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.

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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 min

180 min

Mexican Baking

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Pasta con la ricotta

120 min

Persian Baking

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Pasta al limoneLemon butter pasta

On the Amalfi Coast, where knobbly lemons hang over every terrace, pasta al limone is a summer supper made in the time it takes to boil water. Lemon zest, juice, butter and grated cheese melt into the starchy cooking water to make a light, creamy sauce with no cream at all, fragrant and sharp. Parmesan is traditionally made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese if you need the dish to be fully vegetarian. The usual mistake is adding the cheese over high heat, which makes it clump into strings; take the pan off the flame first. Chef's tip: zest the lemons before you juice them, and only the yellow part, as the white pith is bitter.

20 min

Italian Pasta & Noodles

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Khari biscuitsSalted puff pastry sticks

Chai in Mumbai's Irani cafés and Ahmedabad's corner bakeries comes with a glass jar of khari: long, shattering sticks of puff pastry, salty rather than sweet, that flake all over your lap. People dip them in sweet masala chai, which soaks into the layers in seconds, so the trick is a quick dunk. Bakeries usually laminate with margarine or vanaspati; butter gives a richer, cleaner taste, and this eggless home version uses a block of cold butter folded into a plain dough, with a scatter of cumin or crushed kasuri methi on some. The biggest mistake is letting the butter go soft between folds: it smears into the dough and the sticks bake up hard and bready instead of rising into dozens of leaves. Chef's tip: once the sticks have puffed and coloured, lower the oven and leave them in until the centres are dry; under-dried khari go soft in the jar within a day.

185 min

Indian Baking

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Khubz ragagPaper-thin batter flatbread

Khubz ragag is the tissue-thin bread of the UAE, traditionally spread by hand over a hot domed iron griddle by Emirati women at morning markets and cooked in seconds until crisp. At home it is breakfast drizzled with date syrup, or with eggs and cheese cooked on top, and in Ramadan it is torn into thareed stew. This plain version is egg-free and dairy-free, cooked in a non-stick frying pan. The common mistake is a dough that is too stiff: it should be loose and sticky so it can be smeared paper-thin. Toppings like egg or cheese can be added at the end if you are not keeping it vegan. Chef's tip: wipe the pan with a damp, folded cloth between breads to cool the surface slightly, so the next one spreads without tearing.

30 minGulf Arabian Breads & Parathas

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Hyderabadi fruit biscuitsTutti-frutti butter biscuits

Boxes of these pink-and-green flecked biscuits leave Hyderabad in every suitcase: visitors queue at the old bakeries near Charminar and the airport shops stock tins of them. Each one is short and crumbly, buttery, with a faint pineapple scent and chewy bits of candied papaya (tutti-frutti) scattered through. They are eggless, rich with butter and a little custard powder, and go with a cup of Irani chai or a glass of cold milk. The usual slip is mixing the tutti-frutti in wet or sticky, so it bleeds colour and clumps; toss it in a spoon of flour first. Chef's tip: shape the dough into a square log and chill it until firm, then slice; a firm log gives neat, sharp-edged biscuits like the bakery ones.

63 min

Indian Baking

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Arepa de chocloSweet corn griddle cakes with cheese

Along the mountain roads of Antioquia and Boyacá, roadside stalls cook arepas de choclo on wide griddles all day: thick, sweet cakes of blended fresh corn, golden outside and soft inside, folded or topped with a slab of fresh white cheese and a smear of butter. Colombians eat them for breakfast, as a mid-afternoon snack with hot chocolate, or as a quick supper. The usual mistake is a batter that is too wet, so the cakes tear when flipped; it should hold its shape on a spoon, and a little precooked cornmeal fixes a runny batch. Queso campesino and mozzarella are often made with animal rennet, so look for a vegetarian cheese if needed; check the cornmeal pack is gluten free if that matters. Chef's tip: cook them over a medium-low heat; the sugar in the corn burns before the middle sets if the pan is too hot.

25 min

Colombian Breakfast & Brunch

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OkayuPlain rice porridge with pickled plum

Okayu is the porridge Japanese mothers make when someone is ill, tired or simply needs something gentle, and it is also eaten on 7 January as part of the new year with seven spring herbs. This weeknight version starts from cooked rice, simmered in water with a little salt until soft, white and spoonable, then served with a sour-salty umeboshi plum to stir in. The mistake is stirring it constantly, which breaks the grains and turns it gluey; stir only now and then. Chef's tip: for the full, silkier version, start with 100 g raw rice and 1 litre of water and simmer, lid ajar, for 40 minutes.

17 min

Japanese Rice & Grains

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Kulche birinjiRice flour cardamom cookies

On the morning of Eid, or when Nowruz comes round in March, Afghan households set out a dish of kulche birinji next to the sugared almonds and dried fruit for every visitor. These small, snow-white rounds are made from rice flour, powdered sugar and ghee, scented with cardamom and sometimes rose water, and they dissolve on the tongue almost as soon as you bite. A pinch of ground pistachio pressed into the centre of each gives colour. Serve them with green tea, the way they are offered in Kabul. They are naturally gluten free and eggless. Browning is the common mistake: they should come out as pale as they went in, just firm on the base. Chef's tip: let the dough rest for 20 minutes after mixing so the rice flour drinks up the ghee; it becomes far easier to roll smooth, crack-free balls.

