High-protein vegetarian meals

Meat-free meals with plenty of protein from paneer, dal, beans, tofu and eggs. (550 recipes)

Polpettone di fagioliniGreen bean and potato loaf

In Genoa and along the Riviera di Levante, polpettone is the summer dish made when the green beans come in fast: beans and potatoes are boiled, chopped and bound with eggs, cheese and fresh marjoram, then baked flat in an oiled tin until the top is golden and crackly. It is eaten warm for supper or cold the next day, cut into squares for a picnic or a train journey. One portion gives about 24 g of protein, from the eggs, ricotta and Parmesan, with a little more from the beans and potato. Parmesan is made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian Italian-style hard cheese if you need it to be strictly vegetarian. The most common mistake is leaving the vegetables wet: squeeze and drain them well, or the loaf stays soggy and will not slice cleanly. Chef's tip: scatter dry breadcrumbs, or fine polenta for a gluten-free loaf, over the oiled tin before you spread the mixture in; it gives the bottom a crisp crust, just like a Genoese grandmother's.

70 min

Italian Vegetarian

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Guota doufuEgg-battered pan-fried tofu

Guota doufu comes from the Lu kitchen of Shandong, where guota means pan-fried and then simmered so the coating soaks up the sauce. It is a banquet dish in Jinan restaurants and a family favourite at home: tofu slices are dusted in flour, dipped in egg, fried golden, then simmered briefly in a savoury stock with ginger and spring onion until the eggy coating turns tender and juicy. This version uses vegetable stock and no cooking wine. A portion gives about 24 g of protein, from the tofu and eggs. The common mistake is too much stock, which turns the coating soggy and loose; add only enough to come halfway up the tofu. Chef's tip: shake off the excess flour well before the egg, or the coating peels away in sheets.

30 min

Chinese Vegetarian

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Bob chorbaWhite bean soup

Bob chorba is one of Bulgaria's best-loved soups, cooked in every region, served in monasteries such as Rila and set on the meat-free table on Christmas Eve, when the dishes must be Lenten. White beans simmer slowly with onion, carrot, peppers and tomato until creamy, then the pot is seasoned with dzhodzhen (dried mint), chubritsa (summer savory) and sweet paprika fried in oil. A bowl gives about 21 g of protein from the beans, and it is eaten with fresh bread and a hot pickled pepper alongside. Soak the beans for 12 hours first; that time is not counted below. The most common mistake is pouring paprika into very hot oil: it burns in seconds and makes the soup bitter, so take the pan off the heat first. Chef's tip: dried savory is the true taste of this soup; if you can't find it, use dried thyme with a pinch of oregano.

110 min

Bulgarian Soups

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Palak paneerPaneer in spinach sauce

Palak paneer is a Punjabi winter favourite, made when fresh spinach piles up in the markets of Amritsar and Ludhiana, and now cooked on weeknights all over India with makki di roti, naan or rice. The spinach is blanched for just a minute, blended smooth and cooked with fried garlic, onion, tomato and gentle spices, then soft cubes of paneer are folded in. Paneer is acid-set, so it contains no animal rennet. The usual mistake is overcooking the spinach, which turns the sauce khaki and bitter: blanch it briefly, cool it fast, and simmer the purée for only a few minutes. Chef's tip: fry a little extra sliced garlic in ghee and pour it over just before serving for the classic dhaba finish.

30 min

Indian Curries

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Kosua ne mekoBoiled eggs with pepper relish

In the traffic of Accra and at the lorry stations of Kumasi, hawkers carry trays of peeled boiled eggs with a jar of meko, a fresh, fiery relish of chilli, onion and tomato ground in an earthenware asanka. Buyers split the egg and spoon the pepper inside, and at home it is a quick evening snack or a light supper with bread. The usual mistake is boiling the eggs too long, which leaves a grey-green ring round the yolk and a rubbery white; ten minutes and a cold-water plunge give a firm, bright yolk. Wash your hands well after handling the chillies. Chef's tip: grind the onion and salt first, then the chilli and the tomato last, so the relish stays chunky rather than watery.

15 min

Ghanaian Snacks & Starters

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Huevos al albañil (bricklayer's eggs)

Huevos al albañil, 'bricklayer's eggs', come from the fondas and food stalls of central Mexico that feed builders a filling breakfast before the sun gets hot: scrambled eggs cooked gently and then bathed in a spicy salsa of charred tomato and serrano chile. They are eaten with warm corn tortillas and refried beans, and they make an equally good quick dinner. The mistake is cooking the eggs fully before they meet the salsa; they keep cooking in it and end up dry and rubbery. Chef's tip: char the tomatoes and chiles until properly blackened in spots, which gives the salsa its smoky depth.

20 min

Mexican Breakfast & Brunch

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Omelet-e gojeh farangiTomato and egg omelette

In Iran the word omelet means something quite different from a folded French one: ripe tomatoes are cooked down in oil with a little onion and turmeric until jammy, then eggs are stirred through so they set in soft streaks of red and gold. It is the classic quick dinner of Tehran apartments and student dorms, eaten from the pan with lavash and a plate of herbs. The mistake that makes it watery is adding the eggs before the tomato juices have cooked away; wait until the sauce is thick and the oil sizzles again. Chef's tip: grate the tomatoes on a box grater and throw away the skins, so the base melts down in minutes.

