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Festival
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Festival

Sweet fried cornmeal dumplings

Festival is a slightly sweet fried dumpling made with flour and cornmeal, and it's the classic partner to everything sold from the beach shacks at Hellshire in St Catherine, just outside Kingston. Each one is shaped like a little tapered log, fried until golden and crackly outside and soft and fluffy inside, with a hint of vanilla. Here they're served with escovitch-style pickled vegetables, steamed callaloo or jerk tofu instead of fried fish. Chef's tip: fry at a steady medium heat, around 170°C. If the oil is too hot, festival browns in a minute and stays raw and doughy in the middle.

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Vawksa repSmoked pork with mustard greens

Mizo cooking in Aizawl and the hill villages of Mizoram is simple and clean, with few spices and lots of greens, and vawksa rep shows it at its best. Smoked pork (vawksa rep) is simmered until soft, then mustard greens (antam) go in and soak up its smoky, fatty broth. It is an everyday lunch with rice, and some families add a little bai (bamboo shoot) or chilli. Chef's tip: keep the stems and leaves of the greens separate; the stems need a few minutes longer.

70 minIndianMeatGluten free
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Qorma-e sabziLamb with spinach and herbs

Qorma-e sabzi is the green qorma of Kabul: lamb slowly braised with a large amount of spinach, dill, coriander and spring onion until the greens collapse into a dark, silky sauce. Afghan cooks fry the onions slowly until deep brown first, so the stew tastes sweet and savoury against the slightly bitter greens, and a spoon of dried fenugreek leaves adds the typical bitter-sweet scent. It is served on Fridays and for guests with chalaw, plain white rice, or with naan. The common mistake is adding the greens raw and wet in one go, which stews them grey and watery; wilt and squeeze them first. Chef's tip: let the stew simmer uncovered for the last 15 minutes until the oil rises to the top; that is the sign of a well-cooked qorma.

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Zeytinyağlı taze fasulyeGreen beans braised in olive oil

Along the Aegean coast, from İzmir down to Bodrum, summer lunch often begins with a plate of flat green beans that have been stewed in olive oil and tomato until they are silky, then left to cool to room temperature. It belongs to the zeytinyağlı family: vegetables cooked in olive oil, with no meat, and eaten cold or barely warm with bread to mop up the orange-red juices. Home cooks make a big pan in the morning and serve it over two or three days, because it tastes better after a night in the fridge. The most common mistake is rushing it on a high flame: the beans stay squeaky and the oil never turns glossy. Chef's tip: lay the beans on top of the onions and tomatoes without stirring, cover tightly and let the steam do the work; stirring breaks the beans and turns the sauce muddy.

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Vegetable briouatsSpiced vegetable pastry triangles

Briouats are the small, crunchy pastry triangles served at Moroccan weddings and at the iftar table during Ramadan, especially in Rabat and Fez where women make hundreds ahead and freeze them. The wrapper is warqa, a paper-thin pastry, though filo works well at home. Savoury briouats are often filled with meat or seafood; this vegetarian filling of potato, carrot, peas, spices and cheese is popular in family kitchens and loved by children. Bake or fry them and serve hot with a dipping saucer of harissa. Chef's tip: let the filling cool completely before wrapping; hot filling makes the pastry soggy and it splits in the oven.

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Vegetable curry laksaCoconut curry noodle soup

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Vegetable egusi soupMelon seed soup

Egusi soup is cooked right across Nigeria, from Igbo kitchens in Enugu to Yoruba homes in Abeokuta, and it is the soup most people mean when they say 'swallow and soup'. Ground egusi (the protein-rich seeds of a wild melon) is fried and simmered in a pepper and palm-oil base until it forms soft, savoury curds, then finished with greens. It is eaten by hand with pounded yam, eba or fufu. The usual meats, stockfish and crayfish are left out here; mushrooms, iru and vegetable stock do the work. Chef's tip: let the egusi paste sit in the hot sauce without stirring for 5 minutes so it sets into fluffy curds before you break it up.

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Vegetable Hokkien meeBraised black noodles with vegetables

In Kuala Lumpur, Hokkien mee means thick yellow noodles braised in a dark, caramel-sweet soy sauce until they turn almost black, a late-night hawker dish that Petaling Street and Jalan Alor stalls still cook over roaring flames long after midnight. The originals carry pork, prawns and crisp lard; ours uses meaty shiitake, tofu puffs that drink up the sauce, cabbage and choy sum, with fried shallots for the crunch the lard would give. It's smoky, salty-sweet and very slurpable. Chef's tip: let the noodles braise until the sauce has thickened and clings to every strand, with only a spoonful left in the wok.

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Egg and chive jiaoziEgg and chive dumplings

In northern China, from Shandong to Dongbei, families sit round the table on Chinese New Year's Eve and fold jiaozi together to eat at midnight. Jiu cai ji dan, egg and garlic chive, is the classic meat-free filling: soft scrambled egg, bright green chives and a few glass noodles to soak up the juices. Boil them and serve with black vinegar and chilli oil, or pan-fry the leftovers the next day. Chef's tip: stir a spoonful of oil into the chopped chives before adding the salt; the oil seals in their juice so the filling doesn't go watery.

