Skip to content
Xôi bắp
Featured recipe

Xôi bắp

Sticky corn and rice

On Hanoi pavements at dawn, xôi sellers scoop warm sticky rice and corn into banana leaves, press a slab of yellow mung bean on top and finish it with crisp fried shallots, a pinch of sugar and salt; office workers carry it to their desks for breakfast or lunch. At home, fresh sweetcorn stands in for the waxy corn cooked with lime used on the street. The rice and beans need soaking overnight. The common mistake is boiling sticky rice like ordinary rice; it must be steamed, or it turns to paste. Chef's tip: toss the steamed rice with a spoon of the shallot oil halfway through, which keeps the grains separate and glossy.

Read more 0 views

What to eat today?

Around the world

Today's trip: Paraguayan

A new country every day, from every cuisine on the site.

Paraguayan

Cocido quemado

Burnt sugar mate drink 14 minMore from Paraguayan (27) →

This week's collection

Kid-friendly dinners
537 recipes · a new collection every Monday

Latest recipes

GudegYoung jackfruit stew

Gudeg is the signature of Yogyakarta: whole streets around Wijilan are lined with stalls selling it from dawn, and visitors carry it home in clay pots or woven baskets. Unripe jackfruit is cooked for hours with palm sugar, coconut milk, galangal and salam leaves until it turns reddish-brown, soft as pulled meat, and deeply sweet and savoury. The classic plate adds chicken, egg and spicy cattle-skin stew; this vegan plate pairs it with sticky-sweet tempeh and tofu and a sharp sambal to cut the sweetness. Chef's tip: let the pot cook down slowly until almost all the liquid is gone — drier gudeg keeps for days and tastes better on the second.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

TemblequeCoconut milk pudding

Tembleque gets its name from the way it shivers (tiembla) when you set it on the table, and in Puerto Rico it is the dessert of the Christmas season, from the parrandas of December through to the Three Kings in January. It's nothing more than coconut milk, sugar and cornflour cooked into a silky custard, poured into a mould and chilled until it holds its shape. It is cool, pure white, lightly sweet and tastes completely of coconut, with a blush of cinnamon on top. Chef's tip: use full-fat tinned coconut milk; light coconut milk sets thin and tastes watery.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tempe mendoanBattered fried tempeh

Mendoan comes from Banyumas in Central Java, and in Purwokerto it's sold by the stack at every roadside stall, eaten warm with a raw bird's eye chilli bitten between mouthfuls or dunked in sweet soy. The name comes from the Banyumas word mendo, meaning half-cooked: the batter is deliberately fried only until set and pale, so it stays soft and bendy rather than crisp. Make it with thin, wide tempeh slices so each one is mostly batter and herbs. Chef's tip: fry for barely a minute a side in very hot oil and pull the slices out while they're still pale gold and floppy — that limp, tender texture is the whole point.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guiyang si wa waPancake rolls with shredded vegetables

Guiyang's favourite street snack is a do-it-yourself meal: stalls set out twenty or more small bowls of shredded vegetables, and each person wraps a few strands in a pancake no bigger than a palm, folds it like a swaddled baby and pours in a spoonful of sour, chilli-flecked broth. It's light, crunchy and fun to eat with friends. Use as many fillings as you like; the more colours, the better. Chef's tip: shred everything as fine as you can, so the little parcels stay neat and each mouthful has several flavours.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

GujeolpanNine-section vegetable platter

Gujeolpan (구절판) takes its name from the octagonal lacquered tray it is served on: eight outer compartments of finely cut, separately seasoned fillings around a stack of paper-thin wheat crêpes in the middle. It was a dish of the Seoul royal court and noble households, and it still appears at weddings, 60th birthdays and Seollal tables, where everyone builds their own little rolls. Classic trays include beef; this one keeps all the colour with shiitake, wood ear, cucumber, carrot, peppers, radish and yellow and white egg. It takes patience rather than skill. Chef's tip: cut every filling into matchsticks the same length as the crêpes are wide, about 5 cm, so each roll closes neatly.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tempe orekSweet crisp tempeh