20 min

Persian Breakfast & Brunch

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Tortilla de plátanoRipe plantain omelette

In Havana and across the Cuban countryside, tortilla de plátano is a home supper made from what is in the kitchen: slices of very ripe plantain fried until caramelised, then set in a thick, golden omelette. The sweet fruit against salty egg is the whole point, and it is served with white rice and black beans or a simple tomato salad. The mistake people make is using a plantain that is still yellow and firm; it stays starchy and dry, so wait until the skin is mostly black and the fruit gives when pressed. Chef's tip: flip the tortilla by sliding it onto a plate, covering with the pan and turning both over together, which keeps it whole.

20 min

Cuban Breakfast & Brunch

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Ghanaian egg stew

Egg stew is the fastest stew in a Ghanaian kitchen, made in Accra and Kumasi homes for breakfast or a weeknight dinner: onions, fresh tomatoes and red pepper are cooked down in oil until thick and sweet, then beaten eggs are stirred through so they set in soft, sauce-coated curds. It is eaten with boiled yam or green plantain (ampesi), rice, or a soft bread roll. The mistake that makes it taste raw and sharp is adding the egg too soon: the tomato base must fry until the oil rises to the top. Many cooks use a stock cube, which is often chicken-based, so this version uses a vegetable cube. Chef's tip: pour the eggs in a thin stream and wait 30 seconds before the first stir, so they form large, tender pieces instead of crumbs.

25 min

Ghanaian Curries

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Tvorog so smetanoy (farmer's cheese with sour cream)

Across Russia, a bowl of soft tvorog with a spoon of smetana and a little sugar or jam is the breakfast grandmothers swear by and the supper students live on. The fresh, slightly sour curd and the cool cream make something like a rustic cheesecake you eat with a spoon, high in protein and ready in five minutes; add berries in summer. Tvorog, like quark and cottage cheese, is set with culture rather than rennet, so it suits vegetarians. The mistake is buying the driest block and serving it as it is, which feels chalky; break it up and loosen it with the smetana first. Chef's tip: mash the tvorog with the sugar and let it stand two minutes so the sugar dissolves before you add the cream.

5 min

Russian Breakfast & Brunch

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Gzik (Poznań quark with radish and chives)

Gzik is a Poznań favourite, so much a part of Greater Poland that the region's potato-and-quark supper, pyry z gzikiem, has its own festival. Soft white quark is beaten with sour cream, then mixed with chopped radish, onion and chives into a cool, tangy, crunchy spread that is spooned over hot boiled potatoes in their skins, or onto rye bread for breakfast. The most common mistake is using dry, crumbly quark without loosening it, which gives a pasty gzik; it should be smooth and just spoonable. Quark and sour cream are made without rennet, so this is a good vegetarian choice. Chef's tip: salt the chopped radish and onion only at the last minute, so they stay crisp instead of weeping into the cheese.

Jajecznica is what a Polish household cooks when there are ten minutes and a box of eggs: soft, large curds stirred slowly in plenty of butter, sometimes with a little onion softened first and always with a shower of chives. It turns up at weekend breakfasts with bread and sliced tomato, and just as often as a light supper after work. The usual mistake is a pan that is too hot, which turns the eggs rubbery and weepy before they have had a chance to go creamy. If you are cooking for anyone pregnant, very young, older or otherwise vulnerable, cook the curds until no liquid egg remains. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat while the eggs still look slightly underdone; they finish setting on the way to the plate.

10 min

Polish Breakfast & Brunch

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Œufs mimosaStuffed eggs with grated yolk

Œufs mimosa have been a starter in French bistros and on family tables for generations, served at Sunday lunch, on Easter platters and as a light supper with salad and bread. Hard-boiled eggs are halved, their yolks mashed with mayonnaise and mustard and piped back in, then a little yolk is grated over the top so it looks like the fluffy yellow flowers of the mimosa tree. They are naturally gluten free. The most common mistake is overboiling the eggs, which leaves a grey-green ring around the yolk and a sulphurous taste; 10 minutes and an ice bath is enough. Chef's tip: keep back one yolk just for grating, so the topping stays bright yellow and dry.

24 min

French Snacks & Starters

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Pad thua ngok tao hoo (Thai bean sprouts and tofu stir-fry)

This plain, fast stir-fry is a fixture of home kitchens and made-to-order rice stalls across central Thailand, where it is eaten as one of two or three dishes shared over jasmine rice at dinner. Firm tofu is browned first, then the sprouts go in for barely a minute so they stay juicy and snap when you bite them. Thai cooks often season it with oyster sauce and fish sauce; this version uses soy and a mushroom-based sauce so it is vegan. The mistake almost everyone makes is cooking the sprouts too long, which turns them limp and watery. Chef's tip: pick off the stringy tails of the sprouts if you have five spare minutes; it makes the dish noticeably crisper.

11 min

Thai Vegetarian

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Dim bhunaFried boiled eggs in masala

Dim bhuna is a Bangladeshi weeknight standby, cooked in kitchens from Chattogram to Sylhet when there are eggs in the basket and rice on the stove. Boiled eggs are fried until their skins blister golden, then tossed in a thick, dark masala of slow-browned onion and garlic that clings to them rather than pooling as a gravy. Eat it with plain rice, daal and a squeeze of lime. The mistake most people make is dropping smooth whole eggs into hot oil: they spit and can burst, and the masala slides off. Chef's tip: score each peeled egg with three shallow cuts so it fries safely and soaks up the spices.