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Vegetable khorovatsGrilled aubergine, peppers and tomatoes

No Armenian summer weekend at the dacha passes without a khorovats, the charcoal grill fired up in the garden from Dilijan to Lake Sevan. Alongside the skewers, whole aubergines, peppers and tomatoes are grilled until black and collapsing, then peeled and chopped with raw onion, garlic and herbs into a smoky, juicy salad. Served on its own with lavash, salty cheese and pickles, it makes a full meal, and it is one of the dishes that Armenians say tastes of summer itself. It works on a barbecue or straight on a gas flame. Chef's tip: grill the vegetables whole, without oil and without cutting them; the skins burn and peel away, while the flesh steams inside and soaks up the smoke.

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Vegetable kottu rotiChopped roti stir-fried with vegetables

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Vegetable kushikatsuBreaded vegetable skewers

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Vegetable lagmanHand-pulled noodles with vegetables

Lagman came to the Ferghana Valley with Uyghur and Dungan cooks, and in Andijan and Namangan it is still made the old way: a soft dough oiled, rested and pulled by hand into long, springy noodles, then topped with a stew of peppers, radish, green beans and tomato called vadja. Ferghana lagman is usually 'dry' (quwurma), the sauce thick enough to cling, rather than a soup. Locals eat it at lunchtime from noodle houses near the bazaar, with a dash of vinegar and chilli oil at the table. This version uses only vegetables. Chef's tip: oil the dough ropes generously and let them rest a full 30 minutes; well-rested dough stretches to arm's length without snapping.

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Vegetable lawarBean and toasted coconut salad

Lawar is the dish of Balinese ceremonies: before a temple festival or a family rite, the men of the banjar gather at dawn to chop and mix it by hand in huge quantities. Many versions include meat, but lawar kacang, made with long beans, is common at home and at Balinese warungs, and it shows off base genep, the island's master spice paste of shallot, garlic, galangal, kencur, turmeric and chilli. Mixed with toasted grated coconut, it's crunchy, fragrant, sour and hot, and is eaten with rice the day it's made. Chef's tip: mix the lawar just before serving and with your hands, squeezing gently, so the spice paste works into the beans; made too early, it goes watery and dull.

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Vegetable machboosSpiced rice with vegetables

In Bahrain and Kuwait machboos is the rice dish of the home kitchen: deeper yellow than Saudi kabsa, with more turmeric, more dried lime and a last splash of rose water that perfumes the whole pot. Families cook it for the big midday meal, especially on Fridays and through Ramadan, and pile it high on a round metal tray. Here potatoes, cauliflower and peppers take the place of chicken, and the rice is crowned with hashu, soft caramelised onions with raisins and a pinch of black lime powder. Chef's tip: brown the potatoes and cauliflower before the rice goes in; their golden edges give the meaty depth the chicken usually brings.

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Vegetable mandu-gukVegetable dumpling soup

In Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi province, the first meal of Seollal (Lunar New Year) is often mandu-guk (만두국): plump dumplings and coin-shaped rice cakes floating in clear broth, finished with ribbons of yellow and white egg and strips of toasted laver. The northern half of the peninsula has always favoured dumplings over rice cake soup, and Seoul families tend to combine the two. These mandu are filled with tofu, glass noodles, cabbage, mushrooms and chives, and the broth is a kelp and shiitake stock instead of beef. Fold the dumplings a day ahead and the soup comes together in 15 minutes. Chef's tip: squeeze the tofu and cabbage hard in a cloth; a wet filling turns the wrappers soggy and the dumplings split in the pot.

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Vegetable maqlubaUpside-down rice and vegetables

Maqluba means 'upside down', and in Palestinian homes from Jerusalem to Nablus the moment the big pot is flipped onto a tray at a Friday family lunch is greeted with clapping. Under the pot comes a golden cake of fried aubergine, cauliflower and potato with spiced rice packed between them. It is also cooked across Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. This meat-free version uses vegetable stock and is served with a cucumber and tomato salad or a bowl of yogurt for those who eat dairy. Chef's tip: once the pot is turned over, wait five minutes before lifting it so the layers settle and the tower holds.

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Qishan saozi mianSour-hot noodles with pork

Weddings, birthdays and harvest feasts in Qishan county, west of Xi'an, all call for these little bowls of noodles, and guests may eat ten or twenty small portions in a row. The key is the saozi, diced pork slowly cooked in aged vinegar and chilli until it turns red, tangy and fragrant; the broth is sour, spicy and bright with diced tofu, carrot, wood ear, egg and garlic shoots. The noodles are thin and springy and the bowls deliberately small. Serve it to a crowd as a lively lunch, with a plate of pickled vegetables. Chef's tip: make the saozi a day ahead; it keeps for a week in the fridge and tastes better after a rest.

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Vegetable mastavaVegetable and rice soup

Mastava is the soup Uzbek mothers make on a cold weeknight: rice simmered in a tomato-red broth with carrot, potato, pepper and chickpeas, finished at the table with a spoon of thick suzma or sour cream and a handful of herbs. It is eaten all over the country but is especially loved in Tashkent households in late autumn. The base is fried first, like plov, so the soup tastes rich even without meat; this version uses vegetables and chickpeas only. Chef's tip: fry the tomato paste in the oil until it turns brick-red before adding water — that is where the depth comes from.

55 minUzbekSoupsGluten free
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Vegetable momosSteamed vegetable dumplings

Momos came to Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills with Tibetan settlers and are now the snack of the whole Himalayan Northeast, steamed in tall stacked steamers at every street corner. Thin, soft wrappers hold a juicy filling of cabbage, carrot, onion and tofu with plenty of ginger, garlic and spring onion. They are dipped in a hot, garlicky tomato and red chilli achar. Serve straight from the steamer, with a bowl of clear soup if you like. Chef's tip: salt the chopped cabbage and squeeze out its water before mixing the filling; it keeps the wrappers from turning soggy and tearing.