50 min

Afghan Baking

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Stuvade makaronerCreamy macaroni

Stuvade makaroner is a Swedish childhood classic, cooked on weekday evenings all over the country: small macaroni simmered in milk with butter and a grating of nutmeg until thick and creamy, served beside meatballs, sausages or, for a vegetarian plate, fried halloumi or eggs and a spoonful of lingonberries. It is mild, comforting and made in one pan. The most common mistake is cooking on too high a heat, so the milk catches and burns on the bottom; keep it at a gentle simmer and stir often. Chef's tip: boil the macaroni in water for 3 minutes first, then finish in the milk, so it cooks evenly without the sauce turning gluey.

20 minScandinavian Sides

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Surti jeera butter biscuitsCumin butter tea biscuits

Surat's old bakeries, some of them run by Parsi and Bohra families for a century, sell 'butter' by the kilo: round, crisp, flaky biscuits that crack into layers, and the jeera version is salted and freckled with cumin. Gujaratis eat them with morning tea, crushed into a saucer of chai or spread with a little butter. Unlike khari they start with a lightly yeasted dough that is spread with a ghee-and-flour paste and folded, then baked once until risen and again, low, until bone dry, which gives a crunch rather than a shatter. The mistake most people make is pulling them out after the first bake because they look done; they need the long, slow second bake or they turn chewy. Chef's tip: toast the cumin in a dry pan for a minute and crush half of it before it goes into the dough, so the flavour runs through every layer.

180 min

Indian Baking

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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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Tindora nu shaakIvy gourd stir-fry

Tindora (ivy gourd) nu shaak is a lunch-box and dinner standby in Gujarat and Mumbai's Gujarati homes: thin rounds of the little gourd stir-fried with mustard seeds and turmeric until they are tender inside and lightly crisp at the edges. It is a dry shaak, eaten with dal-bhaat or rolled into a rotli, and children often like it best. The common mistake is slicing the tindora too thick, which means it either stays raw in the middle or needs water that makes it soggy; cut every round about 3 mm thick. Chef's tip: avoid tindora that is red or soft inside, which means it is overripe and will taste sour. Most hing contains wheat, so buy a gluten-free one if needed.

28 min

Indian Vegetarian

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Jeera riceCumin rice

Jeera rice is the plain-but-not-plain rice of North Indian restaurants and homes, cooked on weeknights from Delhi to Lucknow to go with dal makhani, rajma, chole or any gravy curry. Cumin seeds are fried in ghee with a bay leaf, cardamom and cloves until they crackle, then rinsed basmati is cooked in the same pot, so every long grain is scented and separate. The usual mistake is stirring the rice while it cooks, which breaks the grains and makes it sticky. Chef's tip: if you have 20 minutes to spare, soak the rinsed rice first; the grains cook up longer and even fluffier (that pushes it past 30 minutes).

25 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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Bizcochos de CayambeTwice-baked butter biscuits

Drive north from Quito towards the snow-capped Cayambe volcano and the roadside is lined with bakeries selling paper bags of bizcochos, small finger-shaped biscuits baked twice until they shatter. Families stop there on weekend trips and order them with a slab of soft, salty queso de hoja, a cup of hot chocolate and a spoonful of dulce de leche (manjar) for spreading. The dough is a lightly yeasted butter dough, rolled into thin sticks, baked once until pale gold and then dried slowly until crisp right through, with a flaky, crumbly bite. A sealed jar keeps them for weeks. Chef's tip: the second bake is about drying, not browning, so keep the oven low; a hot second bake is the usual mistake and leaves them dark outside and chewy inside.

130 minAndean Baking

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Mákos tészta (Hungarian poppy seed pasta)

Mákos tészta surprises people who meet it outside Hungary: hot wide noodles tossed in butter and finely ground poppy seeds with sugar, eaten as a main course, often on a Friday after a bowl of soup. Children across Hungary grow up on it, and grown-ups still order it in school-canteen-style restaurants in Budapest. The trick is grinding the seeds; whole poppy seeds just roll off the pasta, and the most common mistake is using them unground, which gives a gritty dish with little flavour. Chef's tip: a spice or coffee grinder turns poppy seeds into a fragrant, slightly oily powder in 20 seconds; grind them just before cooking.

17 min

Hungarian Pasta & Noodles

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MantecaditosAlmond shortbread with guava

During the long Puerto Rican Christmas season, which runs from Thanksgiving to the fiestas de la calle San Sebastián in mid-January, trays of mantecaditos appear at every parranda and family visit. They are small, eggless shortbread balls scented with almond extract, pressed with a thumb and filled with a cube of sticky, ruby guava paste. They crumble in one bite, rich with butter, and the tart guava cuts the sweetness. Serve them with a cafecito, or a glass of milk for the children. Warm dough is what makes them spread into flat puddles, so chill the shaped balls before they go in. Chef's tip: cut the guava paste with a knife dipped in hot water, and press it into the hollow only after chilling so it stays neatly in place.

45 min

Puerto Rican Baking

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BakpiaMung bean pastries

Nobody leaves Yogyakarta without a cardboard box of bakpia; the Pathuk neighbourhood, a short walk from Malioboro, is lined with family bakeries turning them out for visitors as oleh-oleh, the snacks Indonesians bring home from a trip. These are small, round and slightly puffed, with a thin, flaky skin that goes golden in spots and a smooth, lightly salted sweet mung bean centre. They came to Java with Chinese bakers (the name comes from Hokkien bak pia) and are eaten with sweet hot tea or a glass of kopi. Using too much filling is the usual problem; the skin should wrap it with no stretching. Chef's tip: cook the mung beans with a knotted pandan leaf for the classic fragrance, and keep the pastry balls under a damp cloth so the skins stay supple while you work.

