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Jain recipes: no onion, garlic or root vegetables

2,809

2809 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.

Glaçon râpéShaved ice with syrups

On a hot Sunday at Flic en Flac or Mon Choisy, families queue at the glaçon râpé man, who shaves a block of ice into a cup, then pours over bright red and green syrups and, if you ask, a thick ribbon of sweetened condensed milk. The ice should be fluffy and dry like fresh snow, so the syrup sinks in and streaks the colours together, and the condensed milk turns the bottom of the cup into a sweet, milky slush. A home blender makes a fine version if the ice is very cold; the common mistake is using ice straight from a bag that has half-thawed, which turns to watery slush. Chef's tip: put the cups and the blender jug in the freezer for 20 minutes first, then pulse in short bursts rather than running the motor.

10 minMauritianDessertsGluten free
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JiaoquanCrisp fried dough rings

Jiaoquan are the thin, shatteringly crisp fried rings that old Beijingers dunk into a bowl of sour douzhi, or tuck inside a sesame shaobing for breakfast. Street cooks use alum to make them puff; this home version uses baking powder and soda, with a long rest so the dough becomes stretchy. The mistake is cutting the rest short: tight dough will not stretch thin and the rings come out chewy. The dough needs about 3 hours in total, most of it hands-off. Chef's tip: keep the oil steady at about 170 °C and turn the rings constantly with chopsticks; they should stay pale gold, not brown, and sound hollow when tapped.

60 minChineseBreakfast & BrunchVegan
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TojoríPurple corn porridge

Before dawn in Potosí and Sucre, vendors ladle steaming tojorí from big pots into glasses for miners, students and market workers. It is a pourable porridge of ground corn cooked with cinnamon, cloves and sugar; the purple-corn version is mildly fruity and turns a deep violet. It is drunk with buñuelos or a bread roll. Don't stop stirring in the first ten minutes, which is when it sticks and scorches. Chef's tip: toast the corn flour in a dry pan for a couple of minutes before you start; it brings out a roasted, nutty taste.

40 minAndeanBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
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Pan amasadoHand-kneaded country rolls

Pan amasado means simply 'kneaded bread', and in the countryside of the Central Valley and the south it is still made at home, in big batches, often baked in a mud-brick wood oven and sold by the side of the road in a basket under a cloth. The rolls are round, slightly flattened and pricked, with a thin crust and a dense, tender crumb, best warm with butter and jam or with pebre. Traditionally they are made with lard; this vegetarian version uses butter or vegetable shortening. Under-kneading is the usual mistake: the crumb stays heavy. Chef's tip: knead for a full 15 minutes, the way the name says, until the dough is smooth and springs back when poked.

152 minChileanBreads & Parathas
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TameletjiePine nut toffee

Children in old Cape Town spent their pocket money on tameletjie from the corner shop: amber slabs of hard toffee set in little folded paper cases, studded with pine nuts and sometimes almonds. It is nothing more than sugar and water boiled to the hard-crack stage, so it snaps cleanly and slowly melts on the tongue into a deep caramel with a faint bitterness, the toasted nuts adding a buttery crunch. Make it for a church bazaar, wrap it as a gift, or keep it in a tin for after-dinner coffee. Stirring once the syrup boils is what ruins most batches, because it makes the sugar crystallise into a cloudy, grainy mass. Hot sugar burns badly, so keep children well away from the pan. Chef's tip: brush the inside of the pan with a wet pastry brush as it boils to wash down any sugar crystals clinging to the sides.

30 minSouth AfricanDessertsVeganGluten free
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HallullaFlat round bread

If marraqueta is Santiago's crusty roll, hallulla is its soft, flat partner: a pale round about the size of a saucer, enriched with a little fat and pricked all over, with a fine, tight crumb that is perfect split and toasted with butter or filled with cheese and avocado at once. Bakeries traditionally use lard; this vegetarian version uses vegetable shortening or butter. Many home bakers let the rounds over-prove and get puffy buns; give them a short rise only. Chef's tip: fold and roll the dough several times before cutting, as bakery rollers do, to get the fine, layered crumb.