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Vegetable romazavaMixed greens and ginger broth

Romazava is often called the national dish of Madagascar: a light, gingery broth of several kinds of leafy greens (brèdes) and tomato, ladled over a big plate of rice. In Antananarivo it usually includes zebu beef; this vegetable version keeps the essential leaves, especially brèdes mafana (paracress), whose flowers and leaves make the mouth tingle. Spinach, watercress and mustard greens work well outside Madagascar. Chef's tip: add the greens in order of toughness and stop as soon as they are tender; romazava should taste fresh and green, not stewed.

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Vegetable saloonaVegetable and tomato stew

Saloona is the stew Emirati families make on an ordinary weekday, ladled over white rice for lunch in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and every town between. Each household has its own mix, but the base is always the same: tomatoes, onions and the local bezar spice blend, sharpened with dried lime and simmered with whatever vegetables are in the fridge. This meat-free pot uses potato, courgette, aubergine, carrot and okra with chickpeas for body, and it tastes even better the next day. Chef's tip: add the okra in the last 10 minutes and leave it whole; cut okra goes slimy in a long simmer.

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Vegetable saltadoWok-fried vegetables

Saltado comes from Lima's chifa tradition, the cooking of Chinese-Peruvian families who brought the wok to Peru in the nineteenth century. The famous version is lomo saltado with beef; this saltado de verduras uses meaty mushrooms in its place. Thick wedges of red onion and tomato are tossed over a fierce flame with garlic, ají amarillo, soy sauce and a splash of vinegar until just wilted, so the vegetables keep their shape and the pan juices turn smoky and savoury. It is always served with both chips and white rice, which soak up those juices. Chef's tip: cook in two batches if your pan is small; a crowded wok steams the vegetables instead of searing them, and the tomatoes collapse into soup.

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Vegetable Shan noodlesRice noodles with tomato sauce

Shan khao swe comes from the hills of Shan State in eastern Myanmar, where it's eaten for breakfast at markets around Inle Lake and Taunggyi before the day's work begins. Sticky rice noodles are tossed with a garlicky tomato sauce, sesame oil and crushed peanuts, then served with pickled mustard greens and a small bowl of clear broth on the side. Markets usually make the sauce with chicken or pork; here mushrooms and tofu give it the same savoury depth. Chef's tip: cook the tomatoes down until the oil separates and the sauce turns jammy; a watery sauce slides off the noodles and tastes flat.

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Vegetable Sindhi biryaniLayered vegetable biryani

Sindhi biryani is the biryani of Karachi, Hyderabad and the rest of Sindh, and it is the one people order by the deg (a huge pot) for weddings, Eid lunches and every big family gathering. What makes it Sindhi is the tang and the heat: plenty of tomatoes, yogurt, whole green chillies and sour dried plums (aloo bukhara) in the masala, with chunks of potato that soak up all of it. This vegetable version keeps all of that and swaps the meat for potato, carrot, cauliflower and peas, layered with half-cooked basmati, fried onions, mint and saffron milk, then steamed shut. A common mistake is boiling the rice until soft before layering; take it out when a grain still has a firm white core, because it finishes in the steam. Chef's tip: fry the onions until deep brown but not black, and keep the oil they fried in; it carries their flavour into every layer.

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Vegetable sinigangSour tamarind vegetable soup

Sinigang is the sour soup that Tagalog families crave when the monsoon arrives between June and October, when rain hammers the tin roofs and a steaming bowl next to rice feels like the only sensible lunch. The sourness traditionally comes from young tamarind (sampalok) boiled and mashed into the broth, and the vegetables are whatever the market has: white radish, taro to thicken the soup slightly, okra, yard-long beans, aubergine and a final handful of water spinach. This vegetarian sinigang na gulay skips the pork or fish and relies on the tamarind, tomato and onion for flavour. The broth should make you pucker a little on the first sip. Chef's tip: add the tamarind in stages and taste between each, since blocks of tamarind vary a lot in sourness.

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Vegetable siu maiOpen-topped vegetable dumplings

Siu mai are among the first baskets wheeled past at Cantonese dim sum in Guangzhou's tea houses, where people meet over yum cha on weekend mornings. The classic is pork and prawn; this one is packed with shiitake, tofu, crunchy water chestnut and carrot, with a dot of diced carrot on top in place of fish roe. Steam them in a bamboo basket and serve with chilli oil and soy. Chef's tip: squeeze the wrapper into a 'waist' with your thumb and finger and flatten the base on the board, so they stand up straight in the steamer.

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Vegetable Uzbek plovVegetable pilaf

Plov (osh) is the dish Uzbeks cook for weddings, for Friday lunch and for guests, traditionally by men over a fire in a wide cast-iron kazan. Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara each have their own style, but all are built the same way: a zirvak (base) of onions and long strips of carrot fried in oil, rice laid on top and steamed until every grain is separate and glossy. This vegetarian version keeps the zirvak and swaps the meat for chickpeas (nohat), whole heads of garlic and barberries, as in Samarkand's chickpea plov. For the classic meat version, lamb or beef is browned in the oil before the onions and simmered in the zirvak for 40 minutes. Serve with achichuk. Chef's tip: hunt out yellow carrots from Central Asian or Turkish grocers; they are sweeter and less watery than orange ones and give plov its honeyed colour.