110 min

Indonesian Baking

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Fideos con mantecaButtered noodles with cheese

Ask anyone from Buenos Aires to Córdoba what they ate when they came home late or felt poorly as a child, and the answer is often fideos con manteca: short pasta tossed with butter and a snowfall of grated queso rallado. It is the plainest dish in the Argentine home kitchen and the one people cook for themselves on a tired weeknight. The mistake that ruins it is draining the pasta bone-dry and adding cold cheese to a hot empty pan, which leaves greasy strands and clumps; a splash of cooking water makes a light, creamy coating instead. Argentine reggianito and Parmesan are made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian hard cheese if needed. Chef's tip: grate the cheese very finely, like dust, so it melts on contact.

15 min

Argentinian Pasta & Noodles

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Dar ni poriSweet lentil pie with nuts

Parsi families in Mumbai and the small towns of south Gujarat order dar ni pori for Navroz, birthdays and the first day of a new job, when a sweet that keeps well is needed for visitors. A thin, flaky shortcrust holds a fudgy filling of toor dal cooked down with sugar and ghee, scented with cardamom, nutmeg and rose water and studded with almonds and pistachios. It tastes a little like a nutty halwa wrapped in pastry and is cut into small wedges, usually with a cup of milky tea. The usual mistake is stopping the filling too early: if it is still soft and wet it soaks the pastry and leaks through the seams. Chef's tip: the dal is ready when it pulls away from the pan as one mass and a spoonful holds a clean shape on a plate.

150 min

Indian Baking

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HojarascasCinnamon sugar crumble cookies

At weddings, quinceañeras and Christmas gatherings in Nuevo León and Coahuila, someone always brings a platter of hojarascas, the name meaning 'fallen leaves' because they crumble as lightly as dry leaves underfoot. The cookies are short and sandy, spiced with cinnamon, and rolled while warm in more cinnamon sugar so they look frosted. Monterrey families serve them with café de olla or hot champurrado. They are traditionally made with lard; this version uses vegetable shortening, which gives the same tender crumb and makes them vegan, or you can use butter for a richer taste. Overworking the dough once the flour is in is the classic mistake, because it develops gluten and makes them tough. Chef's tip: steep a cinnamon stick in the water first and use that tea to bind the dough, which doubles the spice flavour without bitterness.

40 min

Mexican Baking

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Tarte à la ferloucheMolasses and raisin pie

Ferlouche is an old Quebec farmhouse pie, the kind served at the Christmas réveillon, at sugar-shack lunches in spring and at church suppers in the Beauce. Molasses, brown sugar and water are cooked into a dark, glossy custard thickened with cornstarch and full of raisins, then poured into a crisp crust. It needs no eggs at all, and tastes of caramel, toffee and a little spice. The crust is traditionally made with lard, but this version uses butter and vegetable shortening, so it is vegetarian. Stopping the cooking as soon as the filling thickens is a frequent mistake: the cornstarch needs a proper boil or the pie never sets and tastes floury. Chef's tip: let the cooked filling boil for a full 2 minutes, stirring, until it turns from cloudy to translucent.

In Mahébourg, on the south-east coast of Mauritius, a family biscuit works has made thin cassava biscuits on hot iron plates for more than a century, and biscuit manioc has become the island's signature tea biscuit. They are pale, square and so crisp they snap cleanly, with a gentle sweetness and flavours such as plain, coconut, vanilla or cinnamon. Mauritians eat them with a cup of vanilla tea, spread them with butter, or crumble them over a bowl of fruit. Made with cassava flour, they are naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: mix the dough with very hot water, which partly cooks the starch and makes the dough pliable; cold water is the common mistake, and the dough cracks and crumbles as you roll it.

55 min

Mauritian Baking

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Pain de campagneCountry sourdough loaf

Picture a round, flour-dusted boule on the counter of a village bakery in Burgundy or the Auvergne: that is pain de campagne, the 'country loaf' French families once baked weekly in a shared oven and kept in a cloth for days. A little wholemeal rye in the dough gives a greyish crumb, an earthy, gently sour flavour and a thick, crackling crust that stays good for four or five days. Slice it for tartines with butter and honey, toast it for soup, or serve it with a cheese board, onion soup or a slow vegetable stew. This version builds a fresh leaven in the morning and rests the shaped loaf in the fridge overnight, so you bake first thing the next day. Many home loaves come out pale and soft because they are pulled too early; French bakers call the dark finish 'bien cuit', and that colour is where the flavour lives. Chef's tip: bake straight from the fridge into a screaming-hot lidded casserole; the cold, firm dough is easier to score and springs up higher.

1335 min

French Breads & Parathas

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PalianytsiaRound hearth loaf

Its name is famously hard to pronounce for anyone who did not grow up speaking Ukrainian, and the loaf itself is just as recognisable: a tall, round wheat hearth bread with one deep cut along its side, which opens in the oven into a raised, crunchy crest. Ukrainian families have long baked palianytsia for everyday meals and for welcoming guests. The crust is thick and well browned, the crumb white, open and slightly chewy. It belongs next to a bowl of borscht with garlic, or sliced with sunflower oil, salt and spring onions. A slow rise gives it flavour, so it uses little yeast. A shallow, timid cut is the commonest mistake: the side bursts in a random place instead of lifting into the crest. Chef's tip: cut at a low angle, about 2 cm deep, a third of the way up the side, and cool the loaf fully before slicing.

