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Balal

Charcoal-grilled corn

Walk up the stepped lanes of Darband in the north of Tehran on a summer night and the air is smoky with balal: corn cobs fanned over charcoal until blistered, then dunked straight into a bucket of salty water so they hiss and steam. The quick dip seasons every kernel and softens the charred skin, so the corn is smoky, juicy and salty all at once. It is eaten standing up, between a walk and a cup of tea. The mistake people make is grilling over flames rather than glowing coals, which blackens the outside before the kernels are cooked. Chef's tip: keep the salted water warm by the grill so the corn doesn't cool down when you dip it.

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40 min

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Pad pak ruam, 'stir-fried mixed vegetables', is the dish every Bangkok made-to-order (aharn tam sang) cook can make in ninety seconds over a roaring flame, and the one Thai office workers add to a lunch order so there is something green on the table. The vegetables stay crisp and bright, coated in a thin, glossy sauce of garlic, soy and mushroom stir-fry sauce. Restaurants use oyster sauce; the vegetarian mushroom version tastes almost the same. Serve it with jasmine rice and a fried egg, or as a side to curry. Chef's tip: cut everything before you light the stove, and add the vegetables in order of hardness, so the carrots soften while the greens stay snappy.

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Ask a Bangkok office worker what they had for lunch and the answer is very often 'kra pao gai, khai dao': chopped chicken flash-fried with garlic, chillies and holy basil, spooned over rice and crowned with a fried egg whose edges have blistered into brown lace. Street stalls and food courts across the city cook it to order in a roaring wok in about three minutes. The chicken should be slightly sticky and salty-sweet, the basil peppery with a hint of clove, and the runny yolk becomes a sauce for the rice. A saucer of prik nam pla (sliced chillies in fish sauce) on the side is all it needs. Chef's tip: chop the chicken by hand with a heavy knife instead of buying fine mince; the coarse, uneven bits catch the sauce and stay juicy.

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70 min

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No Filipino birthday is complete without a big tray of pancit, because long noodles stand for a long life; aunts arrive at the party carrying it in foil trays, and it sits on the table next to the cake. Pancit bihon uses thin rice vermicelli tossed with sautéed vegetables and a soy-seasoned stock until the noodles drink up every drop and turn light brown and glossy. This version is vegetarian, with fried tofu standing in for the usual chicken, shrimp and sausage, and vegetable stock in the pan. Squeeze calamansi (or lime) over each plate; the sharp citrus is what lifts it. Chef's tip: never cut the noodles before serving, for luck, and cook them in the stock rather than boiling them first.

25 min

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Pancit MoloPork dumpling soup

Pancit Molo is named after the Molo district of Iloilo City, where Chinese traders settled centuries ago. Despite the word pancit, there are no noodles: the wonton wrappers are the 'noodle', folded around a filling of pork and prawns and simmered in a clear chicken broth with plenty of fried garlic. Ilonggo families serve it on rainy days, at fiestas and at Christmas gatherings, often as a starter before the main feast. The broth should be light, the dumplings silky. Chef's tip: let the wrappers trail a loose 'tail' when you fold them; those soft, frilly edges are what make molo different from a tight Chinese wonton.

105 min

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35 min

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PandesalSoft bread rolls

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148 min

Filipino Baking

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Paneer karahiPaneer in tomato and chilli gravy

Karahi is named after the heavy round-bottomed wok it is cooked and served in, and the roadside dhabas of Lahore and the Grand Trunk Road through Punjab are where it is at its loudest: a cook working three pans at once over a roaring flame, late at night, for tables of friends tearing naan. The Pakistani style is lean on spice and big on tomato, garlic, ginger, green chilli and crushed black pepper, with no onion and no cream, so the masala tastes bright and sharp rather than rich. Paneer takes the place of meat here and only needs warming through. The usual mistake is pouring in water to make more gravy; a karahi gets its sauce only from tomatoes cooked down until the oil comes back out. Chef's tip: crush the coriander seeds and black pepper yourself just before cooking; the coarse, fresh crunch is what makes it taste like a dhaba karahi.