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Vegetable vindayeMustard vegetable pickle curry

Vindaye is a Mauritian dish descended from the vindaloo and vinha d'alhos traditions but entirely its own: fried ingredients coated in a bright yellow paste of mustard seed, turmeric, garlic, ginger and vinegar, with lots of raw-crisp onion. Fish and octopus vindaye are the classics, served at room temperature with rice, faratas or bread; aubergine and potato vindaye is a well-loved vegetarian version for Hindu fasting days and buffets. Chef's tip: grind the mustard seeds fresh; ready-ground mustard gives a flat, dusty taste.

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Vegetarian char kway teowStir-fried flat rice noodles

Char kway teow is the dish Singaporeans queue for at hawker centres like Old Airport Road and Zion Riverside: flat rice noodles and yellow noodles tossed over a roaring wok with dark sweet soy, egg, beansprouts and chives until smoky and sticky. The classic uses lard, cockles and Chinese sausage; this vegetarian version gets its richness from fried tofu puffs and plenty of garlic, and its char from a very hot pan. Chef's tip: cook one or two portions at a time; a crowded pan can't get hot enough for the smoky wok hei that defines the dish.

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Vegetarian erwtensoepSplit pea soup

Erwtensoep, or snert, is the soup that Dutch skaters drink from paper cups at the koek-en-zopie stalls on frozen lakes, and that families leave to simmer on a Saturday in January. A proper snert is so thick that a spoon should stand upright in the pan, and it tastes better on the second day. The traditional pot is full of pork and smoked sausage; this version gets its depth from celeriac, leek, a little smoked paprika and a long, slow simmer. Serve it with dark rye bread (roggebrood), butter and mustard. Chef's tip: stir the bottom of the pan every 10 minutes in the last half hour; split peas settle as they thicken and catch easily, and a scorched taste spreads through the whole pot.

140 minDutchSoupsVeganGluten free
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HariraTomato, lentil and chickpea soup

When the call to prayer ends the fast during Ramadan, tables from Tangier to Ouarzazate are set with a bowl of harira, dates and chebakia. This tomato soup is thick with lentils, chickpeas and a great deal of coriander, parsley and celery, and gets its silky body from a flour-and-water slurry stirred in at the end. Many families cook it with a little lamb; this meat-free version uses a well-browned onion and tomato base and olive oil instead of smen, so it is fully vegan and still deeply savoury. Chef's tip: the soup should coat a spoon like thin custard; add the flour slurry slowly while stirring and stop when it reaches that point. Variation: for the meat version, brown 250 g diced lamb with the onion at the start.

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Vegetarian mohingaRice noodle soup with lemongrass

Mohinga is Myanmar's national breakfast, ladled from steaming pots at dawn on street corners from Yangon to Mandalay: thin rice noodles in a thick, golden broth fragrant with lemongrass, ginger and toasted chickpea flour, topped with crisp fritters, lime and chilli. The real thing is built on catfish and fish sauce. This vegetarian version is honestly different: dried shiitake and kombu give savouriness instead of fish, and the body comes from toasted chickpea flour, toasted rice powder and banana stem (or palm heart), so it's lighter and earthier rather than fishy. Chef's tip: toast the chickpea flour and rice until golden and nutty before they go in; they carry most of the flavour.

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Vegetarian popiahFresh spring rolls

Popiah are the soft, fresh spring rolls that Hokkien and Peranakan families in Singapore make together at home, especially for Qing Ming and family reunions, with everyone wrapping their own at the table. Thin wheat skins are brushed with sweet sauce and chilli, then filled with a slow-braised mix of jicama (bangkuang) and carrot, plus lettuce, beansprouts, egg, peanuts and crispy shallots. This version leaves out the prawns and Chinese sausage and braises the filling in vegetable stock. Chef's tip: drain the braised filling very well before rolling; extra liquid tears the delicate skins.

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Vegetarian smørrebrødOpen sandwiches

Smørrebrød, 'buttered bread', is Denmark's lunch: a single slice of dense rye bread, buttered right to the edges and piled with toppings so carefully arranged they are eaten with a knife and fork. Copenhagen lunch restaurants such as the old cellar places around Nyhavn serve them in a set order, and at home they make up a Sunday or Christmas lunch table (det kolde bord). Many classics use fish or meat, but three of the best-loved toppings are vegetarian: sliced egg with tomato and cress, waxy new potatoes with crisp onion and chives (kartoffelmad), and peppery radishes on salted butter. Chef's tip: butter the bread thickly and all the way to the crust; in Denmark the butter is the glue that holds the toppings and keeps the rye from going soggy.

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QatayefStuffed Ramadan pancakes

Qatayef only really appear in Egypt during Ramadan: in the weeks of the fast, street vendors in Cairo and Alexandria set up big griddles and pour rows of small pancakes that are cooked on one side only, then sold by the kilo for families to fill at home. The pale, bubbly side is folded around chopped nuts and raisins (or a creamy ashta filling), sealed into half-moons, baked or fried until crisp and dipped in syrup. They are eaten after iftar with tea. Chef's tip: cook the pancakes on one side only and don't flip them; the uncooked top stays sticky and is what glues the edges shut.

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Ven pongalRice and moong dal porridge

Ven pongal, 'white pongal', is the gentle, savoury breakfast of Tamil Nadu, served in homes, temples and Chennai's tiffin halls. Rice and roasted yellow moong dal are cooked together until soft and creamy, then finished with a ghee tempering of whole black pepper, cumin, ginger, cashews and curry leaves. It's mild and comforting, with little bursts of heat from the peppercorns. Serve it with coconut chutney and sambar, or with medu vada on a Sunday. Chef's tip: dry-roast the moong dal for a few minutes before cooking until it smells nutty; it takes the pongal from plain to deeply savoury.