30 min

Bangladeshi Curries

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NimrooHalf-set fried eggs

Nimroo, literally 'half-done', is what Iranian students in Tehran and families in every city cook when there is no time: eggs fried gently in a small pan until the whites set and the yolks stay soft, sprinkled with salt, pepper and sometimes a pinch of turmeric. It is eaten straight from the pan with torn lavash or sangak, fresh herbs and sweet black tea, for breakfast or a late supper. The common mistake is a fierce heat that burns the edges of the white while a raw film stays round the yolk; a lid for the last minute sets the top gently. For anyone pregnant, very young, older or with a weakened immune system, cook the yolks until firm. Chef's tip: serve it in the pan it was cooked in, on a board, so it stays hot.

8 min

Persian Breakfast & Brunch

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From hostel kitchens in Pune to the egg carts outside Chennai railway stations, the masala omelette is what India makes when breakfast, a late supper or a tiffin filling has to be ready in minutes. Eggs are beaten with raw onion, tomato, green chilli, coriander and a pinch of turmeric, then spread thin on a hot tawa so the edges crisp and the middle stays soft and juicy. Eat it folded with buttered toast, rolled in a chapati, or beside dal and rice. The usual mistake is chopping the onion and tomato too coarsely: big pieces stop the egg setting round them and the omelette tears when you flip it. Chef's tip: salt the eggs only at the last second before they hit the pan, because salted tomato weeps water into the batter and the omelette turns spongy.

11 min

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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Dal paratha

30 min

Chinese Snacks & Starters

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BabfőzelékCreamy white bean stew

Babfőzelék is what cooks in Transdanubian villages and Budapest workers' canteens make on Fridays and in the cold months, when a pot of dried white beans goes a long way. The beans cook until creamy, then a garlicky paprika roux thickens the liquid, a splash of vinegar makes it tangy and sour cream softens it. Served with a slice of rye bread or a fried egg, it is a hearty meat-free lunch. Soak the beans overnight first. Chef's tip: add salt and vinegar only once the beans are completely soft; acid in the pot early keeps the skins tough no matter how long they cook.

When a baby cuts a first tooth, Ethiopian families celebrate with tirs mastecha, and the dish at the centre is nifro: a big pot of whole wheat berries, chickpeas and fava beans boiled with salt and handed round warm in cupped hands or small bowls. It also turns up at funerals, saints' day gatherings and long coffee ceremonies in Gondar and Addis, chewy, nutty and plain in the best way. The common mistake is boiling everything together from dry, so the wheat bursts while the fava stay hard; soak them all overnight and add the wheat later. Fava beans are unsafe for anyone with G6PD deficiency (favism), so leave them out if in doubt. Not gluten free. Chef's tip: once drained, toss the warm nifro in a dry pan for two minutes; it dries the surface and makes the salt and a pinch of berbere cling.

795 min

Ethiopian Snacks & Starters

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Ash-e joBarley and chickpea soup

Ash-e jo is a winter staple in Tehran, Kashan and the cold cities of the plateau, and many families cook a huge pot in the month of Ramadan to break the fast. Pearl barley simmers with chickpeas, beans and lentils until it turns creamy, then plenty of herbs and a swirl of kashk make it tangy, savoury and filling. Serve it hot with bread and extra kashk at the table. The common mistake is skipping the soaking, which leaves the chickpeas hard long after the barley has gone to mush; soak them overnight. Kashk contains dairy. Chef's tip: the soup thickens a lot as it stands, so make it a day ahead and loosen it with hot water as you reheat.

140 min

Persian Soups

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Ash-e haft danehSeven-grain soup

Saigon's chay restaurants, the ones tucked beside pagodas that fill up on the 1st and 15th of each lunar month, nearly always have a plate of this on the table: golden tofu cubes buried under a crunchy, fragrant rubble of fried lemongrass and red chilli. The tofu stays soft inside, the lemongrass turns nutty and crisp, and a splash of tamari with a little sugar glazes everything. Eat it with steamed jasmine rice, sliced cucumber and a bowl of clear vegetable soup. Many chay cooks skip garlic and shallot, so this version leaves them out. Chef's tip: mince the lemongrass really finely and fry it on its own until golden; coarse chunks or lemongrass added with the tofu stay woody and chewy.

High in the volcanic cirque of Cilaos, farmers grow tiny brown-green lentils on terraces, and the whole island prizes them: they hold their shape, taste nutty and mineral, and turn up beside every kind of cari, with a mound of white rice and a spoon of rougail. The village holds a lentil festival each autumn, and a pot of lentilles is a fixture of family Sunday lunches across Réunion. Outside the island, use small French green or brown lentils, which behave in the same way. Don't let them boil hard; a fierce boil splits the skins and turns the pot into mush, so keep it at a gentle bubble. Chef's tip: take the time to brown the onions properly before the lentils go in, because that slow, sweet browning is what gives the sauce its depth.

60 min

Mauritian Curries

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Ask a mother in Kathmandu, Pokhara or a hill village what her baby eats after the pasni rice-feeding ceremony, and the answer is often lito: porridge made from sarbottam pitho, a 'super flour' that families roast and grind themselves from two parts soybean to one part each of maize and wheat. Cooked with water it becomes a smooth, nutty, toast-coloured porridge with more protein than plain rice. For babies there is no salt, sugar, jaggery, honey or ghee needed. It contains soya and wheat (gluten). Chef's tip: roast the grains separately, each until it smells nutty and cracks between your teeth, then grind and sieve; the beans need longest.

Dubki means a dip, and in this Chhattisgarhi kadhi the spiced urad dal batter is dropped raw straight into the simmering curd so the dumplings cook in the pot rather than in hot oil. It is the lighter, everyday cousin of pakora kadhi, served with rice at lunch across Durg and Raipur and at village feasts. The common mistake is dropping the batter into kadhi that is barely warm; the dumplings fall apart, so the kadhi must be at a lively simmer. Chef's tip: whisk the batter by hand for a full 3 minutes until a spoonful floats in water, and the dumplings will be airy, not dense.