235 min

Ukrainian Breads & Parathas

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Baguette

Four ingredients and nothing else: since a 1993 decree, a loaf sold in France as a baguette de tradition may contain only flour, water, salt and leavening. Parisians buy one or two a day, warm from the boulangerie, and the end of the loaf rarely makes it home uneaten. A good one has a thin, shattering, deep golden crust, an open, creamy crumb and a faint nutty sweetness from a long, slow rise. Tear it for butter and jam at breakfast, split it for a jambon-beurre or a cheese sandwich, or put it on the table with soup, salad and a cheese board. Shaping is where most home bakers go wrong: pressing all the air out while rolling the dough long gives a tight, cottony crumb, so handle it lightly and let the bench rest do the work. Chef's tip: cut the slashes almost lengthways, at a shallow angle with the blade nearly flat, and overlap each one by a third; straight-down, crosswise cuts just open into flat scars instead of the raised 'ears' you want.

445 min

French Breads & Parathas

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GijdaThick milk and butter bread

Small, thick and glossy, gijda is the richer cousin of the big Uzbek non, sold in stacks at the bazaars of Tashkent and Samarkand and carried to weddings, family visits and long afternoons of green tea. Milk and butter in the dough make it fine-crumbed and tender, a little sweet, with a deep-golden domed rim and a flat, pricked centre that stays crisp. It is eaten with green tea and honey, torn beside plov, or with a bowl of shurpa. Bakers stamp the middle with a chekich, a wooden tool full of nails; a fork does the same job at home. If the centre is not pressed down hard enough it puffs up in the oven and you lose the classic shape, which is the most common mistake. Chef's tip: press the centre flat with the base of a glass first, then prick it all over, so the rim stays high and the middle stays thin.

143 min

Uzbek Breads & Parathas

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BaijimoGriddle-baked flatbread

Xi'an street cooks describe a good baijimo with a three-part saying: an iron ring, a tiger's back and a chrysanthemum heart. That means a pale, firm rim, a top mottled golden like tiger stripes, and a spiral pattern in the middle. Inside it is fluffy and layered, outside thin and crisp, and it is split from the side while hot to make roujiamo, the famous Shaanxi sandwich of chopped braised pork. For a meat-free filling, use braised shiitake and tofu with chilli oil, or spicy shredded potato. The dough is only half-risen on purpose; letting it fully prove is the mistake that gives you a soft, bun-like bread with no crunch. Chef's tip: twist the coil as you stand it on end and press it flat, which is what draws the spiral into the chrysanthemum heart.

88 min

Chinese Breads & Parathas

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LimpaSweet orange and fennel rye loaf

Sweet, fragrant and a little dark, limpa is the soft rye loaf that Swedes slice thinly for breakfast and stack high on the Christmas julbord. Dark syrup gives it a gentle sweetness and a deep brown crumb, while orange zest, fennel and anise make the whole kitchen smell festive. The Christmas version, vörtlimpa, is made with wort or dark beer; this everyday loaf uses milk instead, so there is no alcohol. Eat it with butter and a sharp aged cheese, with marmalade, or with pickled beetroot and egg on the smörgåsbord. Rye dough is sticky by nature, and working in extra flour until it feels like wheat dough is the classic mistake that bakes a heavy brick; oil your hands instead. Chef's tip: brush the loaves with syrup and water the moment they come out of the oven, which gives them their soft, glossy, slightly sticky crust.

180 minScandinavian Breads & Parathas

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RohlíkSalt and caraway breakfast roll

Ask a Czech or Slovak what they ate for breakfast as a child and the answer is usually a rohlík: a long, slim roll rolled up from a triangle of dough, sold for a few crowns at every bakery and supermarket from Prague to Bratislava. It has a thin, crisp golden crust scattered with coarse salt and caraway, and a soft, tight spiral inside. People eat it with butter and jam, with a spread such as egg or bean pomazánka, with a cup of white coffee, or simply dunked in a mug of cocoa. This version uses sunflower oil, so it is vegan. Rolling the triangles loosely is the usual mistake; the spiral opens in the oven and the roll splits. Chef's tip: stretch each triangle gently by its point as you roll it up, which keeps the coil tight and gives the long, even shape.

135 min

Czech Breads & Parathas

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Hops breadCrusty breakfast rolls

Saturday breakfast in Trinidad and Tobago often means a paper bag of hops bread from the corner bakery, bought hot and split right away. The rolls are small and round with a crisp, crackly shell that gives way to a soft, airy, almost cotton-like inside. Trinis fill them with cheese and pepper sauce, buljol of saltfish, fried aloo or a smear of butter and guava jelly, and they turn up at lunch with stewed chickpeas too. A little vegetable shortening keeps the crumb tender; there is no milk or butter in the dough, so they are vegan. Underproving is the common mistake: tight, heavy rolls that split along the side. Wait until a fingertip dent fills back slowly. Chef's tip: brush the rolls with water just before and halfway through baking; the moisture is what gives hops their thin, shattering crust.

143 min

Trinidadian Breads & Parathas

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TelerasSoft two-groove sandwich rolls

Without teleras there would be no torta, Mexico City's great lunchtime sandwich. These wide, flattish oval rolls, marked with two long grooves, have a thin, tender crust and a soft, close crumb that holds refried beans, avocado, queso and pickled jalapeños without falling apart. Every neighbourhood panadería piles them on metal trays next to the crustier bolillos, and street stalls toast them on a griddle before filling. Some bakers add a spoonful of lard to the dough; vegetable shortening gives the same softness and keeps these vegan. Pressing the grooves too gently is the usual mistake, because they puff closed in the oven and you lose the three-part shape. Chef's tip: for a proper torta, split the roll, pull out a little of the crumb and toast the cut sides on a hot comal with a smear of oil or butter.