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Vepřo knedlo zeloRoast pork with dumplings and cabbage

Ask anyone in Prague, Brno or a village pub in Moravia for the most Czech meal of all and they will name vepřo knedlo zelo: roast pork, dumplings and cabbage, eaten at Sunday lunch and washed down in pubs with a cold lager. This is a pork dish: shoulder rubbed with garlic, caraway and salt and roasted slowly in a little water until it falls into tender slices, the pan juices becoming the gravy. Alongside go slices of soft bread dumpling and red or white cabbage braised sweet and sour. The trap is roasting the pork too hot and too dry; a splash of water in the tin and a low oven keep it juicy. Chef's tip: lay the pork fat side down for the first hour, then turn it fat side up so the fat renders and crisps at the end.

210 minCzechMeat
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Qalb el louzSemolina and almond cake

Qalb el louz ('heart of almond') is the Ramadan sweet of Algiers: a dense, sandy semolina cake with a ribbon of almond filling, cut into diamonds with an almond on top and soaked in syrup while hot. Pastry shops in the Casbah sell it by the tray after iftar, to eat with mint tea or coffee late into the night. The semolina is soaked overnight in butter and water, which gives it its moist, grainy crumb. Chef's tip: pour cold syrup over the hot cake; hot syrup on a hot cake makes it soggy instead of moist.

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Pyaaz kachoriOnion-filled fried pastries

Pyaaz kachori is the pride of Jodhpur in Rajasthan, where sweet shops fry them from early morning and sell them by the hundred with tamarind chutney. The crust is khasta: short, layered and crackly, made by rubbing plenty of oil into the flour and frying slowly. Inside is a soft, jammy filling of onions cooked with fennel, coriander seed and nigella, bound with a little gram flour and potato and lifted with dried mango powder. Eat them warm for breakfast or with afternoon chai. Chef's tip: fry them in oil that is only just warm and let them take their time; the slow fry is what puffs the crust into crisp, hollow layers instead of a hard, oily shell.

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Pique machoBeef and sausage platter with chips

Pique macho was invented in Cochabamba, legend says late one night when hungry customers asked for whatever was left, and it remains the sharing plate Bolivians order with friends: a pile of chips topped with beef strips and sausage cooked in a peppery sauce, with onion, tomato, locoto chillies and boiled eggs on top. The name roughly means "if it stings, you're a man", for the hot locoto. This recipe can include beer in the sauce; for an alcohol-free version use beef stock. The mistake is letting the chips sit under the sauce, so they go soggy; assemble right before serving. Chef's tip: oven chips work fine and leave the hob free for the meat.

65 minAndeanMeatGluten freeSpicy
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VetkoekFried bread puffs

Vetkoek ('fat cake' in Afrikaans) is fried at church fêtes, rugby matches and roadside stalls all over South Africa, and in townships it's known as amagwinya. The yeast dough fries into a crisp golden ball with a soft, steamy middle, split open while still warm. The best-known filling is curried mince, but just as many people eat them with grated cheese and apricot jam, golden syrup, or a spoon of chakalaka, as here. Chef's tip: keep the oil at a steady medium heat and turn the vetkoek often so they colour evenly and cook right through.

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Puttu and kadala currySteamed rice cylinders with chickpea curry

Puttu and kadala is Kerala's most loved breakfast: tall cylinders of steamed rice flour layered with fresh coconut, served with a dark, earthy curry of black chickpeas (kadala) cooked in a masala of coconut roasted until deep brown. Puttu itself is plain and crumbly, so you break it up with your fingers and mash it into the curry, often with a ripe banana and pappadam on the side. The chickpeas make it filling and protein-rich. Chef's tip: the puttu flour should feel like damp sand that holds when squeezed and crumbles when poked; too wet and the puttu turns dense and gluey.

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PutoSteamed rice cakes

Puto are small steamed rice cakes found at every Filipino party and merienda table, with countless town styles from Biñan's flat rounds to Calasiao's tiny bites in Pangasinan. Traditionally the batter is fermented ground rice; this home version uses rice flour and baking powder for a quick, reliable rise and a fine, cottony crumb. A strip of cheese on top melts into the cake as it steams. They go with dinuguan in Luzon, but a cup of coffee or hot chocolate is just as good. Chef's tip: wrap the steamer lid in a tea towel so condensation doesn't drip onto the cakes and leave pockmarks.

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PinniGhee wheat flour sweets

When the fog settles over Punjab in December, kitchens fill with the smell of wheat flour roasting slowly in ghee: pinni season has started. These dense, crumbly balls of roasted atta, jaggery, almonds and fried edible gum are made in big batches for Lohri, packed into tins for relatives and given to new mothers for strength. One pinni with a glass of hot milk is a classic winter breakfast. Chef's tip: let the roasted flour cool until just warm before adding the jaggery; if it is hot, the jaggery melts and the pinni set hard as stone.

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PindjurRoasted pepper and aubergine relish

Where ajvar is the patient winter preserve, pindjur is its quick summer cousin, made in Macedonian and Bosnian kitchens in July and August when tomatoes are at their ripest. Roasted peppers and aubergine are chopped rather than ground, then simmered briefly with fresh tomatoes and plenty of garlic, so it stays chunky, juicy and bright. It is eaten warm or at room temperature, scooped up with bread and a slab of white cheese, as part of a mezze spread in Ohrid or Mostar. Chef's tip: chop everything with a knife instead of a blender; a puréed pindjur loses the texture that sets it apart from ajvar.