290 min

Indian Curries

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Porotos con riendasBean and squash stew with spaghetti

When the Andes turn white above Santiago, lunch counters in the Mercado Central and home kitchens all over the Central Valley put on a pot of porotos con riendas, dried beans stewed with squash until thick and orange, with broken spaghetti, the 'reins', stirred through at the end. It is served in deep plates with a spoonful of pebre or a tomato salad alongside. Many cooks add longaniza sausage; this version keeps it meat-free and relies on smoky paprika and slow-cooked onion. Adding the pasta too early is the common mistake: it swells, goes soft and drinks all the liquid. Chef's tip: grate a third of the squash so it melts into the beans and thickens the stew, and dice the rest so you still get chunks.

115 min

Chilean Curries

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Kangri khattaTangy chickpeas

At a Kangra dham, the leaf-plate feast cooked by botis (Brahmin cooks) for weddings and village festivals, khatta comes towards the end, a dark, sweet-sour dish of chickpeas or pumpkin in a gravy soured with tamarind or dried mango and balanced with jaggery. It is served with rice and has no onion or garlic. The gravy is thin, glossy and almost black from the long-cooked tamarind. The common mistake is adding the tamarind to undercooked chickpeas; the acid stops them softening, so cook them fully first. Chef's tip: a teaspoon of rice flour or gram flour stirred into the gravy gives the dham-style gloss without making it heavy.

50 min

Indian Curries

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OotiSoft dried pea curry

Ooti is a Meitei comfort dish from Manipur, especially loved in winter and at the community feasts of Ningol Chakouba: dried peas simmered with a pinch of soda until they collapse into a soft, mild stew scented with garlic and spring onion. It goes with rice and a fiery eromba. The mistake is adding too much soda, which tastes soapy; a small pinch is enough. Chef's tip: soak the peas overnight and they will be soft in about 40 minutes.

55 min

Indian Curries

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Kelli chanaSpiced chickpea snack

On Imphal evenings, kelli chana is sold from steaming pots at street stalls and outside markets: boiled chickpeas tossed while hot with raw onion, chilli, coriander and lemon, sometimes with a spoon of roasted chilli. It is a cheap, filling snack before dinner. The mistake is using under-cooked chickpeas, which stay hard; they should squash easily between finger and thumb. Chef's tip: toss the chickpeas while still hot so they soak up the lemon and salt.

20 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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Gahat ke paratheHorse gram stuffed parathas

Gahat (horse gram) is the warming winter lentil of Uttarakhand, and in Garhwal it is boiled, mashed and stuffed into parathas for cold mornings, served with butter, curd and a hill pickle. The filling is spiked with ginger, garlic, green chilli and coriander, and the parathas keep you full for hours. Gahat is hard, so it needs a long soak and a pressure cooker. The common mistake is leaving the filling wet; moisture steams through the dough and the paratha tears. Chef's tip: dry the mashed gahat in a pan for a few minutes after mashing until it holds together like a soft crumble.

80 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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Chochos con tostadoLupin bean and toasted corn salad

On street corners in Quito and Latacunga vendors pile paper cups with chochos, the pale Andean lupin beans, tossed with lime-soaked red onion and tomato and showered with crunchy toasted corn. It is a cheap, filling mid-morning snack, sour and salty with a nutty crunch, and it doubles as a light lunch with a fried plantain on the side. Buy chochos ready debittered, sold cooked in jars or vacuum packs: raw lupins are bitter and contain toxic alkaloids until they have been soaked and boiled for several days, so never use dried ones without that long treatment. Lupin is also a declared allergen and can affect people with peanut allergy. The common mistake is skipping the rinse, which leaves the beans tasting of brine. Chef's tip: salt the onion with the lime juice 10 minutes ahead so it softens and turns pink.

25 minAndean Snacks & Starters

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Sopa negraBlack bean soup with egg

Costa Rican grandmothers make sopa negra with the broth from the week's pot of black beans, and in San José sodas it comes to the table steaming, with a soft-boiled egg halved into the bowl and rice or tortillas alongside. The broth is thin rather than creamy, savoury with sofrito of onion, sweet pepper, celery and culantro, and half the beans are blended to give it body. It is rainy-season comfort food. Blending all the beans is the common mistake: you lose the whole beans that make it a soup rather than a purée. Chef's tip: cook the eggs for exactly 6½ minutes so the yolks stay jammy and melt into the hot broth.

45 minCentral American Soups

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Quinchoncho guisadoStewed pigeon peas with pumpkin

In Lara and across eastern Venezuela, quinchonchos (pigeon peas) are cooked during Holy Week and on ordinary weekdays alike, stewed with a sofrito of onion, sweet ají dulce and garlic and thickened with pumpkin that melts into the broth. It's eaten with white rice, arepas or a wedge of fried plantain, and many homes add pork; this version keeps it meat-free. The common mistake is adding the pumpkin too early so it disappears. Chef's tip: put the pumpkin in for the last 20 minutes, then mash a few pieces against the pot to thicken the stew.

105 min

Venezuelan Curries

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Guyanese boiled and fried channaFried garlicky chickpeas

Outside schools, cinemas and the Stabroek Market in Georgetown, vendors scoop warm fried channa into paper cones, and at Diwali and Phagwah (Holi) gatherings it comes out by the bowlful with a drink. Dried chickpeas are boiled until just tender, then fried hard with garlic, onion and hot pepper until the skins crackle and the outsides turn golden. Frying wet chickpeas is the mistake that ruins it: they spit, steam and stay soft, so dry them very well first. Chef's tip: let the boiled channa sit spread on a tea towel for 20 minutes; the drier they are, the crunchier the edges.