138 minChileanBreads & Parathas
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Moong thalMoong dal flour fudge

Moong thal is a Diwali tray sweet of Bikaner and Marwari homes, made by roasting coarsely ground moong dal in a generous amount of ghee, then setting it with sugar syrup and mawa and topping with nuts. It is richer and grainier than besan barfi, with a deep, toasty flavour. Marwari families in Kolkata and Mumbai still make it for Diwali boxes. The common mistake is under-roasting the moong, which leaves a raw, beany taste. Chef's tip: roast until the mixture turns light and frothy and the ghee releases from it; that is your sign it is cooked through.

60 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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Makhaniya lassiSaffron lassi with butter

Around the clock tower and old city of Jodhpur, lassi shops churn this rich drink all day in summer: chilled set curd whisked with sugar, saffron and cardamom, poured into tall glasses and crowned with a spoon of fresh white butter (makhan) and a layer of malai. You drink the cool lassi and eat the butter and cream with a spoon. It is a meal in itself. The common mistake is thinning it with too much water or ice, which loses the thick, almost spoonable texture that makes it Jodhpuri. Chef's tip: use curd set from full-fat milk the night before and whisk it by hand or with a few pulses only.

10 minIndianDrinksGluten free
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Rajgira no sheeroAmaranth flour pudding

On Ekadashi, Navratri and other fast days, Gujarati homes make this quick sheero from rajgira (amaranth) flour, which is allowed when grains are not. It is roasted in ghee until nutty, then cooked with milk and sugar into a soft, spoonable pudding with cardamom and a few nuts. It is ready in 20 minutes and is often offered to the Mataji before the family eats. The common mistake is adding cold milk to the roasted flour, which seizes into lumps. Chef's tip: heat the milk and sugar together first and pour it in slowly while you whisk.

20 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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Kesar pendaSaffron milk pendas

In Ahmedabad, any good news, from exam results to a new home or a newborn, means a box of kesar penda passed around the office and the street. These are soft, creamy pendas of fresh mawa cooked briefly with sugar and plenty of saffron, so they stay pale gold and fudgy, quite unlike the browned pedas of Mathura or Dharwad. The common mistake is overcooking the mawa once the sugar goes in, which turns the pendas dry and cracked at the edges. Chef's tip: stop cooking as soon as a small piece rolls into a smooth ball between your palms; they firm up as they cool.

30 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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NeureosCoconut and jaggery pastries

No Goan Catholic kuswar, the tray of Christmas sweets sent to neighbours, is complete without neureos, little crimped half-moons of crisp pastry stuffed with fresh coconut cooked down with jaggery, cardamom and a few raisins or cashews. Families gather in the week before Christmas to roll, fill and pinch them by the hundred, and they keep well in a tin until New Year. The common mistake is a wet filling: if the coconut mix is still moist when sealed the pastries burst in the oil, so cook it until it leaves the pan and cool it fully. Chef's tip: use a fluted pastry wheel to trim the edge after crimping, which gives the classic frilly finish and a tighter seal.

75 minIndianIndian Sweets
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Goan pezRice porridge with pickle and papad

Pez is the plainest food in a Goan kitchen and one of the most loved: red parboiled rice simmered in plenty of water until the grains burst and the liquid turns milky. Fishermen and farmers ate it before a day's work, mothers serve it to anyone who feels unwell, and on heavy monsoon evenings it comes with a spoon of mango or lime pickle, a roasted papad and sometimes a dry fish or vegetable on the side. The mistake is cooking it in too little water so it becomes a sticky porridge; good pez has whole soft grains floating in thin, starchy broth. Chef's tip: stir in a little salt only at the end and let everyone add buttermilk or coconut milk to their own bowl.

45 minIndianRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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ManganeChana dal and sago pudding

In Goan Hindu homes, especially around Ganesh Chaturthi, a pot of mangane is cooked for the naivedya and handed round warm after the aarti. Soft chana dal and glassy sago pearls sit in a thick, caramel-coloured sauce of coconut jaggery and fresh coconut milk, scented with cardamom and studded with cashews. The common mistake is boiling the dal hard after the thick coconut milk goes in, which splits it into oily curds; once the first milk is added the pot should only steam gently. Serve it warm in small bowls, or cool so it sets a little and spoon it up like a soft pudding. Chef's tip: soak the sago only until the pearls just give when pressed, or they melt into glue in the pot.

