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Jain recipes: no onion, garlic or root vegetables

2,799

2799 Jain recipes with no onion, garlic, potato, carrot, fresh ginger or other root vegetables, and no mushrooms, eggs or honey. Hing, dry ginger and turmeric powder are fine. Each has photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Apfelschorle, takes 2 minutes. Most take around 40 minutes.

Filter these by time, diet or cuisine · Make Jain your diet to see only these recipes everywhere on the site.

Kharvas (steamed milk-and-curd pudding, home method)

Kharvas is a festive treat in Maharashtra and Gujarat, traditionally made from the first milk a cow gives after calving, which sets into a wobbly pudding when steamed. That milk is hard to find in cities, so home cooks in Pune and Mumbai make a version with ordinary milk, curd and condensed milk, and that is the method here. It is steamed until it sets into a soft, sliceable square with a slightly springy texture, coloured with saffron and lightly sweetened with jaggery, with a hint of nutmeg. Families serve it at room temperature or cold as a teatime sweet, especially in the monsoon and around Ganesh Chaturthi. There is no egg: the curd and condensed milk proteins set on steaming the way colostrum does, and the condensed milk gives body and binds it. Chef's tip: whisk the mixture until completely smooth and strain it, because lumps of curd are the common mistake that leaves holes and a grainy set.

160 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bánh tro (bánh gio, amber glutinous rice cakes in leaves)Lye water glutinous rice cakes

On Tết Đoan Ngọ, the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, families in northern and central Vietnam eat bánh tro first thing in the morning, believing it cools the body as summer heat arrives. Glutinous rice is soaked in alkaline water, which was once made by steeping plant ash, then wrapped in leaves and boiled for hours. It turns amber, translucent and jelly-soft with a clean, faintly mineral flavour, and is eaten cold, dipped in sugarcane molasses or palm-sugar syrup. Bánh tro is naturally egg-free: the alkali softens the rice grains so their own starch melts together into a firm, sliceable cake. We use food-grade lye water (an alkaline solution of potassium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate sold in Asian shops for noodles and mooncakes). Handle it with care: wear gloves, keep it away from children, never use drain cleaner or caustic soda, and always dilute it as written. Chef's tip: the common mistake is skipping the rinse; wash the soaked rice twice so the cakes taste clean, not soapy.

600 minVietnameseDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bhapa doi (Bengali steamed sweet yogurt)

Bhapa doi means steamed yogurt, and it's the dessert Kolkata households make when there's no time to visit the sweet shop for mishti doi. It's especially popular on Jamai Shashthi and at Poila Baisakh, the Bengali New Year, but it appears at Sunday lunches all year. Thick hung yogurt is mixed with condensed milk and a little milk, scented with cardamom, then gently steamed until it sets like a soft cheesecake without a crust. Chilled, it's dense, smooth and tangy-sweet. Serve it plain in small bowls, topped with pistachios, or with ripe mango in summer. There is no egg here: the milk proteins in the yogurt and condensed milk set with gentle heat, just as eggs would set a baked custard, and the condensed milk adds body and sweetness. Chef's tip: steam it on a low, gentle simmer; the common mistake is a fierce boil, which makes the yogurt weep whey and turn grainy.

285 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

WowotouSteamed cornmeal cone buns

Wowotou are the little golden cones that fed northern China through hard decades, and Beijing restaurants now serve them, made small and slightly sweet, as nostalgic winter food alongside stews and pickles. A hollow is pressed into the base of each with a thumb so they cook through evenly. Soybean flour gives them a nutty taste and about 10 g of protein for three buns, from the soy and corn, so they are not high-protein on their own. They are gluten free if your cornmeal and soy flour are milled where wheat isn't; check the packet. The usual mistake is mixing with cold water: the dough stays crumbly and the cones crack, so scald it with near-boiling water. Chef's tip: wet your hands before shaping each cone; the dough won't stick and the surface steams smooth and shiny.

45 minChineseBreads & ParathasVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ไอติมกะทิ (Itim kathi, Thai coconut ice cream)

Itim kathi is the ice cream of Bangkok's pushcarts: a vendor lifts the lid of an insulated drum, scrapes up a scoop of snow-white coconut ice cream and piles it into a small cup over sticky rice, then adds whatever the customer points at, from roasted peanuts and sweet corn to chewy palm seeds. It is sold all afternoon in the hot months, outside schools and temples and in markets. Some vendors tuck the scoop into a soft bread roll; serve it in cups as here and it stays gluten free. It is naturally egg-free and dairy-free. Coconut milk carries the fat that makes it creamy, and a little cornflour cooked into it binds the water so crystals stay fine and the texture stays smooth without any custard, while a pinch of salt sharpens the coconut. Chef's tip: use full-fat coconut milk with no added water; the common mistake is using a light one, which freezes hard and icy.

300 minThaiDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Dulce de fruta bomba (Cuban green papaya in syrup)

In Cuba, papaya is called fruta bomba, and its green, unripe fruit is cooked into this old-fashioned dulce, a fixture of home cooking all over the island and often made in big batches to keep. Strips of firm green papaya are simmered slowly in a cinnamon and lime-peel syrup until they turn translucent and chewy, with a candied, honeyed flavour. The Cuban way to eat it is with a slice of salty, crumbly white cheese, which balances the sweetness; a cup of strong coffee goes alongside. The dulce is egg-free by tradition, with nothing to bind: the papaya candies in the sugar syrup, and a short soak in water with a little bicarbonate of soda helps the strips stay firm. Chef's tip: rinse the strips well after the soak and simmer them gently; the common mistake is boiling the syrup fast, which hardens the outside of the papaya before the syrup can soak in.