90 min

Guyanese Snacks & Starters

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Dombrés aux haricots rougesFlour dumplings in red beans

Dombrés are the small rolled flour dumplings that Guianese Creole cooks in Cayenne and Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni drop into a pot of red kidney beans, so they swell and soak up the herb-scented sauce. In French Guiana and the Antilles the beans are often cooked with salted pork tail or smoked meat; this version leaves out the meat and uses smoked paprika, onion, chives, thyme and cloves for depth, making a hearty vegan dinner with rice. Dried kidney beans must be boiled hard for 10 minutes before simmering to destroy a natural toxin, so don't skip that step or cook them in a slow cooker from raw. Dumplings that fall apart are the usual problem: keep the dough firm and the pot at a gentle simmer once they go in. Chef's tip: roll each dombré between your palms into a small torpedo; that shape cooks evenly and holds together.

120 min

Guyanese Curries

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Guyanese egg ballsFried cassava-coated eggs

Egg balls are the snack you buy in a paper bag at a Georgetown cake shop or from a tray at a cricket match at Bourda, with a generous spoon of mango sour over the top. A whole hard-boiled egg is wrapped in a layer of mashed cassava seasoned with garlic, hot pepper and herbs, then fried until crisp and golden. The usual problem is cassava that is too wet or too thin a layer, so the balls crack in the oil; mash it dry and keep the coat about 1 cm thick. Eggs are the main allergen here. Chef's tip: chill the wrapped balls for 20 minutes before frying so they hold their shape.

60 min

Guyanese Snacks & Starters

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Äggost, egg cheese, belongs to the farm kitchens of Västergötland and Halland in west Sweden, where it is made for Christmas, Easter and midsummer tables and the leftovers become breakfast with cloudberry or lingonberry jam. Eggs and milk are heated until soft, sweet curds form, which are drained in a holed mould so they keep its pattern. It is creamy, mild and slightly sweet. The common mistake is rushing the heat: boiling the milk too hard makes rubbery curds, so keep it at a gentle simmer. Chef's tip: this version sets the curds with buttermilk, not rennet, so it is suitable for vegetarians; drain it overnight in the fridge for the firmest slice.

45 minScandinavian Breakfast & Brunch

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Mayai pasuaSplit eggs with kachumbari

Glass-boxed carts outside Nairobi's bars and matatu stages sell mayai pasua into the evening: a vendor splits a hard-boiled egg with a knife, packs the gap with fresh kachumbari and shakes over salt and chilli. It is a quick, protein-heavy snack that tastes cool and sharp from the onion, tomato and lime against the soft yolk. Make a plateful for a party or a packed lunch, and serve with a dash of chilli sauce. The mistake to avoid is a soft or jammy yolk; for street style the eggs must be fully hard-boiled so they split cleanly. Chef's tip: salt the chopped onion with the lime juice for 5 minutes before adding the tomato; it softens the raw bite the way the vendors' pre-mixed kachumbari does.

15 minEast African Snacks & Starters

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Pasta jajecznaEgg spread

In Poland pasta jajeczna is the everyday breakfast and kanapki spread, piled thickly on rye bread or a crusty roll and topped with radish slices, and it is always on the table at Easter breakfast. Hard-boiled eggs are chopped finely or mashed with mayonnaise, a little mustard and a lot of chives into a creamy, savoury spread. The common mistake is boiling the eggs too long: overcooked yolks turn grey-green and taste sulphurous, so stop at 10 minutes and chill them at once. Chef's tip: grate the eggs on the coarse side of a box grater instead of chopping; you get a fluffy, even spread in seconds without mashing it to paste.

18 min

Polish Breakfast & Brunch

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MucapataCoconut rice and cowpeas

Quelimane cooks have a gift for making rice taste rich without a scrap of meat, and mucapata proves it: rice and boiled cowpeas are cooked down in coconut milk until the grains swell, burst at the edges and bind into a soft, spoonable mass. It sits somewhere between a pilaf and a porridge, mild and faintly sweet from the coconut, with the beans giving it body and an earthy note. Families along the Zambezi delta serve it at lunch beside a tomato and onion sauce, greens cooked with peanuts, or a fiery dab of piri-piri. The usual mistake is adding the rice before the beans are properly soft; they never catch up once the coconut milk goes in. Chef's tip: stir it only now and then once the rice is in and keep the heat very low, so the bottom turns lightly golden rather than scorched.

60 minSouthern African Rice & Grains

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KajganaScrambled eggs with peppers

Kajgana is the everyday breakfast of Serbia and Montenegro, cooked in every home and kafana: eggs scrambled softly in a little fat, often with sweet peppers or onion, and finished with a spoon of kajmak, the rich clotted cream of the Balkans, or crumbled white cheese. It is eaten straight from the pan with warm bread. The mistake is high heat: the eggs seize into dry, rubbery lumps; a medium-low flame and constant gentle stirring give soft, creamy curds. Chef's tip: take the pan off the heat while the eggs still look slightly underdone, because they keep cooking in the hot pan for another minute.