Across Java, tempe orek is the side dish every household keeps in a tub: crisp sticks of tempeh fried and then tossed in a sweet-salty glaze of kecap manis, palm sugar, garlic and chilli. It goes into lunch boxes with plain rice, onto nasi campur plates, and lasts several days without losing its chew, which is why student boarding houses and office canteens rely on it. Some cooks add peanuts or green beans; this version stays classic. Chef's tip: fry the tempeh sticks properly crisp before glazing and keep the glaze to a thick syrup, so the tempeh stays crunchy rather than going soft.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gulai daun singkongCassava leaves in coconut gravy

No Padang restaurant in West Sumatra is complete without a dish of gulai daun singkong: dark cassava leaves simmered until silky in a yellow coconut gravy fragrant with lemongrass, turmeric leaf and galangal. It is the cooling green on a table of rich, fiery plates, ladled over rice with sambal hijau. Restaurants sometimes add dried anchovies; this version doesn't. Frozen cassava leaves from Asian shops work well; kale is the best stand-in. Chef's tip: squeeze the boiled leaves hard before adding them, or the gravy goes thin and grassy.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gulai nangkaYoung jackfruit curry

In a nasi Padang restaurant, where dozens of dishes are stacked in the window and brought to the table on small plates, gulai nangka is the bright yellow one that gets spooned over rice to moisten everything else. Young jackfruit and long beans simmer in a thin, golden coconut sauce with turmeric, chilli and lemongrass until the jackfruit is tender and full of sauce. It's lighter and saucier than rendang and cooks in under an hour, so Padang households make it on ordinary weekdays. Chef's tip: stir the pot almost constantly for the first few minutes after the coconut milk goes in — Padang cooks say it keeps the gulai smooth and stops it splitting.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

GulyáslevesBeef goulash soup

Real Hungarian goulash is a soup, gulyásleves, born in the cattle herders' kettles of the Great Plain and still cooked over open fires at summer festivals and in every csárda (country inn) between Budapest and Debrecen. Beef shin or chuck simmers with lots of onion, sweet paprika, caraway and green pepper until tender, then potatoes and carrots go in. It is brothy, rich red and gently spicy, eaten with fresh bread. Chef's tip: take the pot off the heat before adding the paprika; it burns in seconds in hot fat and turns bitter.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gundel palacsintaWalnut pancakes with chocolate sauce

Gundel palacsinta is the festive pancake of Budapest, named after the Gundel restaurant by City Park, where it became the showpiece dessert of the mid-twentieth century. Thin Hungarian pancakes are filled with a rum-scented walnut and raisin paste, folded into triangles and drowned in a dark chocolate sauce, sometimes flamed at the table. Everyday palacsinta at home are simpler, rolled with apricot jam, cocoa sugar or sweet túró; this is the version for name days, Christmas and guests. Chef's tip: rest the batter for 30 minutes; the pancakes become thinner and more elastic and stop tearing when you fold them. Common mistake: overfilling, which makes the triangles burst open.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gundruk ko jholSour fermented greens soup

In the terraced hill villages between Pokhara and Ilam, families pack mustard, radish and cauliflower leaves into clay pots after the autumn harvest, let them ferment for a week or two and then sun-dry them into gundruk. That dark, tangy leaf is the store cupboard of the winter months, and its most common use is this thin, sour soup (jhol), served on the side of dal bhat or with dhido, the stiff buckwheat or millet porridge of the hills. It tastes a little like a smoky, vinegary green tea and is light, warming and very cheap. A handful of roasted soybeans (bhatmas) is often thrown in for crunch. The mistake is to cook gundruk without soaking it first, which leaves it gritty and too sour. Chef's tip: squeeze the soaked leaves hard and fry them in the oil until they crackle before you add water; that frying gives the soup its toasty depth.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Gungjung tteokbokkiSoy rice cakes with mushrooms