110 minCubanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Salade d'endives aux noixChicory, walnut and apple salad

Across Picardy and the Nord, and over the border in Belgium, Belgian endive (chicory) is the winter salad, and this one appears after the main course at Sunday lunch or as a light supper from November to March. The pale, crisp leaves are cut into rings and tossed with sweet apple, toasted walnuts and a sharp mustard vinaigrette, so you get bitter, sweet and nutty in every mouthful. Many bistros add Roquefort; this version is vegan, and if you add cheese, note that Roquefort is made with animal rennet. A portion gives about 4 g of protein from the walnuts, so it is a side or starter. The most common mistake is slicing the endive too early: it browns at the cut edges, so dress it within 10 minutes of cutting. Chef's tip: cut out the small cone of core at the base of each endive; it holds most of the bitterness.

18 minFrenchSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ซาหริ่ม (Sarim, mung bean noodles in coconut syrup)

Sarim is an old dessert of central Thailand, served at temple fairs and in market dessert shops on sweltering afternoons: thin, slippery strands in pastel green, blue and white, floating in a pale coconut syrup over a mound of crushed ice. The strands are almost flavourless and very soft, so the syrup does the work; in Thailand it is scented with jasmine flowers or the smoke of a scented candle, and here with pandan and optional fresh jasmine. It is naturally egg-free: the strands are pure mung bean starch cooked with water into a clear, thick paste, which sets into a soft gel the moment it hits ice water. Pandan juice and butterfly pea flowers give the colours, so there is no need for dyes. Serve it straight away, as a light end to a spicy meal. Chef's tip: cook the paste until it turns fully glossy and see-through; the common mistake is stopping while it is still milky, which gives strands that break and taste floury.

60 minThaiDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Malan tou with pressed tofuAster greens and pressed tofu salad

When the first malan tou shoots appear in Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou markets in early spring, families make this little cold dish to start a meal: the tender aster leaves are blanched, chopped very fine and mixed with diced smoked pressed tofu, salt, a pinch of sugar and sesame oil. It tastes grassy, nutty and clean. Malan tou can be hard to find outside China; young spinach or shepherd's purse works well. As a side dish for four, each portion has about 120 kcal and roughly 9 g of protein, from the pressed tofu, so it is light rather than high in protein. The common mistake is leaving the greens wet, which dilutes the dressing; squeeze them hard. Chef's tip: press the mixture into a small bowl and turn it out onto the plate for the traditional neat mound.

18 minChineseSaladsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Paal kozhukattai (rice dumplings in sweet coconut milk)

Paal kozhukattai is made in Tamil Nadu homes for Vinayaka Chaturthi and on rainy evenings when something warm and sweet is wanted. Tiny pearls of rice-flour dough are cooked in thin coconut milk until they float and turn glossy, then the pot is sweetened with jaggery and finished with thick coconut milk and cardamom. The dumplings are soft and chewy, the liquid creamy and caramel-coloured, and the whole thing is served warm in small bowls, or at room temperature as part of a festival offering. It is naturally egg-free and vegan: the rice flour, scalded with boiling water, holds the dumplings together, and its starch thickens the coconut milk as they cook. Chef's tip: once the thick coconut milk goes in, keep it below a boil; boiling it hard is the common mistake that splits the coconut milk and makes it oily.

50 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Moron (Leyte chocolate and coconut sticky rice twists)Chocolate sticky rice rolls

Moron is the pride of Leyte and Samar, made for town fiestas and sold all year in Tacloban markets as a merienda. Two doughs of glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk and sugar, one plain and one darkened with tablea, the pure roasted cacao of the Visayas, are rolled into ropes, twisted together and steamed in banana leaves. Each log is chewy and dense, with ribbons of bittersweet chocolate through creamy coconut rice. Unwrap and eat warm or cool, ideally with a mug of thick hot chocolate. Moron is naturally egg-free: the glutinous rice flour is half-cooked in coconut milk first, which swells the starch so it binds into a soft, rollable dough, and steaming sets it. Chef's tip: the common mistake is wrapping the logs loosely; roll the leaf tightly and twist the ends like a sweet wrapper, or water gets in and the logs turn soggy.

90 minFilipinoDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mustazzoli (Salento almond, cocoa and spice biscuits)Spiced almond biscuits

In Lecce and the towns of the Salento, mustazzoli are baked for Christmas and for the summer saints' feasts, when stalls at the fairs stack them in glossy dark piles. They are diamond-shaped biscuits of toasted almonds, flour, sugar and cocoa, spiced with cinnamon and cloves and brightened with orange zest, then coated in dark chocolate. Inside they are firm and dense, a bit like a soft gingerbread, with a crisp chocolate shell. Eat them with an espresso after lunch or pack them as a gift; they keep for weeks. The dough was always egg-free: water and the sugar bind it, the ground almonds give fat and body, and a little baking powder keeps them from being leaden. Use a dark chocolate with no milk solids and the whole batch is vegan. Chef's tip: let the biscuits cool completely before glazing; the common mistake is dipping them warm, which melts the chocolate into a thin streaky coat that never sets glossy.