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Zhajiangmian with mushroom and tofuNoodles in bean paste sauce

Zhajiangmian is old Beijing's comfort food, eaten in hutong noodle houses and at home on hot summer days. Thick wheat noodles are topped with a dark, salty-sweet sauce of fermented soybean paste fried slowly in oil, then piled with raw cucumber, radish and beansprouts that you mix in at the table. Pork is traditional; diced firm tofu and mushrooms give the sauce the same chunky body here. Chef's tip: fry the bean paste gently and patiently, on a low heat, until the oil separates out and it smells toasty; rushed, it tastes raw and harsh.

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Pupusas de queso y frijolCheese and bean stuffed corn cakes

In El Salvador pupusas are a Sunday-night ritual: families queue at the pupusería, where cooks pat the dough between wet palms with a soft clapping sound, and the second Sunday of November is National Pupusa Day. These thick masa cakes are stuffed with stringy cheese and smooth refried black beans, griddled until speckled, and eaten with your hands, topped with curtido and a thin tomato salsa. Chef's tip: keep a bowl of water with a splash of oil beside you and wet your hands before every pupusa, so the dough stays supple and the seams don't crack.

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PinakbetMixed vegetable stew

Pinakbet comes from the Ilocos region in the far north-west of Luzon, where families cook whatever grows behind the house: bitter melon, small aubergines, okra, yard-long beans and tomatoes, simmered with very little water until the vegetables shrink and wrinkle (the name comes from the Ilocano for 'shrivelled'). Ilocanos season it with fermented fish paste; here white miso gives the same savoury, salty depth without any fish, and a little squash (more common in the Tagalog version) adds sweetness. It is an everyday lunch dish, eaten with rice and often a spoonful of extra miso on the side. Chef's tip: choose small, firm bitter melon and don't scrape out every bit of the pith; a little bitterness is the point.

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VinegretBeetroot and potato salad

Vinegret is the ruby-coloured salad that sits on almost every Ukrainian New Year and Christmas table, alongside olivier, and fills lunch boxes through the winter. Cooked beetroot, potato and carrot are diced small and tossed with sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers and beans, then dressed with fragrant unrefined sunflower oil, the kind sold by the bottle at markets in Poltava and Kherson. Despite the name there is often no vinegar at all; the sourness comes from the pickles. It is vegan, cheap and keeps for days. Chef's tip: dress the diced beetroot with oil on its own first, then mix in everything else; the oil coats it so the potatoes stay pale and the salad looks like a mosaic rather than all pink.

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PunuguluDosa batter fritters

Punugulu are the bite-sized, golden fritters sold by the paper-cone along the streets of Vijayawada and Guntur on wet evenings, and made at home whenever the idli or dosa batter has gone a little too sour. A spoonful of thick batter with onion, green chilli and cumin is dropped into hot oil, where it puffs into a round ball with a crackly shell and a soft, spongy middle. Serve them hot with peanut chutney, ginger chutney or plain ketchup and a cup of chai. Chef's tip: add a spoonful of rice flour to the batter; it gives punugulu their crunch and stops them soaking up oil.

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Vitello tonnatoVeal with tuna sauce

On the hottest days of a Piedmontese summer, and above all for the Ferragosto holiday in mid-August, families set out a platter of cold, thinly sliced veal hidden under a pale, velvety sauce of tuna, anchovy and capers. The combination sounds odd and tastes wonderful: tender, mild meat and a savoury, lemony sauce that is rich without being heavy. This version follows the older Piedmontese style, thickening the sauce with hard-boiled egg yolks and the veal's own poaching broth instead of raw-egg mayonnaise; if you prefer a mayonnaise base, use one made with pasteurised eggs. Serve it as a starter or a summer main with a green salad and bread. A common mistake is slicing the meat while warm; it frays and tears, so chill it first and cut it as thin as you can. Chef's tip: assemble it the evening before; overnight in the fridge, the sauce seeps into the meat and the flavours settle together.

120 minItalianMeatGluten free
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VitumbuaCoconut cardamom rice pancakes

Small, round Swahili rice pancakes made from a yeasted batter of rice flour, coconut milk, grated coconut, sugar and cardamom. They're crisp and golden outside, soft and spongy inside. Serve hot with tea.

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Vol-au-ventChicken and mushroom pastry cases

In Belgium a vol-au-vent is not a party nibble but a full plate: a big puff-pastry case filled with creamy chicken ragout, button mushrooms and tiny meatballs, served with chips in Brussels brasseries and for family celebrations and Sunday lunches all over the country. The little meatballs are made with pork mince, so this dish contains pork. The sauce is built on the poaching stock from the chicken, which gives it far more flavour than milk. A mistake many cooks make is filling the pastry too early, so the base turns soggy; fill the cases just before they go to the table. Chef's tip: poach the meatballs in the same stock as the chicken; they take just 5 minutes and season the broth further.

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Vegetarian vori voriCornmeal dumpling and vegetable soup

Vori vori is the soup Paraguayan grandmothers make on cold June and July evenings: a golden broth full of bori, small balls of cornmeal and cheese that swell soft as they simmer. The name is a Guaraní take on the Spanish 'bolita' (little ball). It's usually made with hen; this version gets its colour and body from pumpkin, carrot and a sofrito with saffron or turmeric. Chef's tip: shape the balls no bigger than a hazelnut; they double in size and larger ones stay raw inside.