Long before red gochujang tteokbokki took over Seoul's street stalls, the Joseon palace kitchens served gungjung tteokbokki (궁중떡볶이): chewy cylinders of rice cake tossed in a glossy soy and sesame glaze with mushrooms, peppers and onion. It is mild, savoury-sweet and fragrant with toasted sesame, which makes it the version Korean parents cook for children and for anyone who can't take heat. The court recipe used beef; shiitake and oyster mushrooms carry the same savoury depth here. Eat it warm as a snack or alongside rice and kimchi. Chef's tip: soften the rice cakes in hot water before they meet the pan, or the outsides scorch while the centres stay hard.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

GurasaThick wheat flatbread

Gurasa is a thick, soft, round wheat bread from Sudan, especially the north and west (Darfur and Kordofan), cooked in a covered pan rather than an oven. It is torn and eaten with mullah, ful or salata aswad, and for breakfast with sugar and a little oil or butter. The dough is a loose, yeasted batter, closer to a giant crumpet than a flatbread. Chef's tip: cook it covered over a low heat; a hot open pan burns the base before the thick centre cooks.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guriltai shulMutton noodle soup

Guriltai shul is the soup Mongolians eat almost daily in winter, from Ulaanbaatar canteens to herders' gers: strips of mutton simmered with onion, carrot and potato, and thick hand-cut noodles cooked in the broth. It is simple, warming and filling in temperatures that drop far below freezing. The mistake is cooking the noodles too long, so they swell and turn the soup stodgy; they need only 6–8 minutes. Chef's tip: rest the noodle dough well so it rolls thin without springing back.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guyanese black cakeRum fruit cake

Every Guyanese Christmas has a black cake, and many families start soaking the fruit months ahead, often the year before. Prunes, raisins, currants and cherries are minced and steeped in rum and cherry brandy, then folded into a buttery batter darkened with homemade burnt-sugar syrup, giving a moist, almost black, intensely fruity cake. This version makes the alcohol optional: grape juice soaks the fruit just as well, though the cake keeps for less time. Chef's tip: take the burnt sugar until it's very dark and smoking lightly; stop too early and the cake turns brown and sweet instead of black and bittersweet.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

TequeñosFried cheese sticks

Tequeños are said to come from Los Teques, the town in the hills outside Caracas, and they are the party food of Venezuela: no birthday, wedding or office celebration is without a tray of these crisp pastry fingers wrapped around salty white cheese. The dough is spiralled around the cheese, then fried so the pastry is crunchy and the cheese just starts to melt. Serve with guasacaca (avocado sauce) or a sweet chilli dip. Use a cheese made with vegetarian rennet. Chef's tip: overlap each spiral of dough slightly and seal the ends well, or the cheese escapes into the oil.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guyanese cook-up riceCoconut rice with black-eyed peas

Cook-up rice is the dish Guyanese families make to see in the New Year, and on any Saturday when the week's odds and ends go into one pot. Rice, black-eyed peas and vegetables simmer in fresh coconut milk with fresh thyme, spring onion and a whole wiri wiri pepper (small, round and fiery) until every grain is soft and glossy. It's richer and wetter than Jamaican rice and peas, with the vegetables cooked right in. Chef's tip: let the pot sit covered off the heat for 10 minutes at the end; the rice finishes in the steam and a little crust forms on the bottom that people fight over.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guyanese garlic porkGarlic pickled pork

Garlic pork came to Guyana with Madeiran Portuguese settlers in the 1800s and is still made for Christmas breakfast in Georgetown, alongside pepperpot and bread. This dish contains pork. Pieces of pork are packed into a jar with a pickle of vinegar, lots of garlic, thyme and wiri wiri pepper and left in the fridge for at least three days, then fried until browned and slightly crisp. The mistake is leaving the jar on the counter, as was once done: always keep it in the fridge. Chef's tip: pat the pork very dry before frying, or the vinegar makes the oil spit.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

ThiakryMillet couscous with sweet yogurt

Thiakry, called dégué in Mali and Burkina Faso, is the creamy dessert of Senegalese weddings, naming ceremonies and Tabaski: pellets of steamed millet stirred into sweetened yoghurt and soft fromage frais, scented with vanilla and nutmeg and served cold. Ready-made millet granules (arraw or sankhal) are sold in African grocers, which makes it a 15-minute job. Raisins and a little coconut are common in Dakar. Chef's tip: steam or soak the millet fully before it meets the yoghurt; undercooked grains stay hard and gritty in the cold.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guyanese pepperpotBeef stew with cassareep