60 minItalianBakingVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Crocette di fichi (Calabrian baked fig crosses)Almond-stuffed fig crosses

Around Cosenza in northern Calabria the late-summer fig crop is dried in the sun, and the best figs are kept for crocette: two figs split open, laid across each other, filled with a toasted almond and a few fennel seeds, then baked until they darken and caramelise. They come out at Christmas, often stored in tins between bay leaves, and are eaten after dinner with nuts and mandarins. Expect a soft, jammy, chewy bite with crunch from the almond and the bright, slightly liquorice note of fennel. They go well with a cup of strong coffee or a little hard cheese. There is no egg and nothing added to bind them: in the oven the figs' own sugars soften and turn sticky, and as they cool they glue the cross together. Chef's tip: pull them out when they look shiny and just a shade darker; the common mistake is baking too long, which makes the figs hard and bitter.

55 minItalianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Bánh phu thê (Đình Bảng 'husband and wife' cakes)Mung bean tapioca cakes

Bánh phu thê, also called bánh xu xê, comes from Đình Bảng in Bắc Ninh, and it is still part of the gifts a groom's family brings to a Vietnamese wedding, with its paired leaf boxes standing for husband and wife. The dough is tapioca starch cooked with sugar and fresh coconut shreds and tinted golden with gardenia seeds; it steams clear and chewy, almost like amber jelly, around a soft ball of mung bean paste, and the top is scattered with toasted sesame. Eat them the day they are made, with green tea. The cake is naturally egg-free: tapioca starch thickens and turns elastic when heated, so it wraps and holds the filling on its own. Small ramekins lined with banana leaf can stand in for folded leaf boxes. Chef's tip: the common mistake is not part-cooking the dough; stir it on the hob until half of it turns clear, or it runs out of the boxes in the steamer.

120 minVietnameseDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Narkel naru (Bengali coconut balls)

Narkel naru are made by the plateful in Bengali homes for Lakshmi Puja and on Bijoya Dashami, when they're offered to every visitor who comes to exchange greetings after Durga Puja. Freshly grated coconut is cooked slowly with jaggery, ideally the winter date-palm jaggery called nolen gur, until the mixture turns sticky and caramel-brown, then rolled into small balls while still warm. They're chewy and moist, intensely coconutty, with a deep molasses sweetness. Serve them at room temperature with tea or as part of a festival plate. They're naturally egg-free and vegan: the jaggery, cooked down to a sticky syrup, binds the coconut, with no flour or milk needed. Use sugar for a white naru if you prefer. Chef's tip: roll them while the mixture is still warm; waiting until it's cold is the common mistake, because it then crumbles and won't hold a ball shape.

40 minBangladeshiIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tvorozhnaya massa s izyumom (sweet tvorog cream with raisins)

All over Russia, tvorozhnaya massa is the smooth, sweet curd cheese of childhood breakfasts and afternoon teas, and at Easter it is the base of paskha. Fresh tvorog is pressed through a sieve and beaten with soft butter, sugar and vanilla until it is pale and fluffy, then raisins are stirred in. It is creamy and tangy, sweet but light, and high in protein. Spread it on bread, spread it on rye toast or eat it from a bowl with tea and berries. Nothing is cooked and no egg goes in: beating the butter into the sieved curd gives it a mousse-like body, and it firms up nicely in the fridge, so nothing is needed to bind or set it. Chef's tip: soften the butter fully and sieve the tvorog first; the common mistake is beating cold butter into grainy curd, which leaves hard flecks and a lumpy, heavy cream.

15 minRussianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Matrimony (Jamaican star apple and orange with condensed milk)Star apple and orange dessert

Jamaica's star apples ripen in winter, so matrimony, the 'marriage' of star apple and orange, is a Christmas dessert, eaten cold after the big meal on Christmas Day. The purple star apples are scooped from their skins, their sweet, milky, jelly-like pulp mixed with juicy orange segments and dressed with condensed milk and freshly grated nutmeg. It is cool, sweet and fragrant, soft and a little jelly-like from the fruit. Serve it straight from the bowl or in glasses, as the last sweet thing of the Christmas meal. It is naturally egg-free and uncooked: condensed milk gives it body and binds the fruit into a creamy dessert, and nothing needs setting. Chef's tip: scrape the pulp only, never the skin; the common mistake is digging too close to the purple rind, whose sticky latex is bitter and gums up the spoon.

15 minJamaicanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Raspados (Mexican shaved ice with fruit syrups)

In Guadalajara and the towns of Sinaloa, raspados are sold from carts and little shops from noon until late on hot days: a paper cup of finely shaved ice soaked in bright homemade syrups like tamarind, mango, strawberry and deep-red hibiscus, sometimes with fresh fruit and a squeeze of lime. They are the cheapest way to cool down, and children and adults line up alike. They are naturally egg-free and plant-based: there is nothing to set or bind, just fruit and sugar cooked into syrups thick enough to cling to the ice. The hibiscus is tart and floral, the mango sweet and thick, and the two side by side make a striking cup. Make the syrups and cool them quickly over iced water. Chef's tip: shave the ice as fine as you can and pour the syrup slowly; the common mistake is using coarse crushed ice, which lets the syrup run straight to the bottom.