30 min

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Pachi pulusuRaw tamarind soup

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25 min

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Mawa jalebiMilk solid jalebi

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75 min

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PanipopoSweet rolls in coconut sauce

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25 min

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Pachamanca a la ollaPot-steamed meats with potatoes

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135 min

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Pabellón criollo vegetarianoMushrooms, black beans and rice plate

Pabellón criollo is Venezuela's national dish, the lunch plate served in family kitchens and at every Caracas lunch counter: white rice, black beans (caraotas), sweet fried plantain (tajadas) and shredded stewed beef side by side, like the stripes of a flag. This vegetarian version replaces the beef with king oyster mushrooms pulled into strands and stewed in a sofrito with tomato, cumin and a little panela, which gives the same tender, shredded texture. For slow-cooked beans from scratch, see the frijoles negros cubanos page. Chef's tip: shred the mushrooms along the grain with a fork, as you would pull beef; it's what makes them look and eat like carne mechada.

60 min

Venezuelan Vegetarian

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PanzanellaTomato and bread salad

Panzanella is how Tuscans eat old bread in summer: hard, unsalted loaf soaked in water, squeezed and crumbled with juicy tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and basil, then dressed with vinegar and plenty of olive oil. In Florence and the Maremma it is a cool lunch for the hottest days, and every family argues about cucumber. Make it 30 minutes before eating so the bread drinks the tomato juice but keeps some bite. Chef's tip: salt the tomatoes first and let them weep in a bowl; that juice becomes the dressing.

20 min

Italian Salads

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Pão de ló de OvarMolten-centred sponge cake

Pão de ló is Portugal's oldest sponge cake, made with nothing but eggs, sugar and a little flour, and every region claims its own. In Ovar, a town on the lagoon coast south of Porto, it is baked only briefly, so a thin golden crust hides a centre of barely set, glossy egg cream that oozes when cut. It is the cake for Easter, when godparents give it to their godchildren, and it is sold all year at the town's bakeries wrapped in the paper it was baked in. Eat it at room temperature with a spoon, on its own or with a glass of port. Chef's tip: whisk the eggs and sugar for a full 12–15 minutes until the mixture is very thick and white; that air is the only thing that lifts the cake.

50 min

Portuguese Baking

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Pap (stywe pap and krummelpap)Maize porridge

Pap is the everyday staple of South Africa, eaten in Soweto kitchens and Limpopo villages at almost every evening meal, and in a three-legged pot at every braai. It is plain white maize meal cooked in water, in two main styles: stywe pap (stiff pap), smooth enough to roll into balls and dip into relish, and krummelpap (crumbly pap), steamed into dry, fluffy crumbs. Both are eaten with chakalaka or a tomato-and-onion sauce. Chef's tip: wet the meal to a paste before it hits the boiling water, or you'll be fighting lumps for the next 20 minutes.

30 min

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Papa a la huancaínaPotatoes in spicy cheese sauce

Papa a la huancaína is named after Huancayo in Peru's central Andes, but it is eaten everywhere, from Lima's set-lunch counters to Sunday family tables. Thick slices of cold boiled potato are blanketed in huancaína sauce, a silky, mildly hot sauce of ají amarillo, fresh cheese and evaporated milk, then finished with boiled egg and black olives. It is served cold as a starter, and the sauce is also the favourite dip for boiled corn and fried yuca. Use a queso fresco made with vegetarian rennet if you want it fully vegetarian (or a mild feta rinsed of salt). Chef's tip: fry the chillies, onion and garlic before blending; this takes off their raw edge and gives the sauce its rounded, sweet heat.

30 min

Peruvian Snacks & Starters

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Papad ki sabziPapad curry

Papad ki sabzi comes from Rajasthan's dry interior, where fresh vegetables were scarce and pantries relied on sun-dried staples. Roasted papads are broken into a hot, spiced yogurt gravy at the last minute, so they soften but keep a little chew. Marwari households still make it on days when the vegetable basket is empty, eating it with bajra roti or phulka and a little ghee. Because it's ready in minutes, it's also a favourite for unexpected guests. The common mistake is adding the papads too early: they swell and turn to mush. Chef's tip: go easy on the salt, because papads are already well salted; season after tasting with the papad in.