13 minBalkan Breakfast & Brunch

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NjahiBlack beans mashed with banana

Kikuyu families in Kiambu, Murang'a and Nyeri cook a big pot of njahi for a woman who has just given birth, and visitors bring the beans as a gift; the dish is said to build strength and milk. The beans are small, glossy black lablab beans, simmered for a long time until creamy, then mashed with ripe bananas so the result is dark, soft and gently sweet against the savoury onion and tomato. Look for dried njahi at African grocers (sometimes labelled black dolichos or black lablab beans); black turtle beans are the closest swap and cook a little faster, but skipping the overnight soak is the classic error with either: unsoaked beans stay chalky even after hours. Eat it warm with a cup of tea, or as a main with greens. Chef's tip: choose bananas with brown freckles but still firm; overripe black ones make the mash taste like dessert.

150 minEast African Curries

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Lynyvi varenykyLazy curd dumplings

Lynyvi varenyky, 'lazy dumplings', are the Ukrainian weekday breakfast for families who love varenyky but have no time to fill them: the curd cheese goes into the dough itself, which is rolled into a log, sliced and boiled for a few minutes. They come out soft, tender and lightly sweet, finished with melted butter and a spoon of sour cream, sometimes with jam. The mistake is adding too much flour to make the dough easier to handle, which makes the dumplings heavy; the dough should stay soft and a little sticky. Chef's tip: dust your hands and board rather than the dough, and boil one test dumpling first; if it falls apart, add just one more tablespoon of flour.

27 min

Ukrainian Breakfast & Brunch

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Kos ata curryJackfruit seed curry

During the jackfruit season, roughly April to July, Sri Lankan households save every seed, and kos ata curry is how they become a hearty weekday dish served with rice and greens. The seeds are boiled tender, peeled of their papery skin, then simmered in a dark roasted curry powder and coconut milk gravy until they taste like chestnuts in a spicy sauce. Serve with red rice and a sambol. The usual mistake is undercooking the seeds; they must be boiled until a fork goes in easily, or they stay hard and are hard to digest. A pressure cooker saves time: boil the seeds for 10 minutes on high. Chef's tip: crack each seed lightly with the flat of a knife before simmering so it soaks up the gravy.

50 min

Sri Lankan Curries

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Tvarohová pomazánkaQuark spread

Tvarohová pomazánka is the savoury quark spread made in Czech and Slovak kitchens for breakfast, snacks and the evening bread plate: tvaroh beaten with a little butter, finely chopped onion, sweet paprika and chives, then spread on dark rye bread. It is fresh, tangy and pale orange. The mistake is using raw onion cut too coarsely, which overpowers the mild quark and makes the spread watery; chop it very finely or grate it. Chef's tip: make it 30 minutes ahead and chill it, so the paprika colours the spread and the onion mellows.

In Punjabi and Haryanvi homes lauki chana dal is a weekday staple, and it travels in the dabba's lidded steel bowl beside rotis or rice. Chana dal holds its shape while the bottle gourd melts into it, so the dal is thick enough not to slosh about. The mistake is adding the lauki at the start with the dal: it collapses into strings and turns the dal watery. Add it once the dal is half cooked. Chef's tip: choose a young, pale-green lauki that your nail dents easily; an old one is bitter and seedy, so taste a small piece raw and discard it if it is bitter.

50 min

Indian Curries

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Ndizi na maharageGreen bananas and red beans

Across Tanzania, from Dar es Salaam to the banana farms around Kilimanjaro, ndizi na maharage is a filling weekday lunch: green cooking bananas and red beans simmered in one pot with tomato, onion and coconut milk until the bananas are soft and the sauce creamy. It needs nothing more than a few slices of avocado or a fresh kachumbari salad on the side. The usual mistake is cooking dried red kidney beans gently from the start: they must boil hard for 10 minutes first to be safe. Peel green bananas with oiled hands, as the sap stains and sticks. Chef's tip: add the bananas only once the beans are tender, then let them simmer until they just break at the edges and thicken the sauce.

90 minEast African Vegetarian

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Dutch grandmothers named this dish 'bare bottoms in the grass' for the pale white beans peeping out between the green ones, and it is a summer weekday supper all over the Netherlands, when runner and French beans are cheap. Green beans and cooked white beans are simmered together, then stirred with butter, a little stock and plenty of pepper, often with boiled potatoes on the side. Many families add bacon or a smoked sausage; this version keeps it vegetarian, so serve it with a fried egg or a vegetarian sausage if you want more. The usual mistake is boiling the green beans until grey: they should stay bright with a slight bite. Chef's tip: a splash of the bean-cooking liquid stirred in with the butter makes a glossy little sauce that clings to everything.

30 min

Dutch Vegetarian

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FirindaMashed bean stew

Firinda comes from Ankole and Kigezi in western Uganda, where beans are the backbone of daily meals, eaten at lunch with matooke, millet bread or sweet potatoes. Red beans are boiled until completely soft, then mashed and cooked down with fried onion and tomato into a thick, smooth stew that hugs whatever is beside it. The usual mistake is skimping on the cooking: firinda only gets its creamy texture when the beans are really soft, and dried red beans must be boiled hard for 10 minutes before the long simmer. Pressure cooker option: after the hard boil, cook for 25 minutes at pressure. Chef's tip: mash only two-thirds of the beans and leave the rest whole, for a stew that is creamy but still has some bite.

100 minEast African Curries

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LapenaPigeon peas in sesame paste

Lapena comes out for Christmas, weddings and the days when relatives arrive in Gulu from Kampala: dried pigeon peas boiled until soft, then cooked slowly in roasted sesame paste until thick, earthy and nutty, with a faint bitterness from the sesame that balances the sweetness of the peas. Some families mash it smooth, others keep the peas whole; both are eaten with kwon millet bread, rice or boiled cassava. Dried pigeon peas are sold as toor or arhar (whole, not split) in Indian grocers. The common mistake is adding salt before the peas are tender, which keeps the skins tough. Chef's tip: if you can only find light tahini, toast it in a dry pan for a minute or two until it darkens to get closer to Acholi sesame paste.