20 minMexicanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Aiwowo (艾窝窝, Beijing stuffed sticky rice balls)

Aiwowo began as a Hui Muslim snack in Beijing and is now a fixture of old Beijing snack shops from Lunar New Year until summer, eaten cool as a mid-afternoon treat. Steamed glutinous rice is pounded until sticky, wrapped around a crunchy filling of toasted sesame, walnuts, sugar and sugared osmanthus, then rolled in cooked rice flour so the balls look like little snowballs. They are soft and chewy outside, crunchy and fragrant inside, and only lightly sweet. Serve them with jasmine or chrysanthemum tea. Aiwowo is naturally egg-free: pounding the steamed rice releases its sticky starch, which binds the dough and seals in the filling. Chef's tip: the common mistake is dusting with raw flour; steam the flour first, or the coating tastes chalky.

300 minChineseDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tilslørte bondepiker (Norwegian veiled farm girls)

Norwegians make tilslørte bondepiker in autumn, when the apple trees in the fjord orchards of Hardanger and Telemark are heavy, and it stays a Sunday-dinner favourite through winter. The 'farm girls' are the layers of tart apple compote, the 'veil' is the whipped cream on top, and between them are crisp breadcrumbs toasted in butter with sugar and cinnamon. It is spooned from a glass bowl: soft fruit, crunchy caramel crumbs and cold cream in each mouthful. Serve it soon after layering, while the crumbs still crunch. No egg is involved anywhere, since the apples cook down into a thick purée on their own, so there is nothing to bind or set; just make the crumbs from an eggless white loaf or plain rusks. Chef's tip: toast the crumbs slowly over a medium-low heat and keep stirring; the common mistake is rushing them over a high heat, so the sugar burns before the crumbs are crisp.

65 minScandinavianDesserts
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Sacolé de maracujá (Brazilian passion fruit ice pops)

Sacolé, called geladinho or chup-chup in other states, is the homemade ice pop of Brazil: a creamy or fruity mixture tied into slim plastic bags and frozen, sold for a few coins from home freezers in Rio's neighbourhoods and all over the country, especially in summer and during school holidays. You bite off a corner and push the frozen pop up as you eat. This creamy passion fruit version is tangy and smooth. There are no eggs: milk thickened with a little cornflour and sweetened condensed milk make the base, the cooked starch and the condensed milk's sugar keeping the crystals small so the pop is soft enough to bite rather than icy. Coconut, corn and chocolate are other favourites. Chef's tip: stir in the passion fruit only once the base is cold; the common mistake is adding the acid pulp to hot milk, which makes it curdle.

310 minBrazilianDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Elaneer payasam (Kerala tender-coconut milk pudding)

In Kerala, where green coconuts are sold by the roadside all summer, elaneer payasam is the cool, delicate cousin of the hot temple payasams. It turns up at Vishu lunches and summer weddings, and on any hot afternoon when someone has opened a few tender coconuts. Milk is boiled down until creamy and faintly caramel, sweetened, chilled, and only then mixed with slippery spoonfuls of young coconut flesh and a little of its water, so the coconut stays fresh and floral rather than cooked. The pudding is pourable, silky and cold, with soft white strands of coconut through it; serve it in small glasses after a meal or alongside banana chips. It is naturally egg-free: the long reduction of the milk, helped by a little condensed milk, gives the body that a custard would get from yolks. Chef's tip: the common mistake is stirring the coconut water into hot milk, which can make it split and taste sour; let the milk cool completely first.

165 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kluay chuam (Thai bananas in palm-sugar syrup)

Kluay chuam is a market dessert of central Thailand, cooked in big brass pans and sold by the bag year round, and it is a common sweet to offer monks at merit-making. Small, starchy nam wa bananas are simmered slowly in palm-sugar syrup until they turn translucent and amber, soft and chewy rather than mushy, then served with thick, salty coconut cream poured over. The flavour is deep caramel and banana, cut by the salt. Serve at room temperature in small bowls. Being egg-free by nature, it relies on the long simmer in syrup firms the bananas and a little rice flour thickens the coconut topping. Chef's tip: keep the syrup at the gentlest simmer and don't stir; the common mistake is a fast boil and a spoon, which break the bananas before they have time to turn glassy.

60 minThaiDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Duraznos en almíbar (Mexican peaches in piloncillo syrup)

Across Mexico, from the orchards of Zacatecas and Puebla to every abuela's pantry, duraznos en almíbar are how the summer peach crop is kept, and a bowl of them chilled from the fridge is a classic Sunday dessert. Peeled peach halves are poached in a syrup of piloncillo, the cone-shaped raw cane sugar, with cinnamon and cloves, so they turn tender and glossy and soak up a warm, molasses-like sweetness. Serve them cold in their syrup, on their own, or with a spoon of crema or thick yoghurt. Nothing needs setting and no egg is involved: the fruit simply poaches in the sugar syrup, which thickens lightly as it cools. Chef's tip: choose ripe but firm peaches and poach them gently; the common mistake is boiling the syrup hard, which turns the halves ragged and stringy.

160 minMexicanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Reshteh khoshkar (Gilani rice-flour walnut rolls in syrup)

Reshteh khoshkar is the pastry of Gilan on Iran's Caspian coast, made in Rasht and Lahijan homes and bakeries for Ramadan, when a plate of it with tea breaks the fast at iftar. A thin rice-flour batter is drizzled in a lacy criss-cross over a hot griddle to make a fine net, which is filled with walnuts, sugar, cardamom and cinnamon, folded into a neat roll, fried until crisp and soaked in rose-scented syrup. It is crunchy, then soft and sticky, with a fragrant, nutty filling. Serve it at room temperature with strong black tea. The dish has always been egg-free: the rice-flour batter sets on the hot griddle into a net by itself, and the sugar in the filling and syrup glues the rolls together, so there is no need for any other binder, and nothing in it contains gluten. Chef's tip: test the griddle with a few drops of batter first; the common mistake is a griddle that is not hot enough, which lets the batter spread into a pancake instead of setting into a lacy net.