20 min

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PapanașiFried cheese doughnuts

Papanași are the dessert Romanians order after almost any restaurant meal, from the old town of Bucharest to the mountain chalets of Sinaia and Bran. A soft dough of fresh cheese, egg and semolina is shaped into a ring with a little ball on top, fried until puffed and golden, then crowned with cold smântână and sour cherry or blueberry jam. Warm, tangy and very rich, one is a full dessert. Chef's tip: use dry, crumbly cheese and drain it if it's wet; a common mistake is a sloppy dough that soaks up oil and falls apart, so add flour only until it just stops sticking.

45 min

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OyakodonChicken and egg rice bowl

The name means 'parent and child bowl', a gentle joke about cooking the chicken and the egg together. A Nihonbashi chicken restaurant in Tokyo says it first served the dish in the 1890s, and today it is a staple lunch in soba shops, office canteens and home kitchens all over the country. Thigh meat and sliced onion simmer briefly in sweet soy dashi, then beaten egg goes in and is taken off the heat while still soft and glossy. Everything slides onto a bowl of hot rice so the sauce seeps into the grains. Chef's tip: beat the eggs with just a few strokes of chopsticks, leaving streaks of white and yolk, as that marbled look and silky texture is what you're after.

25 min

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Papdi chaatCrisp wafers with potato and chickpeas

Papdi chaat is the plate Delhi orders without thinking about it, from the stalls outside Bengali Market to wedding buffets. Small, flaky wheat wafers called papdi are laid flat, topped with potato and chickpeas, drowned in sweetened yogurt and streaked with tamarind and green chutney, so you get crunch and creaminess in the same spoonful. Homemade papdi, crisp with ajwain, are far better than shop ones and keep for a week in a tin, though bought papdi will do on a busy day. Chef's tip: rub the oil into the flour until it holds together when squeezed; that shortening is what makes the papdi flaky rather than hard.

45 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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Papeda with ikan kuah kuningSago porridge with fish soup

In Ambon, Jayapura and the islands between, the everyday staple isn't rice but papeda: sago starch stirred with boiling water into a translucent, glue-like porridge. It has almost no taste of its own, which is the point; it's eaten with ikan kuah kuning, a sharp, yellow fish soup bright with turmeric, lime and lemon basil. Families twirl the papeda out of the pot on two sticks, drop it into a bowl and ladle the soup over, then slurp it down without chewing. The texture is surprising the first time: slippery, soft and soothing next to the hot, sour broth. Chef's tip: the water must be at a full rolling boil when it hits the sago, or the papeda stays white and lumpy instead of turning clear.

60 min

Indonesian Fish

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Papelón con limónIced panela and lime drink

Papelón con limón is the cold drink of Venezuela, served in jugs alongside arepas, empanadas and every Sunday lunch, and sold by the glass from street stalls in the heat of Maracaibo and the plains. Papelón is the Venezuelan name for panela, the dark block of unrefined cane sugar; melted into water and mixed with lots of fresh lime, it tastes like a caramel-scented lemonade. The hot Colombian cousin is aguapanela. Chef's tip: dissolve the papelón in warm water first, then chill; it never fully dissolves in cold water and leaves grains at the bottom.

10 min

Venezuelan Drinks

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OyakiStuffed steamed dumplings

Oyaki are the everyday snack of Nagano's mountain villages, where rice was scarce and wheat and buckwheat grew better. The plump dumplings are filled with whatever the season gives: pickled nozawana greens in winter, aubergine and miso in summer, sweet squash in autumn. Old farmhouses baked them in the ashes of the irori hearth; today they are browned in a pan and steamed, so they come out crusty on both faces with a soft, chewy middle. They travel well, which made them the lunch of farmers and hikers on the trails around Zenkoji temple. Chef's tip: let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes. A relaxed dough stretches thin around the filling without tearing.

65 min

Japanese Snacks & Starters

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