Pepperpot is Guyana's national dish and the centre of Christmas morning, when families in Georgetown and the countryside eat it with thick slices of plait bread. It comes from the Amerindian peoples, who used cassareep, a black syrup boiled from cassava juice, to flavour and preserve meat. Beef (often with cow foot or oxtail) simmers for hours with cassareep, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel, sugar and hot wiri wiri pepper into a glossy, dark, sweet-savoury stew. The mistake is serving it the day it is made; it is much better after a day or two. Chef's tip: bring it back to a full boil every day you keep it, as Guyanese families do, and always keep it in the fridge.

200 minGuyaneseMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Guyanese pine tartsPineapple jam tarts

Pine tarts (short for pineapple tarts) are Guyana's favourite bakery treat: a flaky triangle of pastry folded over a thick, sticky pineapple jam spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, with the filling peeking out of the middle. They're sold in every Georgetown bakery and carried abroad in suitcases by visiting family. Their triangle shape sets them apart from the open pineapple cookies of Southeast Asia. Chef's tip: cook the jam until it's thick enough that a spoon dragged across the pan leaves a clean path; runny jam leaks and burns in the oven.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Terong baladoFried aubergine in chilli sambal

Balado is the Minangkabau way of smothering fried food in a coarse, shiny red chilli sambal, and in West Sumatra the aubergine version is a daily home dish as much as a restaurant one. The aubergine is fried until soft and creamy inside, then folded into a sambal of red chillies, shallots and tomato cooked down until sweet. Serve it at room temperature with rice and fried tofu. Chef's tip: grind the chillies coarsely rather than to a purée; Padang cooks want flecks of skin and seed in a balado.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

GyeongdanGlutinous rice balls

Gyeongdan (경단) are small balls of boiled glutinous rice dough, filled or plain, and rolled in coloured coatings: golden roasted soybean powder, black sesame, green or toasted coconut. In Seoul they are made for a baby's 100th day and first birthday, and sold in rice-cake shops all year in mixed boxes. They are only lightly sweet, soft and stretchy, best eaten the day they are made with a cup of barley tea. Children love rolling them. Chef's tip: mix the dough with very hot water a spoonful at a time; it should feel like soft play-dough, and if it cracks when you roll a ball it needs a little more.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

GyuvechBaked vegetable stew

Gyuvech takes its name from the glazed clay pot it is baked in, and in late summer in the villages of the Rhodopes and the Thracian plain it is slid into the bread oven packed with peppers, aubergine, okra, green beans, potatoes and tomato, seasoned with paprika and the herb chubritsa (summer savory). In the last minutes, eggs are often cracked over the top and baked until just set. It is served straight from the pot with bread to scoop up the juices. Unlike Greek briam, the vegetables stew in a paprika broth under a lid rather than roasting in oil. Chef's tip: put a clay pot into a cold oven; heating it first is the usual mistake and can crack it.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

HaakCollard greens in mustard oil

Haak is the everyday green of Kashmir: collard greens grown in every kitchen garden, cooked whole with nothing more than mustard oil, dried red chilli, asafoetida and salt. The leaves stay bright, tender and slightly silky, with a clean, peppery taste that sings next to rice. Kashmiri Pandit households keep it this simple; Muslim homes often add a few garlic cloves. Serve with plain rice and a dal or rajma. Chef's tip: leave the leaves whole or in large pieces and cook them uncovered for the first minutes; chopping and covering too early turns them dull olive-green.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Habichuelas con dulceSweet red bean cream