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ZhentToasted millet and honey sweet

Zhent is one of the oldest Kazakh sweets: toasted millet (tary) pounded with dried kurt, dates or raisins, and bound with butter and honey into a crumbly, rich square. Herders made it to carry on long rides, and today it appears on the dastarkhan at Nauryz and weddings in southern Kazakhstan, beside baursak and dried fruit. It tastes nutty, salty-sour from the kurt and sweet, a bit like shortbread with a sharp edge. Chef's tip: toast the millet in a dry pan until it pops and smells like popcorn; under-toasted millet tastes raw and grassy.

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Zhong dumplingsPork dumplings in chilli oil

A snack shop opened by a Mr Zhong in Chengdu in the 1890s still serves these little half-moon dumplings, and every teahouse snack menu in the city has a version. Unlike northern dumplings, they hold only pork, no cabbage or chives, so the filling is soft, juicy and gingery. The magic is the sauce: a spiced, syrupy soy sauce simmered with brown sugar, star anise and cinnamon, spooned over with fiery chilli oil and a punch of raw garlic, so each bite is sweet, salty, hot and pungent at once. Eat them as an afternoon snack or a starter before noodles. Chef's tip: make the sweet soy sauce first; it keeps in the fridge for a month and is just as good on noodles or a plate of greens.

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WaakyeRice and black-eyed beans

Waakye (say 'waa-chay') came south from the Hausa communities of northern Ghana and is now Accra's favourite breakfast and lunch, sold from big pots wrapped in leaves at roadside stalls before most offices open. Rice and black-eyed beans are cooked together with dried sorghum leaf stalks (waakye leaves), which dye the pot a deep reddish brown and add a faint earthy note. A full plate comes loaded with shito, gari, spaghetti (talia), salad and fried plantain. Chef's tip: cook the beans almost soft before the rice goes in; beans and rice finishing together is the whole trick.

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Punjene paprikeStuffed peppers

When late-summer markets in Novi Sad and Belgrade fill up with pale yellow and light green peppers, Serbian kitchens make big pots of punjene paprike to eat for several days. The peppers are packed with seasoned beef and pork mince and rice, stood upright and simmered slowly in a light tomato sauce until meltingly soft. They are served with a dollop of sour cream and bread to mop up the sauce. This recipe contains pork. The easy mistake is stuffing the peppers too tightly: the rice swells and splits them, so leave the top 2 cm empty. Chef's tip: plug each pepper with a slice of potato or tomato before simmering, so the filling stays inside.

105 minBalkanMeatGluten free
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Wahan mosdengGrilled pork salad

Wahan means pork and mosdeng a fiery mashed relish in Kokborok, the language of the Tripuri people of Tripura. Pork is boiled until tender, grilled over charcoal for a smoky crust, then tossed with raw onion, green chilli, ginger and coriander. In Agartala and the villages it is party and festival food, eaten during Garia Puja in April with rice beer or rice. Chef's tip: grill the boiled pork really hot and fast; you want charred edges without drying the meat.

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Punjabi lassiSweet yogurt drink with cream

In Amritsar and on the highways across Punjab, lassi comes in a tall steel or brass glass, churned so thick a spoon nearly stands up in it, with a raft of malai (clotted cream) floating on top. It is a summer drink, but Punjabis drink it all year with a stuffed paratha breakfast or after a heavy lunch. This is the plain sweet kind, with no fruit, so the tang of good full-fat yogurt is the whole point. Chef's tip: chill the yogurt, milk and glasses beforehand; cold lassi stays thicker.

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Punjabi chole samosa chaatSamosas with chickpea curry and yogurt

Samosa chaat is how the street stalls of Punjab and Delhi turn yesterday's samosas into the best snack of the day. Samosas are broken open on a plate, covered with a ladle of hot, tangy chole, then cooled down with sweet whisked yogurt, green and tamarind chutneys, raw onion, crunchy sev and a dusting of chaat masala. Every spoonful is hot and cold, crisp and soft, sweet, sour and spicy at once. Use bought samosas or the site's own samosa recipe. Chef's tip: warm the samosas in the oven until crisp before you crush them; a soggy samosa makes a heavy chaat, a crisp one soaks up the chole and still crunches.

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Pumpkin samsaPumpkin pastries

In autumn, when piles of orange pumpkins appear in the Chorsu bazaar in Tashkent, bakers switch some of their samsa from meat to oshqovoq somsa: crisp, flaky triangles filled with diced pumpkin, onion, cumin and a little sugar, baked against the tandoor wall. They are a street snack eaten hot from paper with green tea, and a fasting-friendly favourite at home. The pastry here is the quick laminated dough Uzbek home cooks use, rolled thin, buttered and coiled. Chef's tip: dice the pumpkin small (1 cm) and don't pre-cook it; raw pumpkin steams inside the pastry and stays in tender, distinct pieces instead of turning into purée.

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Wantan meeEgg noodles with dumplings and pork

Kuala Lumpur eats wantan mee for breakfast, lunch and late supper, usually from a stall where a cook flicks springy egg noodles through boiling water and tosses them in a dark, glossy sauce. The KL style is 'dry' (kon loe): noodles coated in soy, oyster sauce and lard or shallot oil, topped with slices of sweet char siu and greens, with the dumplings served in a little bowl of clear soup. Pickled green chillies cut through the richness. Expect chewy noodles, silky wontons and a salty-sweet, slightly smoky sauce. Chef's tip: rinse the cooked noodles under cold water for a few seconds, then dunk them back in the boiling water; the shock gives them their springy bite.

