustard greens and plenty of white pepper. Chef's tip: braise the pork the night before; the flavours settle and you can lift the hardened fat off the top.

60 min

Chinese Soups

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KwatiMixed sprouted bean soup

Kwati is a thick, warming soup of nine kinds of sprouted beans that the Newar families of the Kathmandu Valley cook on Janai Purnima, the August full moon also called Kwati Punhi, when the monsoon is at its height and people are said to need strength against the damp. The mix usually includes black gram, green mung, chickpeas, soybeans, field peas, kidney beans, cowpeas, field beans and rice beans, soaked and sprouted for two or three days beforehand, then cooked with ajwain, ginger, garlic, tomato and a pinch of timur. Markets in Asan sell ready-mixed kwati beans in the week before the festival. It is eaten in bowls with beaten rice or simply on its own. The mistake people make is skipping the sprouting, which leaves the soup heavy and the beans hard. Chef's tip: fry the ajwain until it crackles; its thyme-like warmth makes the beans easier to digest and is the flavour of the festival.

60 min

Nepali Soups

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Kuzhi paniyaramSavoury rice dumplings

In Chettinad, kuzhi paniyaram is what happens to the last of the idli and dosa batter: it's mixed with shallots, chilli and curry leaves and cooked in a cast-iron pan full of round hollows until each ball is crisp and golden outside and soft as idli inside. Karaikudi households make them for evening tiffin and they're sold hot from street griddles in Madurai. Eat them straight from the pan with coconut chutney or a red tomato-onion kara chutney. Chef's tip: use batter that's a day or two old and slightly sour; it gives lighter, puffier paniyarams than fresh batter.

35 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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KuyrdakFried lamb with offal

Kuyrdak is the first meal cooked when a sheep is slaughtered on a Kazakh farm, made quickly from the freshest cuts and the offal: lamb meat, liver, heart and kidneys fried in a kazan with onion and potatoes. Today it is an everyday dish in Almaty and the steppe villages, eaten hot from the pan with bread and strong tea. Every part is cut to the same size so it all cooks evenly. Overcooking the liver is the most common fault; it goes in last and should be just cooked through and still soft, not grainy. Chef's tip: soak the kidneys in salted cold water for 30 minutes to remove any strong smell.

80 min

Kazakh Meat

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Taiwanese dan bingEgg crepe rolls

Every morning, breakfast shops on almost every block in Taiwan (zǎocān diàn) pour thin, chewy crêpes onto a flat griddle, crack an egg over them and roll them up into a soft log in under a minute. Customers order them plain, with corn, with cheese, or with basil, alongside a cup of soy milk or milk tea. The batter uses some tapioca starch, which gives that bouncy, slightly stretchy bite. Chef's tip: spread the egg over the crêpe while the top of the batter is still a little tacky; they bond into one layer and don't split apart when you roll.

20 min

Taiwanese Breakfast & Brunch

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Douhua with ginger syrup and peanutsTofu pudding with ginger syrup

On summer evenings in Tainan and at old shops near Taipei's temples, douhua is ladled in wobbling scoops from a wooden bucket into bowls of cool syrup, then topped with soft-boiled peanuts, red beans or taro balls. In winter the same pudding is served warm with a sharper ginger syrup. It is just soy milk set into the most delicate curd, softer than any tofu you buy. Chef's tip: use a plain, unsweetened soy milk with at least 7% soy solids (or make your own); thin supermarket soy milk won't set properly.

60 min

Taiwanese Desserts

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Kuy teavPork bone rice noodle soup

Kuy teav is what Phnom Penh eats for breakfast: before 8 am the city's street stalls and markets are busy with people bent over bowls of it. It is a pork soup: a clear, slightly sweet broth simmered from pork bones with dried squid or shrimp and charred onion is poured over rice noodles, sliced pork, minced pork and prawns, and everyone finishes their bowl with lime, chilli, bean sprouts and fried garlic. Chef's tip: never boil the broth hard; keep it barely trembling so it stays crystal clear.

180 min

Cambodian Soups

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KutiaWheat berries with poppy seeds

Kutia is the first dish tasted on Ukrainian Christmas Eve, once the first star appears in the sky: a bowl of whole wheat berries mixed with ground poppy seed 'milk', honey, walnuts and raisins. Families in Lviv, Ternopil and the villages of the west traditionally throw a spoonful at the ceiling for luck and set a bowl aside for departed relatives, and the head of the house greets the evening with it. It is eaten at room temperature, sweet, nutty and chewy, and the spoon must touch every guest's plate. Chef's tip: soak and grind the poppy seed until it turns white and milky; common mistake is using it whole, which leaves kutia gritty and grey instead of creamy.

120 min

Ukrainian Desserts

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Kutchi dabeliSpiced potato buns

Dabeli was born in Mandvi, a port town in Kutch, Gujarat, and spread from there to every street corner in Mumbai. Soft pav are split, spread with sweet tamarind and fiery garlic chutneys, and stuffed with a potato filling spiced with dabeli masala, a warming blend of roasted coriander, cumin, cinnamon, clove and dried chilli. Masala peanuts, pomegranate seeds, onion and sev add crunch and sparkle, and the buns are toasted in butter until crisp at the edges. Children love them for the sweetness, adults for the heat. Chef's tip: make the dabeli masala yourself and toast the whole spices until they just smell warm; shop-bought powders lack that fresh, smoky sweetness, and a jar keeps for a month.

40 min

Indian Fast Food

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