In the Dominican Republic, Holy Week means pots of habichuelas con dulce, shared over garden walls between neighbours from Santiago to San Pedro de Macorís. Red beans are cooked soft and blended into a smooth cream, then simmered with coconut and evaporated milk, cinnamon and cloves, with soft cubes of sweet potato and plump raisins. Served cold, it tastes like a spiced coconut custard with a gentle earthy depth; nobody guesses beans the first time. It's traditionally topped with little crunchy milk biscuits. Chef's tip: push the blended beans through a sieve; it takes two minutes and gives the silky texture that marks a good batch.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Habichuelas guisadasStewed pink beans

Habichuelas guisadas are on the stove most weekdays in Puerto Rico, from Ponce to Fajardo, ladled over plain white rice for the everyday plate called arroz con habichuelas. Pink or red beans simmer with sofrito, tomato sauce and olives, and cubes of calabaza (West Indian pumpkin) melt into the pot to make a thick, orange-red, gently sweet sauce. It's homely, cheap and deeply savoury. Island cooks often add a piece of ham; this version doesn't need it. Chef's tip: when the pumpkin is soft, crush a few pieces against the side of the pot; they dissolve into the liquid and thicken it without any flour.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hagelslag toastBread with chocolate sprinkles

Ask anyone who grew up in the Netherlands what they ate before school and the answer is usually a boterham met hagelslag: a slice of soft bread, well buttered, and covered edge to edge in chocolate sprinkles. It is not a treat for special days but an ordinary Dutch breakfast and lunchbox filler, and the country gets through millions of kilos of hagelslag every year. There are milk and dark chocolate versions, plus vruchtenhagel (fruity pastel sprinkles) and anijshagel (aniseed sprinkles). Chef's tip: the butter is the glue, so spread it right to the crusts and press the sprinkles down gently with the flat of a knife before you lift the slice.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hainan coconut riceSticky rice in coconut

Across Hainan island, in Wenchang and Haikou especially, cooks fill whole mature coconuts with glutinous rice and steam them for hours until the rice is sticky, sweet and full of coconut flavour. The coconut is cut open at the table and served in wedges with the white flesh still attached. Look for brown, mature coconuts that slosh when shaken. Soak the rice for 4 hours first. Chef's tip: a cleaver tapped round the shell's 'equator' near the top opens it more safely than trying to saw it.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

QingbuliangIced coconut milk dessert soup

On hot evenings in Haikou, night-market stalls ladle this into bowls: coconut milk poured over red beans, mung beans, sago pearls, cubes of jelly and fresh tropical fruit, with a scoop of shaved ice on top. The name roughly means 'clearing, nourishing, cooling', and Hainan people eat it to cool down in their long summer. Everything except the fruit can be cooked a day ahead and chilled. Chef's tip: cook each bean separately; they soften at different speeds.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hakka lei chaPounded herb and peanut tea

Lei cha means 'pounded tea', and in Hakka villages from Jieyang and Hepo to Taiwan and Malaysia it is still ground by hand in a ridged bowl with a guava-wood stick. Tea leaves, basil, mint and coriander are pounded with sesame and peanuts, then loosened with hot water into a grassy green soup. It's ladled over a bowl of rice topped with small heaps of stir-fried greens, beans, tofu and preserved radish. Some families eat it on the seventh day of the New Year. Chef's tip: toast the sesame and peanuts yourself; the toasting gives the soup its depth.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

HarchaPan-fried semolina bread

Harcha are thick little semolina breads cooked on a griddle and eaten all over Morocco at breakfast and with mid-afternoon tea, especially during Ramadan for the evening meal. The dough is closer to a crumbly batter than a bread dough, so it needs no kneading or rising; it is pressed into rounds and cooked slowly until the outside turns golden and gritty and the inside stays tender, a bit like a savoury shortbread. Split them while warm and spread with butter and honey, apricot jam or a wedge of soft cheese. Chef's tip: let the mixed dough rest for 5 minutes; the semolina drinks up the milk and becomes much easier to shape.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

HalászléSpicy carp soup

Halászlé is the fiery fisherman's soup of the rivers Tisza and Danube, and on Christmas Eve it is on almost every Hungarian table; the towns of Szeged and Baja each claim the best version. A rich stock is made from fish heads and bones with onions and lots of paprika, sieved until smooth and red, and then thick slices of carp (or catfish) are poached in it at the last moment. Serve with white bread and fresh hot peppers. Chef's tip: poach the fish fillets without stirring; just swirl the pot so the pieces stay whole.