75 minPersianDessertsVeganGluten free
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Sült gesztenye (Hungarian roasted chestnuts)

From November until the end of winter, the smell of roasting chestnuts drifts along Budapest's boulevards and around Christmas markets in every Hungarian town, where sellers shake them over charcoal and pour them hot into paper cones. Roasting turns the nuts sweet and soft, mealy like a baked potato but with a gentle nutty sweetness and a hint of smoke where the shell has charred. Eat them straight away, peeled with your fingers while they are hot, with a cup of hot tea, hot spiced apple juice or a bag of roasted pumpkin from the next stall. They are naturally egg-free, a single ingredient with nothing to bind: heat turns the chestnut's starch to sugar and softens it. A short soak in water before roasting adds steam inside the shell, so the nuts cook evenly and peel more easily. Chef's tip: cut a deep cross through the shell on the rounded side of every chestnut; the common mistake is skipping or under-cutting it, and then the steam bursts the chestnuts open in the oven.

30 minHungarianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Jackass corn (Jamaican hard coconut biscuits)

Jackass corn is one of the hard little biscuits of old Jamaica, sold in paper bags at roadside stalls and corner shops and packed for long journeys because it keeps for weeks. The name is usually explained as a joke about how much chewing it takes. It is made from plenty of grated coconut, brown sugar, flour and a good grating of nutmeg, rolled out very thin and baked until crisp right through, so every bite cracks and then turns sweet and nutty with toasted coconut. Have it with hot cocoa tea, mint tea or a glass of cold sorrel juice, or break it over ice cream. There has never been egg in it: coconut oil and water hold the dough together, and the coconut's own fat and the melted sugar set it hard as it bakes and cools. Chef's tip: roll it as thin as you dare, about 3 mm; the common mistake is leaving it thick, which gives a biscuit that is soft in the middle and goes stale instead of staying crunchy.

45 minJamaicanBakingVegan
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sült tök (Hungarian roasted sweet pumpkin)

When the first cold sets in, Hungarian street vendors and market stalls set up their ovens and sell sült tök: thick wedges of sweet pumpkin roasted until the flesh is soft as jam and the edges are caramelised and almost sticky. It is bought hot and eaten on the spot through autumn and winter, often from the same stands that sell roasted chestnuts, and at home it is a simple afternoon treat for children. The flavour is deep and honeyed with a slightly smoky edge from the browned skin; a dusting of cinnamon sugar is optional. Eat it with a spoon straight from the skin, alongside a cup of hot tea or warm apple juice. It is naturally egg-free and needs no binding at all: the pumpkin's own sugars concentrate and caramelise in the oven's dry heat. Chef's tip: pick a dense, dry, deep-orange pumpkin such as a Hungarian sweet pumpkin, kabocha or butternut; the common mistake is using a watery carving pumpkin, which steams instead of caramelising.

60 minHungarianDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Yugwa (Korean puffed glutinous-rice crackers)

Yugwa are the light, airy crackers piled on trays at Seollal, the Lunar New Year, and given in gift boxes for Chuseok and weddings across Korea. A dough of glutinous rice is steamed and pounded until stretchy, rolled thin, cut and dried until hard, then fried slowly so each piece swells to several times its size into a crisp, hollow puff. A brush of rice syrup and a coating of puffed rice or sesame finish them. They melt on the tongue, crunchy but almost weightless, gently sweet and toasty. Serve with green tea or barley tea. Yugwa never used egg: the sticky starch of glutinous rice, steamed and pounded, traps air and binds the dough, and the rice syrup glues on the coating. Some cooks add rice wine to the dough; this version uses plain water and needs no alcohol. Chef's tip: dry the cut pieces until they snap like a cracker before frying; the common mistake is frying them half-dried, and then they stay flat and chewy instead of puffing.

720 minKoreanDessertsVeganGluten free
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葛切り (Kuzukiri, Kyoto kudzu noodles)

Kuzukiri is a summer sweet of Kyoto, served most famously in the old tea houses of Gion: a lacquered box of clear, flat noodles floating in iced water, with a cup of dark kuromitsu black-sugar syrup to dip them in. It is eaten in the hottest months as a refreshing afternoon dessert with green tea. The noodles are cool, springy and smooth, with a clean, faintly sweet taste, and the syrup is deep, smoky and molasses-rich. It is naturally egg-free and plant-based: pure kudzu starch mixed with water sets into a firm, glass-clear sheet when it is cooked in a thin layer over boiling water, the starch alone doing the binding. Serve it within half an hour of making it. Chef's tip: buy pure kudzu starch rather than a blend; the common mistake is making kuzukiri ahead, because within an hour or two it turns cloudy and stiff.