160 min

Mexican Breads & Parathas

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Tabouna breadSemolina clay-oven flatbread

Named after the clay oven it is baked in, tabouna bread is slapped by Tunisian village women against the oven's hot inner wall, where it puffs and blisters in minutes. It is a round semolina bread, golden and slightly gritty outside, tender and yellowish within, with the sweet, nutty taste of durum wheat and a hint of olive oil. Roadside stalls from Kairouan to the Cap Bon sell it warm to wrap around harissa, olive oil and mechouia, the smoky grilled-pepper salad, or to tear into a bowl of lablabi, the garlicky chickpea soup. A hot baking tray does the oven's job at home. Semolina drinks water slowly, and adding extra flour because the dough feels wet at first is the mistake that makes a dry, heavy bread. Chef's tip: shape the rounds with wet hands rather than floury ones; it keeps the dough soft and gives the crust its blistered finish.

During Ramadan in Sarajevo, queues form outside the Baščaršija bakeries in the last hour before iftar, everyone waiting for somun still warm from the oven. It is a round, pale flatbread about three fingers thick, with a crust so thin it barely crackles and a soft, airy middle, and a criss-cross grid pressed into the top. All year it is split and stuffed with ćevapi and onions at the grill houses; for a meat-free plate, fill it with kajmak, roasted peppers and ajvar or grilled vegetables. Somun should stay pale: leave it in the oven until it is brown and the crust turns hard, which is the commonest mistake. Chef's tip: wrap the loaves in a clean tea towel the moment they come out; the trapped steam softens the crust to that typical pillowy finish.

140 minBalkan Breads & Parathas

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Aish merahrahCorn and fenugreek flatbread

Village women in Sohag, Qena and the countryside around Luxor still bake aish merahrah in mud-brick ovens, a whole week's supply at a time. Made mostly from maize flour with ground fenugreek seeds, it is thin, rough-textured and crisp at the edges, with a gently bitter, maple-like fenugreek aroma and a faint sourness from fermentation. Fresh, it is folded around ful medames, salty mish cheese or a dab of molokhia; dried, it keeps for weeks and is crumbled into soups and stews. A little wholemeal wheat flour holds the dough together, so it is not gluten free. Maize has almost no stretch, and trying to roll it like wheat dough is the classic mistake: it cracks and tears, so pat it out with wet hands instead. Chef's tip: toast the fenugreek seeds in a dry pan for a minute before grinding; it softens their bitterness and deepens the nutty flavour.

180 min

Egyptian Breads & Parathas

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ChaplasHollow puffed Andean bread

Walk through Ayacucho's central market at seven in the morning and you will see women selling stacks of chaplas from cloth-lined baskets, still warm from the wood-fired ovens of the Andes. These round wheat breads puff up like pita in the fierce heat, leaving a hollow pocket inside a thin, soft, lightly floury crust. In Ayacucho and Huancavelica they are eaten with sweet coffee or hot emoliente for breakfast, or split and filled with queso fresco, avocado or a spoonful of rocoto sauce. Highland bakers traditionally work in a little lard; vegetable shortening gives the same tenderness and keeps the bread vegan. A cool baking tray is the reason chaplas stay flat, so preheat it thoroughly. Chef's tip: let the rolled rounds rest before baking and flip them upside down onto the tray, so the smooth, dry side meets the heat first and the pocket opens evenly.

149 min

Peruvian Breads & Parathas

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Octopus sausages (tako-san wiener)

Open a Japanese child's bento almost anywhere in the country and there is a good chance of finding tako-san wiener: small frankfurters with the bottom half cut into legs, which curl out like an octopus when they hit a hot pan. They go in on school-trip days and sports days, often with a tiny sesame-seed face. They contain whatever your sausages contain; check the label for wheat, milk and soya. For children under 5, cut the finished sausages in half lengthwise to avoid a choking risk. Chef's tip: cut the legs only halfway up the sausage, or the head splits off.

10 min

Japanese Meat

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Casadinho (black and white brigadeiro)

No Brazilian children's birthday is complete without a table of docinhos in little paper cases, and casadinho, the 'little married couple', is the one with two halves: dark chocolate brigadeiro and creamy white beijinho-style fudge rolled together into one ball. Children help roll them the day before the party. It contains milk and is gluten free; check the sprinkles are gluten free if that matters to you. Chef's tip: the fudge is cooked when you can drag a spatula across the pan and see the bottom for two seconds before it closes.

50 min

Brazilian Desserts

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Jaffles (Australian toasted sandwiches)

Jaffles are Australian childhood in a sandwich: thick bread sealed around a hot filling in a cast-iron jaffle iron over the campfire, or in an electric sandwich press after school and on rainy weekend lunchtimes. Cheese and baked beans, or cheese and tomato, are the classics, and the sealed edges keep everything molten inside. They contain gluten and milk. Chef's tip: butter the outsides, not the insides, so the bread turns crisp and golden against the iron.

13 min

Australian Fast Food

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Beschuit met muisjesRusks with aniseed sprinkles

When a baby is born in the Netherlands, visitors are greeted with beschuit met muisjes: round, crisp rusks spread with butter and covered in sugared aniseed sprinkles, pink for a girl, blue for a boy, or the older white-and-pink or white-and-blue mix. Brothers, sisters and school friends love handing them round, and the sprinkles are also a favourite on bread at breakfast. Aniseed was once thought to help new mothers. It contains gluten and milk. Chef's tip: butter the rusks generously right to the edge, or the sprinkles roll off; that is why the Dutch say to 'press, not scatter'.