by KrazyBadal 1 views

Halawet el jibnCheese and semolina rolls

Halawet el jibn, 'sweetness of cheese', is the pride of the pastry shops of Homs in Syria and Tripoli in Lebanon, where trays of the pale, stretchy rolls are sold for Eid, weddings and Sunday afternoons. A dough of melted cheese and semolina is stretched thin, wrapped around thick clotted cream (ashta), cut into rolls and soaked in rose syrup. The dough must be worked hot, which makes it the hardest dessert in this collection, but the result is soft, chewy and only lightly sweet. Use mozzarella or akkawi made with vegetarian (microbial) rennet; many supermarket mozzarellas are. Chef's tip: oil your hands and the worktop rather than flouring them; flour toughens the dough and dulls its shine.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hallabong adeSparkling tangerine drink

Hallabong (한라봉) is Jeju's pride: a large, sweet, easy-peel tangerine with a knob on top that is said to look like Hallasan, the island's volcano. Every café on Jeju sells hallabong ade (한라봉에이드), a tall glass of hallabong syrup topped up with sparkling water and ice, often with the fruit sliced into it. Koreans make the syrup, hallabong-cheong, by layering the sliced fruit with sugar in jars; this quick version is ready in 10 minutes. Outside Korea, use dekopon, sumo or any very sweet mandarin. Chef's tip: add a squeeze of lemon to the syrup; hallabong is so sweet that the drink tastes flat without a little extra acid.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

HallacasStuffed corn parcels

Hallacas are Venezuelan Christmas. In December whole families gather around a kitchen table in Caracas, Maracaibo or the Andes to make dozens at once: one person cleans banana leaves, another spreads the annatto-tinted corn dough, another adds the guiso (a stew of pork, beef and chicken) and the garnishes, and someone else ties the parcels. This is a pork dish. The guiso is traditionally finished with red wine; for an alcohol-free version use the same amount of beef stock with a tablespoon of red wine vinegar. They are eaten with pan de jamón and chicken salad from Christmas Eve to New Year. The common mistake is spreading the dough too thick, which makes heavy, stodgy parcels; it should be thin enough to almost see the leaf through it. Chef's tip: make the guiso a day ahead and chill it, so it is firm and easy to portion.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Halo-haloShaved ice dessert

Halo-halo ('mix-mix') is what the Philippines eats through the hot dry months of March to May, bought from roadside stalls and snack shops and eaten slowly with a long spoon in a tall glass. Sweetened beans and chickpeas, banana cooked in brown sugar, jackfruit, nata de coco and sugar-palm fruit go in first, then a mountain of finely shaved ice, a splash of evaporated milk and a crown of ube halaya, a slice of leche flan or a scoop of ube ice cream, with crunchy pinipig (toasted pounded rice) on top. Unlike Malaysian ais kacang, there's no syrup over the ice: the sweetness comes from the layers and the milk. You stir everything together before eating. Chef's tip: chill the glasses and the toppings first so the ice doesn't melt before you have finished building.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

ThalipeethMultigrain flatbread

Thalipeeth is a rustic Maharashtrian flatbread made from bhajani, a flour of roasted grains and lentils. The dough is soft and sticky with onion, green chilli and coriander, and is patted out by hand straight onto the pan, with holes poked in it so the oil can crisp it from both sides. It comes off the tawa crunchy at the edges and soft in the middle, smoky with cumin and coriander seed. Eat it hot for breakfast with thick yogurt, white butter or a garlic and peanut chutney, or with lemon pickle. Chef's tip: pat the dough out on a damp cloth or wet baking paper and flip it straight onto the pan; it's too soft to roll, and wet hands keep it from sticking.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