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WarabimochiBracken starch jelly with soybean flour

Warabimochi is Kyoto's summer sweet. Made from the starch of bracken fern roots, it is not really mochi at all but a clear, wobbly jelly that melts on the tongue, and on hot afternoons teahouses around Gion and Arashiyama serve it chilled on ice. It is dusted with kinako, a nutty roasted soybean flour, and finished with kuromitsu, a dark syrup of Okinawan brown sugar. Real warabi starch is costly and greyish-brown, so most home cooks buy warabimochi-ko, a blend with sweet potato or tapioca starch, which gives a clearer jelly. Chef's tip: keep stirring hard once it turns clear. Two more minutes of beating over the heat is what makes it springy rather than gluey.

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Warak enabRice-stuffed vine leaves

Warak enab bi zeit, vine leaves cooked in oil, is what Lebanese aunts make in big batches in early summer when the young grape leaves are tender, and it fills the cold mezze table at every wedding and family lunch. The meatless version, eaten on Lenten fast days, is packed with short-grain rice, tomato, parsley, mint and spring onion, seasoned with dried mint and seven spices, and simmered slowly in lemon juice until the leaves are silky and the filling sharp and fresh. It is served cold with a wedge of lemon and a spoonful of yogurt for those who are not keeping it vegan. Rolling too tightly is the mistake most people make: the rice swells and splits the leaves, so roll them snug but not stretched. Chef's tip: line the pan with sliced potato and tomato; they stop the rolls catching and are a cook's treat to eat straight from the pot.

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Pumpkin kibbehBaked bulgur and pumpkin layers

Kibbet laqteen is the Lenten kibbeh of Lebanon's Christian villages, made in the weeks before Easter when meat is off the table: roasted pumpkin is kneaded with fine bulgur, onion and warm spices into a soft dough, which is pressed in layers around a filling of caramelised onion, chickpeas, spinach and walnuts, then baked in a round tray. It is cut into diamonds and eaten warm or cold, often with a plate of pickles and a bowl of salad. The common slip is a wet pumpkin, which makes the dough too sticky to spread; roast the pumpkin rather than boiling it. Chef's tip: score a deep diamond pattern before baking and pour oil into the cuts, so every piece comes out with crisp edges.

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PumaloiSteamed rice cakes

Pumaloi is the everyday breakfast of the Khasi Hills: coarse powdered rice, lightly moistened, packed into a tall steamer (traditionally a bamboo or metal 'khiew') and steamed into a soft, crumbly cake. In Shillong it is sold warm at morning stalls with a cup of sweet tea, and at home it is served with tungrymbai, a vegetable stew or a chilli chutney. It is plain on purpose, like Kerala's puttu but drier and lighter. Chef's tip: the flour should feel like damp sand, holding a shape when squeezed but crumbling easily; any wetter and the cake goes gluey.

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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.

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Pulpo a la gallegaOctopus with paprika and potatoes

Pulpo a feira is fair-day food in Galicia: at markets and village fiestas, pulpeiras boil whole octopus in big copper pots, snip it with scissors onto round wooden plates and finish it with coarse salt, pimentón and olive oil. The town of O Carballiño in Ourense holds an octopus festival every August, and you'll find the dish in pulperías across the region all year. At home it is simpler than it looks; the secret is that a frozen octopus is a tender one, because freezing breaks down the tough fibres. Chef's tip: use the octopus cooking water to boil the potatoes, which picks up its flavour and pink colour.

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Wattakka curryPumpkin curry

Wattakka (pumpkin) curry is one of the soft, sweet dishes on a Sri Lankan buth (rice) spread, and in villages around Kurunegala it often appears at Poya day almsgivings, when temple meals are always meat-free. The pumpkin is cooked in its skin with dark roasted curry powder, cinnamon, a pinch of fenugreek and pandan, then thickened with coconut milk and a spoonful of ground mustard, which gives it a gentle tang. Some cooks also add toasted coconut paste (kalu pol); we keep it simpler. The common mistake is cutting the pumpkin too small, so it dissolves into mush before the gravy is ready; keep the chunks about 4 cm. Chef's tip: leave the skin on butternut or Kent pumpkin; it holds each piece together and softens completely as it cooks.

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PulihoraTamarind rice

Pulihora is the rice Andhra families cook for Ugadi, Sankranti and every temple festival in between, and it's also the dish wrapped in banana leaves for long train trips because it keeps all day. The Telugu version is sharper and hotter than Tamil puliyodarai or Karnataka puliyogare: cooked rice is tossed with a thick tamarind paste, turmeric, mustard and a hefty tempering of peanuts, chana dal, green and red chillies and curry leaves, with no sweet spice powder. It's sour, hot, nutty and fragrant with sesame oil. Eat it at room temperature with curd or a crisp papad. Chef's tip: cook the tamarind paste until oil separates at the edges; under-cooked tamarind gives the rice a raw, puckery sourness.

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ZhugGreen chilli and coriander sauce

Zhug is the sauce Yemenite Jews brought to Israel, and now it sits beside the tahini and amba at every falafel and sabich stand in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Fresh green chillies are ground with a big bunch of coriander, garlic, cumin and cardamom into a bright green, punchy relish with a slow, warming heat. Spoon a little into soup, onto eggs, over jachnun or into a pita. Chef's tip: dry the herbs thoroughly after washing; wet leaves make a watery zhug that goes brown in the fridge.

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