120 minEast African Curries

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UmngqushoSamp and sugar beans

Xhosa households from Mthatha to Qunu put a pot of umngqusho on the fire on Sunday morning and let it murmur for hours while the rest of lunch comes together; Nelson Mandela famously named it his favourite meal. Crushed maize kernels and speckled sugar beans cook down together into something halfway between a risotto and a bean stew, chewy and creamy at once, sweet with slowly softened onion and thickened by potato that collapses into the pot. Eat it as it is with a spoon of chakalaka, or next to cabbage and a tomato relish. The usual mistake is skipping the overnight soak: unsoaked samp stays chalky in the centre no matter how long you cook it. Chef's tip: hold back the salt until the samp is soft, then season generously, because this dish swallows salt.

240 min

South African Curries

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No Saturday table in Luanda feels complete without a pot of these beans next to the funge, and the deep orange colour of the dende oil tells you they are ready. Soft, creamy beans are simmered with onion, garlic, tomato and a generous pour of red palm oil until the broth thickens and every bean is coated, earthy, faintly smoky and rich. Serve them with funge de bombó (cassava) or funge de milho, with fried plantain, or with rice and greens. Buy unrefined red palm oil from an African grocer, ideally certified sustainable; it is not the same as the pale refined kind. Chef's tip: hold back the salt and tomato until the beans are truly soft, because both firm up the skins and are the usual reason a bean pot never gets creamy.

90 minSouthern African Curries

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Mas ko dalBlack lentil dal

Mas ko dal, made from whole black urad, is the thick, dark dal of the Nepali hills, cooked in heavy pots in Kathmandu, Gorkha and the Newar towns, especially on cold days and for festival meals. Slow cooking makes it creamy and earthy, and the tempering of jimbu, garlic and cumin in hot mustard oil gives it the scent of the Himalaya. Eat with rice, roti or dhido. Suitable as part of a balanced diet, it is high in protein and fibre: about 250 kcal and 30 g carbohydrate per portion; brown rice or millet dhido suits it well. The usual mistake is not soaking the lentils, which leaves them hard and the dal thin; soak them overnight. Chef's tip: simmer the dal with a few ginger slices and mash it lightly with a wooden spoon at the end for the classic thick texture.

70 min

Nepali Curries

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Ispanakhi matsvnitSpinach with yogurt

In Georgian homes from Tbilisi to Kakheti, ispanakhi matsvnit is one of the quick dishes on a supra table and a weekday side all spring, when spinach is young and sweet. The spinach is wilted, squeezed and chopped, then folded into thick matsoni (Georgian set yoghurt) with crushed garlic, coriander and a little blue fenugreek, and served cool with bread, beans or grilled vegetables. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 110 kcal and 8 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is not squeezing the spinach hard enough, so water seeps into the yoghurt and makes it thin. Chef's tip: crush the garlic with a pinch of salt to a smooth paste so it spreads evenly through the yoghurt rather than hitting you in raw lumps.

15 min

Georgian Sides

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KamandeBrown lentil stew

Kamande is a weekday staple in Nairobi homes and small hotelis (cafés), served at lunch or supper with chapati, rice or ugali and a side of sukuma wiki greens. Brown lentils are simmered until tender, then cooked into a thick, savoury stew of onion, tomato, garlic, ginger and a touch of curry powder, finished with fresh coriander. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 300 kcal and 38 g carbohydrate per portion; brown rice or extra greens on the side suit a lighter plate. The usual mistake is boiling the lentils to mush before adding the tomato base; they should still hold their shape. Chef's tip: cook the onions low and slow until soft and golden before the tomatoes go in, which gives the stew its natural sweetness.

50 minEast African Curries

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Loroco con huevoScrambled eggs with loroco

Loroco is a climbing vine whose fragrant flower buds Salvadorans love, best known inside pupusas, and in San Salvador and the countryside it is also scrambled with eggs for breakfast during the rainy season, from June to October, when the buds are in season. The buds taste green, floral and a little like asparagus and artichoke, softened with onion and tomato and set into soft eggs. Serve with corn tortillas and a spoon of refried beans or avocado. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 210 kcal and 6 g carbohydrate per portion without tortillas. The usual mistake is cooking the eggs on high heat, which makes them dry and rubbery. Frozen or jarred loroco works well; rinse jarred loroco first. If you're cooking for anyone pregnant, a young child or anyone with a weakened immune system, cook the eggs until fully set. Chef's tip: soften the loroco with the onion first so its flavour spreads through the eggs.

15 minCentral American Breakfast & Brunch

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Tortilla de acelgaSwiss chard omelette

In Montevideo and Buenos Aires, tortilla de acelga is a homely supper or picnic dish, cut into wedges for a weekday dinner or packed for a Sunday at the beach, hot or cold. Plenty of chard is cooked down with onion and garlic, then bound with eggs into a thick, green, juicy omelette that is flipped in the pan like a Spanish tortilla. Serve it with a tomato salad. Suitable as part of a balanced diet. About 190 kcal and 7 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is leaving the chard wet: squeeze it well, or the tortilla weeps and won't set. If you're cooking for anyone pregnant, a young child or anyone with a weakened immune system, cook it until fully set in the middle. Chef's tip: cook it on a low heat with a lid on for the first side; it sets through without burning the base.