HandvoSavoury rice and lentil cake

Handvo is a savoury cake from Gujarat, made from a fermented batter of rice and lentils mixed with grated bottle gourd, yogurt and spices. It's baked or cooked slowly in a heavy pan until it has a deep-brown, crackly crust of mustard seeds and sesame and a soft, moist, slightly tangy inside. Gujarati families make it for Sunday tea or a light supper, with green chutney and a cup of masala chai. Slices are also good packed for a journey. Chef's tip: don't rush the crust; cook on a low heat with a lid and let the base go deep golden before you flip, because the crunchy, almost toasted sesame crust is the best part.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hāngī-style roastOven-steamed roast pork and vegetables

A true hāngī is cooked by Māori communities across Aotearoa New Zealand in a pit lined with stones heated in a wood fire, with baskets of meat and vegetables covered with damp cloths and earth and left for hours; it is made for tangihanga (funerals), weddings, marae gatherings and fundraisers, and the skill is passed down through whānau. An oven can't reproduce that earthy, smoky steam, and this recipe does not claim to. It borrows the idea: pork, chicken, kūmara, pumpkin and potato packed tightly, covered and steamed for hours until everything is meltingly soft. It contains pork. The mistake to avoid is loose foil; if steam escapes, the meat dries out instead of steaming. Chef's tip: sit the meat on top of the vegetables so its juices drip down and season them.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Hanhor mangxoDuck curry

When Magh Bihu brings bonfires and feasting to the villages of Assam in January, duck curry is one of the dishes families look forward to. Duck meat is simmered with ash gourd (kumura), which soaks up the rich juices, and the gravy is thickened with toasted black sesame for a deep, nutty taste. It is eaten with rice, often after the night-long community feast called uruka. Chef's tip: brown the duck skin-side down first and pour off some of the rendered fat; you need its flavour, not all of it.

120 minIndianMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

HareesWheat and chicken porridge

Harees is one of the oldest dishes of the Arabian Gulf, made in the UAE, Oman and Saudi Arabia for Ramadan iftar, Eid and weddings, when big pots are stirred for hours and shared with neighbours. Whole wheat and chicken cook slowly together until the grain bursts and the meat falls apart, then everything is beaten to a smooth, sticky porridge and finished with ghee and a little cinnamon. It is soft, mild and very comforting. Chef's tip: beat it hard with a wooden spoon (or briefly with a stick blender) at the end; that is what gives harees its elastic texture.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Thayir sadamCurd rice

No Tamil meal is really finished without thayir sadam. It's the last course on a banana-leaf lunch, the comfort food packed for train journeys and school tiffins, and the prasadam handed out in some Tamil Nadu temples. Soft, mashed rice is mixed with cool yogurt and a splash of milk, seasoned with ginger, green chilli and curry leaves popped in hot oil, then dotted with pomegranate, grated carrot or green grapes. It's eaten slightly cool with a spoonful of pickle or a fried vathal on the side. Chef's tip: mix a little milk in with the yogurt; it keeps the rice creamy and stops it turning sour if you pack it for lunch several hours ahead.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

ThekuaWheat and jaggery cookies

During Chhath Puja, when families across Bihar stand in rivers and ponds to make offerings to the setting and rising sun, thekua fill the bamboo baskets carried to the ghats. Women make them at home in the days before, pressing jaggery-sweetened wheat dough into carved wooden moulds (sancha) and frying them in ghee until dark and crunchy. Outside the festival they are the snack Bihari students take back to hostels in the city, because they keep for weeks. Chef's tip: the dough must be stiff, and the frying slow; soft dough loses the pattern and hot oil leaves them pale and soft inside.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Haryanvi bajra khichdiPearl millet and moong dal porridge

In village homes across Haryana, bajra khichdi is the food of cold winter nights and the days around Makar Sankranti: cracked pearl millet and yellow moong cooked slowly until soft and porridge-like, then eaten with a big spoon of ghee and either jaggery or a glass of lassi. It is plain, nutty and very filling, and grandmothers swear it keeps you warm. The millet was traditionally pounded in a stone mortar to crack it; a quick pulse in a grinder does the same. Chef's tip: soak the bajra overnight; unsoaked millet stays hard and gritty however long you cook it.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Showing 45 of 7,762 recipes

Show more recipes

Page 774 of 863