Nkatie cake, from nkatie, the Twi word for groundnut, is the crunchy peanut brittle sold in small squares wrapped in paper by hawkers at school gates and lorry stations all over Ghana, from Accra to Kumasi. Roasted peanuts are stirred into caramelised sugar, spread thin and cut while warm. It is a sweet treat, so cut the pieces small. It contains peanuts. Whole peanuts and hard brittle are a choking risk for under-5s, so it is not for young children. Chef's tip: have everything ready before the sugar melts; once the caramel is amber you have seconds, not minutes.

In Korean homes the weaning journey, called iyusik, begins with ssal mieum, a gruel so thin it is almost a drink. The rice is soaked, blended raw with water and then stirred over a low flame, which gives a finer, silkier result than boiling whole grains. Families offer it at around six months, a spoonful in the morning, before moving on to thicker juk with vegetables a few weeks later. It contains none of the common allergens: no milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: grind the soaked rice with only part of the water first; a thick slurry blends smoother than a watery one.

80 min

Korean Rice & Grains

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Grechka s molokom (buckwheat with milk)

Grechka s molokom, buckwheat groats cooked soft and served in a bowl of warm milk with a little butter, is the breakfast or light supper that generations of Russian children have eaten at home and in nursery school. The groats are earthy and nutty and the milk makes them gentle and sweet-tasting, without any sugar. Buckwheat is naturally gluten free (despite its name); the dish contains milk and has no egg, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: use toasted buckwheat (the brown kind sold for kasha), which has the rounder, nuttier flavour.

25 min

Russian Breakfast & Brunch

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Matpakke (Norwegian packed lunch)

Nearly every Norwegian child carries a matpakke to school: slices of wholemeal bread, each with one simple topping, stacked with sheets of sandwich paper in between and wrapped in a neat parcel. Yellow cheese, sweet caramel-like brown cheese (brunost) and jam are the classics, with cucumber or pepper sticks on the side; liver paste is the meaty favourite. It is plain, filling and built to survive a school bag. It contains gluten (wheat) and milk. Chef's tip: keep wet toppings like tomato out of the stack; they make the bread soggy by lunchtime.

10 minScandinavian Breads & Parathas

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Indian bakery cream roll

Cream rolls are a sweet memory for children across India, from the Irani cafés of Mumbai to Kerala's small-town bakeries: spirals of flaky puff pastry baked around a cone, glazed with sugar and piped with soft vanilla cream. They turn up on birthday party plates and in after-school bakery treats. This version uses whipped cream rather than the shortening icing of many shops. It contains gluten and milk. Chef's tip: fill them only an hour or two before serving so the pastry stays crisp.

50 min

Indian Baking

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Kisiel (Polish fruit jelly drink)

Kisiel is a Polish childhood staple served in school canteens and at home after school, warm in winter and chilled in summer, somewhere between a thick drink and a soft jelly. Home-made versions use fruit or juice thickened with potato starch, without the bright colours of packet mixes. This one uses mixed berries and only a little sugar. None of the common allergens are in it. Chef's tip: always mix the starch with cold water first and pour it into the boiling fruit while stirring; added dry, it forms lumps that never dissolve.

15 min

Polish Desserts

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Bubur merah putih (red and white porridge)

In Java, bubur merah putih is cooked for a baby's naming day, a child's birthday or a new house: a red-brown porridge sweetened with palm sugar and a white one rich with coconut milk, spooned side by side into one bowl. The red is said to stand for courage and the white for purity, and the bowls are shared with neighbours as thanks. The family and older children eat the sweetened red half; it is not for babies under one because of the sugar. Free of milk, egg, gluten, nuts and soya. Chef's tip: tie a pandan leaf in a knot and simmer it in both pots for a gentle vanilla-like scent.

50 min

Indonesian Desserts

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Bouillie (French baby cereal porridge)

In France, la bouillie is the warm cereal porridge that joins a baby's morning or evening milk at around six months. It is simply the baby's usual milk, breast milk or formula, thickened with plain infant cereal or fine oat or rice flour, and given from a spoon, or thinner from a bottle as many French families do at bedtime. It is creamy and mild. It contains milk from the formula, and gluten if you use oat or wheat cereal; there is no egg, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: choose a cereal with no added sugar or flavourings; you can add a spoon of fruit purée for sweetness later.

7 min

French Breakfast & Brunch

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40 min

Indian Sides

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Pane ticinese comes from Switzerland's Italian-speaking south and is now sold in bakeries across the country: a long, flat loaf made of linked rolls, each section easy to break off, with a soft, slightly chewy crumb thanks to a little olive oil in the dough. In Lugano and Bellinzona it goes on the table at lunch with salami and formaggini, or is torn into hunks for minestrone; this version is vegan. Chef's tip: when shaping, press each fold right down with the side of your hand; the deep creases are what let the loaf snap into neat pieces after baking.

160 min

Swiss Breads & Parathas

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WeggliSoft milk rolls

Weggli are the soft white rolls Swiss-German children grow up on: in Zurich, Bern and Basel they are bought warm on Saturday mornings, pulled apart along their deep central crease and eaten with butter and jam, or with a bar of chocolate pressed inside for the school break. The dough is enriched with milk and butter, so the crumb is fine and fluffy and the crust thin and golden. Chef's tip: press the crease firmly with the handle of a wooden spoon almost to the tray; if it's too shallow the rolls rise back into plain buns.