45 minJapaneseDessertsVeganGluten free
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Helado de dulce de leche (Buenos Aires dulce de leche ice cream)

Dulce de leche is the flavour Buenos Aires heladerías are judged by, and on a summer night the queues at neighbourhood ice-cream shops stretch out onto the pavement well after dinner. Locals order it plain, with a ripple of extra dulce de leche (dulce de leche granizado adds chocolate flakes), often by the kilo to take home. It is dense, chewy and deeply caramel. This home version is egg-free with no custard: a little cornflour cooked into the milk thickens it the way yolks would, and the dulce de leche itself is milk and sugar cooked down, its sugar and milk solids keeping crystals tiny so it stays smooth and scoopable. Churn it, or still-freeze and stir it every 45 minutes. Chef's tip: chill the extra dulce de leche before rippling it in; the common mistake is folding in a warm one, which melts into the ice cream instead of leaving ribbons.

295 minArgentinianDessertsGluten free
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冰粉 (Bingfen, Sichuan ice jelly)Ice jelly with brown sugar syrup

Bingfen is what Chengdu reaches for after a numbing hotpot or on a sticky summer night: a bowl of wobbly, glass-clear jelly, cold from the fridge, splashed with dark brown-sugar syrup and scattered with hawthorn flakes, raisins, peanuts and sesame. It is sold at night markets and hotpot restaurants all over Sichuan and Chongqing, and the jelly itself tastes of almost nothing, just cool and soothing, so the syrup and toppings bring the flavour. It is naturally egg-free and plant-based. The jelly traditionally comes from shoo-fly plant seeds rubbed in water; here it is made with ice-jelly powder, a plant-based setting powder sold in Chinese grocers, which sets clear as it cools. Chef's tip: let the jelly set undisturbed; the common mistake is stirring or moving it while it is half-set, which leaves it cloudy and weeping.

80 minChineseDessertsVeganGluten free
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Ciambelline al mosto (alcohol-free ring biscuits)Grape juice ring biscuits

All over Lazio, from the Castelli Romani to the countryside around Rome, these sugar-crusted ring biscuits are put out at the end of a meal and at the autumn grape harvest, when they are dunked into a glass to soften. The classic dough is made with equal measures of liquid, olive oil and sugar; here the liquid is red grape juice, which is close to the fresh mosto of harvest time and gives the same pinkish crumb and fruity edge with no alcohol at all. The rings are crunchy and light, a little crumbly, with a crackly sugar coat and a hint of aniseed. Serve them with grape juice, coffee or a pot of tea for dunking. They are naturally egg-free: the olive oil and juice bind the flour into a smooth dough, and baking powder does the lifting that eggs might do elsewhere. Chef's tip: roll the ropes no thicker than a pencil and a half, about 1 cm; the common mistake is chunky ropes, which brown outside before the middle dries and leave the biscuits hard instead of crisp.

45 minItalianBakingVegan
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팥빙수 (Patbingsu, Korean red bean shaved ice)

Patbingsu is the great Korean summer dessert, eaten nationwide from the start of the rainy season until autumn, usually shared from one big bowl in a café after lunch or on a hot evening. Under the mound of milk ice sits the heart of it: sweet, soft red beans cooked until they almost melt, with chewy little rice cakes dusted in roasted soybean powder and a thread of condensed milk. Fluffy, creamy and earthy-sweet. There are no eggs anywhere: the ice is milk and condensed milk frozen in a thin layer, and the condensed milk's sugar keeps the crystals fine so the shavings are soft and snowy rather than crunchy, while the beans thicken with their own starch. Make the beans and the ice a day ahead. Chef's tip: freeze the milk thin in a flat tray and scrape it with a fork; the common mistake is freezing it in a deep tub, which sets too hard to shave.

400 minKoreanDessertsGluten free
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Bánh cốm (Hanoi green rice-flake cake with mung bean filling)

When the new crop of young glutinous rice comes in, in early autumn, Hanoi smells of cốm: green, flattened rice flakes from the village of Vòng. The shops on Hàng Than street press them into bánh cốm, square cakes that are still carried as betrothal gifts in their paper wrappers. The outside is soft, chewy and jade green, tasting faintly of grass and pandan; the inside is a mellow paste of mung bean and coconut. Serve them at room temperature with green or lotus tea. Bánh cốm is naturally egg-free: a hot sugar syrup and a spoonful of tapioca starch turn the rice flakes into a sticky mass that binds itself, and the mung bean paste is bound by its own starch. Use frozen or dried cốm from an Asian grocer; soak dried flakes briefly first. Chef's tip: the common mistake is cooking the cốm too hard; stop as soon as it pulls together into a sticky ball, or the cakes go rubbery when cool.

120 minVietnameseDessertsVeganGluten free
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Wandu appa (වංඩු ආප්ප, fermented rice cakes steamed in leaf cones)Steamed rice treacle cakes

Wandu appa are sold in morning markets and at roadside kades all over the island, and they are one of the sweets that appear on the table for Avurudu. A batter of rice flour, coconut milk and kithul treacle is left to ferment for a few hours, then poured into small cones of kenda or jak leaf and steamed. They puff into tender, spongy domes with a gentle sourness, a caramel note from the treacle and the leafy aroma of their wrappers. Eat them warm for breakfast or with afternoon tea. They are naturally egg-free: yeast does the lifting that whisked eggs would do in a sponge, and the rice starch sets the bubbles in place as it steams. Banana-leaf cones or small paper-lined cups work too. Chef's tip: the common mistake is filling the cones to the brim; fill them two-thirds full so they rise into a dome instead of spilling over.

