Street vendors in Cali, Buenaventura and Tumaco push carts piled with bright orange and red chontaduro, peeled to order and sprinkled with salt, then drizzled with honey. The fruit of the peach palm, it has a dense, floury flesh somewhere between roasted chestnut, squash and boiled egg yolk, and a savoury-sweet flavour that people from the Pacific coast swear by as an energy food. At home, the fruit must be cooked, as raw peach palm is unpleasant and irritating to the throat. Fresh fruit appears in Latin American shops in season; frozen or jarred cooked chontaduro is easier to find and only needs warming. Undercooking is the common slip: the flesh stays fibrous and scratchy, so keep boiling until it crumbles easily. This is vegetarian but not vegan because of the honey; panela syrup is a vegan swap. Chef's tip: cut the fruit in half and remove the stone before salting, so the seasoning reaches the warm flesh.
A new country every day, from every cuisine on the site.
A rich, egg-free mayonnaise whisked from fresh cream, mustard and oil and sharpened with vinegar. It's thick enough to dress coleslaw, potato salad and sandwiches. Keep it covered in the fridge and use within 3 days.
This is home-made yogurt hung in muslin until all the whey drips away, leaving a thick, spreadable cheese a little like labneh. Use it for dips, sandwich spreads, shrikhand and cheesecakes. Pressing it through a sieve before you use it makes it silky-smooth.
Sugar syrup (chashni) is the base of many Indian sweets, and recipes ask for it at different stages. A light syrup is for soaking sweets and sweetening drinks. One-thread and two-thread syrups are boiled longer so the sweet sets. You can make it with milk instead of water for some sweets.
The classic white sauce behind pasta bakes, lasagne, baked vegetables and creamy soups. Butter and flour are cooked together first so the sauce tastes of nothing raw, then milk is whisked in until it turns thick, glossy and smooth. Use it straight away, or keep it covered in the fridge for up to 2 days.
A bright red, tangy Gujarati masala, like a dry pickle masala made with split mustard and fenugreek seeds and sharpened with lemon. It's sprinkled over steaming khichu (khichi), and it's just as good with theplas or a drizzle of oil as a quick dip.
Five ingredients and fifteen minutes. The secret is to cook the garlic slowly so it turns sweet and pale gold, then toss everything with a splash of starchy pasta water so the oil turns into a glossy sauce that clings to every strand.
The basic method for any dried pasta, from penne to spaghetti. A large pan of salted boiling water keeps the pasta from sticking, and you cook it only until just done, with a little bite left. Use it in salads, bakes or with any sauce.
A hearty stock that's simmered for 2 hours, then blended and strained, so the potato gives it body. Its deeper flavour suits thick soups, gravies and stews. Freeze it in portions so it's ready when you need it.
A light, clear vegetable stock with leek, celery, parsnip and fresh herbs, ready in under an hour. Use it as the base for soups, risottos and sauces. It keeps for 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.
Classic short crust pastry, rubbed together by hand so it bakes crisp and crumbly. The secret is keeping everything cold and handling the dough as little as you can. This amount lines a 23 cm tart tin or tops a pie. Each recipe gives its own baking time and temperature.
Samosa chapaties (patti) are paper-thin wrappers for crisp samosas. Two rounds are rolled out together with oil and flour between them, lightly roasted, then peeled apart into two very thin sheets. Cut them into strips for samosas, or squares for spring rolls.
Fresh fillo (filo) pastry is stretched and rolled until you can almost see through it. It's soft, pliable and easier to work with than frozen. Use it for baklava, spring rolls, samosas, strudel and savoury pies. Keep the sheets under a damp cloth all the time, because they dry out quickly.
Chaat masala is the tangy, salty, slightly sulphurous sprinkle that makes chaat taste like chaat. Dried mango (amchur) gives the sourness and black salt the distinctive savoury edge. Sprinkle it over fruit, salads, raita, chips and street-food snacks.
The spice blend that turns a cup of tea into masala chai. It's built on cardamom, with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper and nutmeg. Add a pinch (about ¼ tsp per cup) to tea while it boils.
The South Indian spice powder that gives sambhar its body and flavour. Roasted lentils add a nutty thickness, with coriander, red chillies, curry leaves and sesame seeds. Use it in the sambhar served with idli and dosa.
A Gujarati dal masala with whole spices roasted in a little oil, plus star anise, black cardamom and dagad phool (stone flower) for depth. A teaspoon gives dals, kadhi and khichdi a warm, rounded flavour. The recipe makes a big batch, so it's worth making once a season.
An everyday curry powder that's built on coriander seeds, so it's fragrant rather than fiery. Fennel, star anise and bay give it a sweet warmth, with just two red chillies for heat. Season curries with it when you want flavour without much heat.
A heady North Indian garam masala heavy with cardamom, cumin and pepper, rounded out with mace, nutmeg and fennel. The spices are ground raw rather than roasted, so the blend stays bright and perfumed. Use it in rich Punjabi curries such as chole, rajma and paneer makhani.
Showing 18 of 7,762 recipes
Show more recipesPage 859 of 863
Indian
Spanish
Italian
American
Chinese
Mexican
Brazilian
Japanese
Paraguayan
French
British
Greek