118 min

Swiss Breads & Parathas

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Doodh pattiStrong milk tea

Doodh patti is poured from a dented pan at every truck stop, university canteen and street-corner dhaba in Pakistan, from Karachi's Saddar to the Murree road, and it is drunk at all hours: before work, after cricket, at midnight with a paratha. The tea is made without any water at all, boiling loose black tea and sugar in milk until it turns a deep caramel colour and tastes rich, malty and strong. The mistake is simmering too gently and pulling it off too soon, giving a weak, milky drink; it needs a proper rolling boil, more than once. Contains milk. Chef's tip: lift the pan off the heat each time the tea froths to the top and return it, three times; each rise deepens the colour and flavour.

11 min

Pakistani Drinks

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Shimla mirch besanCapsicum with gram flour

In Marwari homes in Jodhpur and Bikaner, and across Vidarbha in Maharashtra, gram flour stretches a few vegetables into a satisfying dry sabzi, and capsicum with besan is the weekday favourite, eaten with phulka and a bowl of kadhi or dal. Diced green peppers are cooked until just soft, then dusted with roasted, spiced besan, which turns into crumbly golden bits that cling to the peppers. A portion is about 165 kcal. The common mistake is adding the besan raw to the wet peppers, which gives a pasty, raw-tasting coating; roast it dry in a separate pan first until it smells nutty. Chef's tip: keep the capsicum slightly crunchy; it carries on softening once the besan goes in.

23 min

Indian Vegetarian

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RuispuuroRye porridge

In Finnish homes and school canteens, ruispuuro is the plain, filling porridge of winter mornings, from Helsinki flats to farmhouses in Ostrobothnia. Rye flakes or coarse rye meal simmer in salted water until thick and slightly tangy, and the classic topping is a pool of melting butter, called a voisilmä or 'butter eye'. This version is vegan: use a plant butter, or tart lingonberries and a little oat milk. A common mistake is serving it too soon, when the flakes are still chewy. Chef's tip: let the porridge rest off the heat with the lid on for 5 minutes — the rye swells and turns creamy.

20 minScandinavian Breakfast & Brunch

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DrömmarCrisp dream cookies

Drömmar, 'dreams', are on almost every plate of the seven kinds of cookies that Swedish hosts traditionally set out for kafferep, the old coffee party, and grandmothers in Dalarna still bake them by the tin. They are pale, domed and so light they crack and melt on the tongue. That texture comes from hjorthornssalt, baker's ammonia, which smells strongly while baking but leaves nothing behind once the cookies are cooked through. Baking powder works too, but the cookies will be less airy. A common mistake is baking at a high heat; they must stay white. Chef's tip: bake in a low oven until completely dry inside, or the ammonia taste lingers.

40 minScandinavian Baking

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PatjukRed bean porridge

On Dongji, the winter solstice, Korean families eat a bowl of deep red patjuk: the colour was believed to drive away bad spirits on the longest night, and grandmothers still flick a little on the gate. Adzuki beans are boiled soft, pushed through a sieve and simmered with rice into a thick, earthy porridge, and little balls of glutinous rice dough called saealsim, one for each year of your age by tradition, are cooked in it. It is lightly salted; in Jeolla people add sugar. A bowl is about 380 kcal. The most common mistake is not stirring the bottom once the rice goes in; the thick porridge catches and burns quickly. Chef's tip: throw away the first boiling water of the beans; it removes bitterness and makes the porridge taste cleaner.

100 min

Korean Rice & Grains

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Tokma sharbatBasil seed lemon drink

When the azan sounds at sunset during Ramadan, tables from Dhaka's Mirpur flats to village courtyards in Comilla carry a jug of tokma sharbat: lemon water swirling with soaked sweet basil seeds, each one wearing a soft, jelly-like halo. It is sweet, sharp and cooling, a gentle first sip after a long hot fast before the dates and piyaju. The most common mistake is stirring the seeds straight into the jug dry, where they clump into slimy lumps; always soak them separately in plenty of water first. Chef's tip: bruise a few mint leaves or add a thumb of grated ginger to the jug, which many Dhaka families do in the hottest months.

Brunost, the brown cheese of Norway, is not really cheese but whey boiled for hours until its milk sugars caramelise into a fudge-like block. In Gudbrandsdalen and across the country it is shaved paper-thin with a cheese slicer onto buttered bread at breakfast, packed into school lunch boxes (matpakke) and laid on hot heart-shaped waffles at weekends. The whey comes from cheesemaking that often uses animal rennet, so strict vegetarians should check the label. A common mistake is cutting it in thick chunks; it is sweet and rich and meant to be almost see-through. Chef's tip: use a proper flat cheese slicer, and add a few slices of tart apple or jam on top to balance the sweetness.

5 minScandinavian Breakfast & Brunch

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Ryż z jabłkamiBaked rice with apples

Every Polish school canteen and milk bar from Gdańsk to Rzeszów has served ryż z jabłkami, and many grown-ups still bake it on a cold Sunday afternoon when autumn apples fill the market. Rice is cooked slowly in milk until creamy, layered in a dish with grated sharp apples, sugar and cinnamon, then baked until the top turns golden and the apple juices soak into the rice. It is eaten warm with soured cream or cold the next day from the fridge. A common mistake is using sweet dessert apples, which go mushy and bland; tart apples like Antonówka, Bramley or Granny Smith keep their bite. Chef's tip: squeeze a little of the juice out of the grated apples, or the bottom layer turns watery.