240 minSri LankanDessertsVeganGluten free
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Wandouhuang (豌豆黄, Beijing chilled yellow pea cake)

Wandouhuang is a Beijing spring and early-summer sweet, sold from carts around the Qingming festival and once polished into an imperial version for the Qing court that is still served in Beihai Park's old-style restaurants. Yellow split peas are boiled to a mush, pressed through a sieve and cooked down with sugar until thick, then left to set in a tray and cut into neat pale-gold blocks. Chilled, it is cool and smooth with a fine, melting texture and the gentle, nutty taste of peas. Serve on small plates with jasmine tea, or after a rich meal. It is naturally egg-free and needs no setting agent at all: the starch in the peas firms the paste as it cools, like a polenta. Chef's tip: the common mistake is not cooking the paste down far enough; keep stirring until a line drawn through it with a spatula stays open for a few seconds, or it will not slice.

480 minChineseDessertsVeganGluten free
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Es pisang ijo (Makassar green banana dessert)

Es pisang ijo, green banana ice, is the pride of Makassar in South Sulawesi. It is everywhere during Ramadan as the sweet that breaks the fast at sunset, and sold year-round from stalls by the Losari waterfront. A whole steamed banana is wrapped in a thin, soft jacket of pandan-green rice-flour dough, sliced, laid on a pool of warm salty coconut porridge sauce, then buried under shaved ice and a sharp pink syrup. Cold, warm, salty, sweet and fragrant, all in one bowl. It is naturally egg-free: rice flour cooked with coconut milk and pandan juice makes a smooth, pliable dough that binds without any egg, and a little more rice flour thickens the sauce. Chef's tip: use firm but ripe bananas with a few freckles; the common mistake is very soft ones, which turn to mush inside the dough while steaming.

65 minIndonesianDessertsVeganGluten free
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Fontainebleau (fromage blanc and whipped cream mousse)

Fontainebleau takes its name from the town south of Paris, whose cheese shops sold it in little muslin-wrapped pots for the weekend. It is a fresh-cheese dessert for late spring and summer, best when the first strawberries and raspberries arrive. Fromage blanc and whipped cream are folded together and left to drain in muslin, so the mousse firms up into a light, cloud-soft mound that tastes of fresh milk with a gentle tang. Serve it chilled with berries or a spoonful of red-fruit coulis, and a little extra sugar on the side. Some recipes fold in whisked whites; this one leaves them out entirely, because firmly whipped cream alone holds the air, and draining away the whey gives the mousse its shape. Chef's tip: drain the fromage blanc before you start; the common mistake is folding in a wet, runny cheese, which collapses the cream and leaves a puddle in the dish.

255 minFrenchDessertsGluten free
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Cuccìa (Palermo wheat berries with sweet ricotta)

On 13 December, the feast of Santa Lucia, Palermo stops eating bread and pasta for a day. The story goes that during a famine a ship of grain arrived on her feast day and people were too hungry to mill it, so they boiled the wheat whole; cuccìa remembers that. The berries are boiled until plump and chewy, then folded into sweetened sheep's ricotta with candied orange, chocolate and cinnamon, so it eats like a cannolo filling with a pleasant bite. Serve it chilled in bowls or glasses, on the day itself or any winter afternoon. Like most Sicilian ricotta sweets it is egg-free by nature: the thick, drained ricotta binds the wheat into a creamy pudding, with nothing to set. Some families make a savoury version with chickpeas and oil, too. Chef's tip: cool the wheat completely before it meets the ricotta; the common mistake is folding in warm grains, which melts the cheese into a runny, grainy mess.

815 minItalianDesserts
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Bubur gandum (wheat pudding with coconut milk and palm sugar)

In Malaysia bubur gandum belongs to Ramadan: it is ladled out at the bazaars that open before sunset and cooked in giant pots at mosques for breaking the fast, and it appears again at Hari Raya open houses. Pearled wheat is simmered until the grains burst and turn chewy, then cooked with gula Melaka, pandan and coconut milk into a thick, toffee-brown porridge. The texture is somewhere between rice pudding and soft barley, with a sweet, smoky, coconut flavour. Serve it warm, or at room temperature on a hot evening. The pudding has always been egg-free, because the starch released by the wheat thickens the coconut milk as it simmers, so nothing else is needed to bind it. Chef's tip: cook the wheat in water until fully soft before adding the sugar and coconut milk; the common mistake is adding them too early, which keeps the grains hard however long you cook them.

130 minMalaysianDessertsVegan
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Mizu shingen mochi (Yamanashi raindrop cake)

Mizu shingen mochi comes from Hokuto in Yamanashi, at the foot of the Southern Alps, where a sweet shop first set the local spring water into a trembling, glass-clear dome. It is a summer sweet, eaten in the heat of July and August, and it has to be eaten within half an hour of being made, before it starts to weep. There is almost no flavour of its own: the point is the cool, melting texture, with nutty kinako and dark kuromitsu syrup poured over at the table. Despite the name it is not a rice mochi at all, and it is naturally egg-free. Agar, a seaweed setting agent, holds the water in shape; using just enough to set it makes it melt on the tongue. Serve with green tea. Chef's tip: boil the agar hard for a full 2 minutes; just warming it is the common mistake, and the domes stay liquid in the mould.