35 min

Paraguayan Breakfast & Brunch

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Iron eggsBraised dried quail eggs

Iron eggs were invented in the 1970s at a noodle stall by the river in Tamsui, at the end of Taipei's red MRT line, when a cook kept re-braising unsold eggs until they shrank, darkened and turned chewy. Now every shop along Tamsui Old Street sells them in vacuum packs: tiny quail eggs and small hen's eggs, black as liquorice, with a firm, springy bite and a deep soy, five-spice and caramel flavour. Taiwanese families buy them as a snack for the train home. The process takes most of a day but very little work. Contains egg and soya. Chef's tip: dry the eggs under a fan between braises; the dried surface absorbs the sauce each time and builds the 'iron' skin.

600 min

Taiwanese Snacks & Starters

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HilbetLentil and fenugreek paste

Hilbet is one of the dishes that tells you you are in Eritrea rather than Ethiopia. Asmara households make it in big bowls for Lent and the other fasting days and serve it cold, swirled with a ribbon of red berbere oil, as part of a spread on injera. Fenugreek soaked and beaten with water turns pale and foamy, much like whipped egg white, and folding it into puréed lentils or broad-bean flour gives a dip that is fluffy, faintly bitter, garlicky and creamy. Market stalls sell a ready-mixed hilbet flour; this home version uses red lentils, which are easy to find. Chef's tip: beat the soaked fenugreek with an electric whisk for a full 5 minutes; that long whipping is what makes hilbet light instead of dense.

50 min

Eritrean Chutneys & Dips

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BajellaBoiled fava beans with cumin

On cold mornings in Kuwait City, street carts and old-style breakfast cafés ladle out bajella into paper cups: whole dried fava beans boiled until creamy, served in their hot, salty broth with cumin and a squeeze of lemon. It is cheap, filling and warming, and families cook a big pot at home in winter and during Ramadan. Eat it with a spoon, drinking the broth as you go, or with Arabic bread and pickles. Skipping the overnight soak is the mistake: unsoaked beans take hours and split unevenly. Chef's tip: add the salt only once the beans are tender; salting at the start keeps the skins tough.

90 minGulf Arabian Snacks & Starters

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Ital cookshops in Half Way Tree and Papine sell curried "chunks" by the box with brown rice, steamed cabbage and a slice of ripe plantain, the Rastafarian answer to curry goat. The dried soya pieces soak up a deep, turmeric-gold sauce of Jamaican curry powder, thyme, pimento and coconut milk, and the potato thickens it as it breaks down. Most people skip squeezing the soaked chunks, which leaves them watery and bland; wring them out hard so they drink in the curry instead. Leave the scotch bonnet whole for warmth, or slit it for real heat. Chef's tip: fry the curry powder in the oil until it darkens a shade before anything wet goes in, the Jamaican "burn the curry" step that stops it tasting raw.

45 min

Jamaican Curries

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Saraiki kalay chanayDry black chickpeas

Small, dark kala chana are the everyday protein of the Saraiki belt, and from Dera Ghazi Khan to Multan they are cooked dry, so that each nutty chickpea is wrapped in a thick coating of fried onion, tomato and spice rather than swimming in gravy. Ground pomegranate seed (anardana) gives a gentle sourness, and the dish has an earthy depth that the lighter white chickpea never quite reaches. Expect it at breakfast with tandoori roti and a glass of lassi, packed for field work, and in big pots at shrines on Thursday evenings. Undercooked chickpeas are the usual let-down: black chana take longer than you think and must be truly soft before they meet the masala. Chef's tip: soak them overnight and keep a little of the cooking water to loosen the masala during the final fry.

70 min

Pakistani Curries

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Akidi (Igbo black beans with plantain)

Akidi, a small, glossy black bean, is a quiet staple of Igbo home cooking around Enugu, Anambra and Imo, cooked like beans porridge and usually with ripe plantain for sweetness. After a long simmer the beans turn creamy inside while holding their shape, and they are finished with palm oil, onion, scotch bonnet and a handful of fragrant leaves, so the pot tastes earthy, sweet and peppery. It is a filling meal on its own, often eaten with a cold drink or a side of fried plantain. If you cannot find akidi, black turtle beans are a good substitute. Chef's tip: add the plantain only for the last 15 minutes; put in at the start, it dissolves into the beans, which is the usual mistake.

120 min

Nigerian Vegetarian

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Ekuru (white bean pudding with pepper sauce)

Pale and plain on purpose, ekuru is moin moin's quiet cousin: the same peeled black-eyed bean paste, but steamed with nothing in it except a little salt, so it comes out white, light and airy. In Ijebu and around Ogun State it is a breakfast and market snack, and all the flavour comes from the sauce served with it, a fried mix of red peppers, scotch bonnet, onion and locust beans in palm oil. The contrast of mild, fluffy pudding and hot, oily sauce is the whole point. This version is entirely plant-based. Chef's tip: beat the bean paste hard for several minutes before steaming; the trapped air is what makes ekuru light rather than dense.

90 min

Nigerian Snacks & Starters

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Sopa de chícharosSplit pea soup

When money is tight in Cuban homes, the pot of chícharos comes out: yellow or green split peas cooked to a thick purée with potato, calabaza pumpkin and a sofrito of onion, pepper and garlic. Most families cook it with a ham bone or chorizo; this version keeps it meat-free and gets its depth from smoked paprika and plenty of cumin. A common mistake is adding salt at the start, which can keep the peas from softening, so season once they have collapsed. Serve with white rice or crusty bread. Chef's tip: stir a spoonful of the hot sofrito into the soup right at the end, not just at the start, for a fresh garlicky lift.

75 min

Cuban Soups

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