60 min

Polish Desserts

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Hallongrottor, 'raspberry caves', are the cookie Swedish children learn to bake first, pressing a thumb into each ball of buttery dough and filling the hollow with raspberry jam. They turn up at birthday parties, school bake sales and every proper fika in homes from Malmö to Luleå. Baked in paper cases, they keep their shape and the jam bubbles into a glossy jewel. A common mistake is overfilling the hollows, which makes the jam boil over and burn. Chef's tip: use a thick, set jam and fill only to the rim.

30 minScandinavian Baking

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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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Roz bel shaareya (Egyptian vermicelli rice)

Not a single Egyptian stew is served without roz bel shaareya: short-grain rice cooked with vermicelli that has been toasted in butter or samna until it's the colour of a walnut shell. It's on the table every day in homes from Aswan to Alexandria, soft and slightly sticky, with nutty brown flecks through it. Serve it under fasolia, bamia or molokhia. Most people under-toast the vermicelli out of fear of burning it; pale shaareya tastes of nothing. Chef's tip: let the cooked rice sit covered with a clean tea towel under the lid for 10 minutes; it dries the grains and keeps them separate.

30 min

Egyptian Rice & Grains

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Kuskusi bel sukkar (Egyptian sweet couscous)

Egyptians eat couscous sweet, not savoury: in Cairo and the Delta, street-side sweet shops sell kuskusi by the bowl in the evening, steamed with samna, heaped with powdered sugar, nuts and raisins, and sometimes covered with hot milk. At home it's a winter supper or a Friday breakfast treat. Pouring boiling water straight over instant couscous and leaving it gives a gluey lump; steaming it in two short rounds and rubbing in the butter keeps every grain separate. Chef's tip: warm the milk with a cinnamon stick and pour it over just before eating, so the couscous stays fluffy on top. Contains wheat, milk and tree nuts.

35 min

Egyptian Desserts

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Baba dudu

Yoruba children of the 70s and 80s remember baba dudu, "the black one", bought for a coin from sweet sellers outside school gates in Ibadan and Abeokuta: sugar and butter cooked until almost black, then pulled and cut into small chewy pieces that taste of toffee and burnt caramel. It is easy to make at home, but hot sugar burns badly, so keep children away from the stove. The candy is a choking risk for small children and isn't suitable for under-1s. The mistake is taking it off the heat too early: pale caramel stays soft and sticky, so wait until it is the colour of strong tea and a drop sets firm in cold water. Chef's tip: oil your scissors and cut the strip while it is warm and pliable; once cold it shatters.

Every corner sweet shop in Cairo has trays of mahalabeya cooling in the window, and at home it is the dessert made in ten minutes when guests ring to say they're coming. Milk is thickened with cornflour into a trembling, silky pudding, scented with rose or orange-blossom water and topped with chopped pistachios or coconut. Serve chilled in small glasses. Lumps are the usual complaint: mix the cornflour into cold milk first, never into hot. Chef's tip: stir in the rose water only after the pan comes off the heat; boiling kills its perfume. Contains milk and nuts (pistachio topping).

20 min

Egyptian Desserts

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Shlada khiar (grated cucumber salad with oregano)

In the heat of a Fes or Marrakech summer, this ice-cold grated cucumber salad is served in bowls with spoons, half salad, half drink, alongside rich tagines or a plate of fried fish. Cucumber is grated and loosened with water, vinegar and a little sugar, then perfumed with crushed dried oregano or zaatar. Grating ahead and leaving it to sit in salt is the usual slip; the cucumber goes limp and bitter. Chef's tip: rub the oregano between your palms over the bowl to wake its oils.

Ramadan evenings in Jakarta mean queues at the es buah carts, where melon, papaya, pineapple, jackfruit and nata de coco are scooped into glasses with swollen basil seeds, red rose syrup and a ribbon of condensed milk over crushed ice. It is drunk with a spoon at iftar, after dates, and it is just as welcome on any hot afternoon. Use whatever ripe fruit you have. Chef's tip: soak the basil seeds fully before adding them; dry seeds clump and stay gritty in the cold syrup.

15 min

Indonesian Drinks

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Dynamite lumpiaCheese-stuffed chilli rolls

Bar chow menus in Quezon City and roadside stalls in Pampanga both claim dinamita: a whole long green chilli, seeded, stuffed with a stick of cheese and wrapped tightly in lumpia pastry with its stalk poking out like a fuse. Fried until blistered and crisp, the chilli turns sweet and only mildly hot while the cheese melts into it. A sweet chilli or banana ketchup dip is usual. Many versions add seasoned meat; this one keeps it to cheese. Chef's tip: dry the chillies well inside after seeding; trapped water bursts the wrapper in the hot oil.

In Igbo homes from Enugu to Owerri a guest is welcomed with kola nut, and the kola is never served alone: beside it sits a saucer of ose oji, peanut butter mashed with ground dried pepper and a little salt, sometimes with uda or ginger. Elders break the kola, pray, and everyone dips. It is equally good with crunchy garden eggs (small white African aubergines) or cucumber. Contains peanut. Kola nut is a strong caffeine stimulant, so it is for adults only, not for children or pregnant women; serve the garden eggs to everyone else. The mistake is making the paste runny with water: it should be thick enough to cling to a slice without dripping, so loosen with oil instead. Chef's tip: toast the dried pepper in a dry pan for 30 seconds before grinding; the smoky heat is what makes ose oji taste right.

10 min

Nigerian Chutneys & Dips

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