80 minJapaneseDessertsVeganGluten free
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Aiskrim potong (Malaysian red bean ice-cream bars)

Aiskrim potong, literally cut ice cream, comes from the days when Malaysian factories froze long blocks of dense ice cream that vendors sliced into bars to order. It is still sold nationwide from motorbike freezers and kampung shops, especially in the afternoon heat after school, in flavours like coconut, sweet corn, yam and durian, with red bean as the classic. It is firmer and denser than scooped ice cream and melts slowly in the hand. There is no egg: the base is cornflour cooked into coconut milk and milk, with a little condensed milk. The cooked starch gives the bars their chewy, close bite and keeps them smooth because it ties up the water before it can form big crystals. Chef's tip: stir the half-frozen block once so the beans don't all sink; the common mistake is pouring and leaving it, which gives a bean-heavy bottom and a plain top.

390 minMalaysianDessertsGluten free
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Hoa quả dầm (Hanoi fruit cup with yoghurt and condensed milk)

On sticky summer afternoons, Hanoi's young people pack the little stools along streets near Hoàn Kiếm Lake for hoa quả dầm, a cup of diced fruit buried in crushed ice, plain yoghurt and condensed milk. The fruit follows the season, usually mango, papaya, jackfruit, dragon fruit and avocado, and the whole thing is stirred together before eating, so it turns cold, creamy, tangy and sweet at once. Serve it immediately, with a long spoon and toasted coconut on top if you like. No cooking and no egg here: condensed milk and yoghurt dress and bind the fruit, and the crushed ice chills it, so there is nothing to set. Chef's tip: dice everything to the same small size, about 1.5 cm, so each spoonful gets a mix; the common mistake is adding the ice too early, which melts and floods the cup before it reaches the table.

15 minVietnameseDessertsGluten free
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Aachener Printen (Aachen spiced gingerbread slabs)

The bakeries of Aachen have made Printen for centuries, and from late autumn through Christmas the city's shop windows fill with these narrow brown slabs. Unlike soft German Lebkuchen they are firm and snappy, sweetened with dark sugar-beet syrup and studded with little crunchy bits of rock sugar, and they carry a big blend of spices: cinnamon, aniseed, coriander, cloves, cardamom and allspice. The dough rests overnight to develop flavour, then is raised with potash, which gives the dense, crisp texture. Dunk them in coffee or tea, or serve with baked apples. Printen never contained egg: the thick beet syrup is both sweetener and binder, gluing the flour into a stiff dough that sets hard in the oven. Chef's tip: let the syrup cool to lukewarm before mixing in the flour; the common mistake is adding it hot, which starts cooking the flour and gives a tough, rubbery dough.

1465 minGermanBakingVegan
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Lavariya (ලැවරියා, string-hopper parcels with coconut treacle filling)

Lavariya turns up on the Sinhala and Tamil New Year table in mid-April, when households across Sri Lanka lay out a spread of sweets after the auspicious hour. It starts as string-hopper dough: roasted rice flour scalded with boiling water and pressed through a mould into fine noodles. Here the noodles are piped in a coil, filled with pani pol, grated coconut cooked down in kithul treacle with cardamom, then folded into a half-moon and steamed. The result is soft, lacy and springy outside, with a sticky, smoky-sweet centre. Serve warm with plain tea or as part of an Avurudu platter with kokis and kavum. It is naturally egg-free: the boiling water cooks and swells the rice starch so the dough holds its shape, and the thick treacle binds the coconut. Chef's tip: the common mistake is using warm rather than boiling water; the dough then crumbles in the press, so pour it straight off the boil and mix with a spoon until cool enough to knead.

80 minSri LankanDessertsVeganGluten free
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Boeber (Cape Malay vermicelli and sago milk pudding)

In Cape Town's Cape Malay homes, the fifteenth night of Ramadan is Boeber night, when big pots of this warm, sweet milk are cooked and shared with neighbours and the mosque after the fast is broken. It also turns up on cold winter evenings. Boeber is halfway between a drink and a pudding: toasted vermicelli and pearls of sago swim in milk spiced with cardamom and cinnamon, scented with rose water and finished with almonds and sultanas. It is creamy, fragrant and thick enough to need a spoon. Serve it hot in mugs or bowls. Boeber has never needed egg; the sago pearls release their starch as they cook and thicken the milk, while a little butter gives it a rich finish. Chef's tip: toast the vermicelli in the butter until golden before any milk goes in, for a nutty flavour; the common mistake is to stop stirring once the sago goes in, and it sinks and sticks to the base of the pot.

60 minSouth AfricanDesserts
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Hutzelbrot (Swabian dried-pear Christmas loaf)

In Swabia and Franconia, Hutzelbrot is baked in early December and sliced through Advent and Christmas, traditionally on St Thomas's Day, 21 December. Hutzeln are dried pears, and they are the heart of the loaf: soaked overnight and simmered, then mixed with figs, prunes, raisins, hazelnuts, walnuts and candied peel, bound with only enough spiced yeast dough to hold everything together. The result is dark, moist and dense, closer to fruit than to bread, fragrant with cinnamon, aniseed and cloves. Slice it thin and eat it plain, spread with butter or a nut butter, with coffee or a hot fruit tea. The loaf is naturally egg-free: the yeast dough, made with the sweet pear soaking water, is the glue, and the sticky fruit holds it moist for weeks. Chef's tip: wrap the cooled loaves tightly and leave them for 3–4 days before slicing; the common mistake is cutting it on day one, when it crumbles and the flavours have not settled.

900 minGermanBakingVegan
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