55 minIndianIndian SweetsVeganGluten free
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TequicheCornmeal and coconut baked pudding

Tequiche comes from the shores of Lake Maracaibo, where coconut palms are everywhere: toasted cornmeal is cooked with coconut milk, milk and sugar, then baked into a soft, golden pudding with a nutty, almost caramel taste. In Zulia homes it's cut into warm squares for an afternoon snack with coffee. The usual mistake is toasting the cornmeal too little, which leaves a raw, floury flavour. Chef's tip: keep toasting until it smells of popcorn and turns a light tan; that toast is the whole character of the dish.

65 minVenezuelanDessertsGluten free
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Lüdou zhouRice and mung bean congee

In Beijing and across the north, a pot of lüdou zhou is what families cook on hot summer mornings: plain rice and mung beans simmered until the beans split and the rice turns creamy, believed to cool the body. It is eaten with salty pickled vegetables, a fried dough stick or a spoon of sugar for children. The mistake is putting the rice and beans in together; mung beans need a head start or you get mushy rice with hard beans. Chef's tip: once it is cooked, leave it to stand off the heat with the lid on for 10 minutes; it thickens into a silky congee without extra stirring.

60 minChineseRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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Maesil-cha (green plum tea)

In early June the hillsides of Gwangyang are picked clean of hard green maesil, and Korean kitchens across the country fill with jars of plums buried in sugar. Over about a hundred days the sugar draws out the fruit's juice and becomes maesil-cheong, a golden syrup that is both a cooking ingredient and a drink. Iced, it is the summer cooler; hot, it is traditionally drunk after a heavy meal for digestion. It tastes bright and tart, like green apple and apricot, rounded by the sugar. The common mistake is putting damp plums or plums with stalks into the jar: water and stalk ends invite mould and unwanted fermentation. Pick out each stalk with a toothpick and dry the fruit completely. The syrup is ready when the plums have shrivelled and float in clear amber liquid. A little foaming early on is normal, but if it smells strongly of alcohol, grows fuzzy mould or turns slimy, discard it. Remove the plums at 100 days, because their stones contain natural compounds best kept out of a long-stored syrup. Chef's tip: use half white and half light brown sugar for a rounder, toffee-edged syrup.

40 minKoreanDrinksVeganGluten free
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Metkut bhaatRice with lentil powder and ghee

Ask anyone who grew up in Pune or Mumbai's Dadar about their first proper meal and many will say metkut bhaat: soft hot rice, a spoon of melted ghee and a sprinkle of metkut, a roasted powder of chana dal, urad dal and rice with turmeric and cumin. It is the bowl grandmothers make on lazy evenings and for toddlers from 12 months, nutty, savoury and gentle without any chilli. Shop metkut usually contains salt and asafoetida (which often has wheat), so this recipe roasts a small salt-free batch at home. It contains milk (ghee); the home-made powder has no gluten, egg, nuts or soya. Chef's tip: roast the dals slowly until they smell like popcorn; pale dal gives a raw, floury powder.

25 minIndianRice & GrainsGluten free
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Dal dhokli for toddlersWheat dumplings in dal for toddlers

In Ahmedabad pols and Surat kitchens dal dhokli is the Sunday one-pot lunch: diamonds of spiced wheat dough cooked straight in tangy toor dal. This toddler version, for children from 12 months, keeps the soft pasta-like pieces small, leaves out the chilli, peanuts and cloves, and uses only a pinch of jaggery so the dal stays sweet-sour the way Gujarati families like it. It is cooked in oil, so it is dairy free and vegan. It contains wheat (gluten); there is no milk, egg, nuts or soya. Chef's tip: roll the dough thin, about 2 mm; thick dhokli stay chewy in the middle.

45 minIndianCurriesVegan
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Bissy tea (kola nut tea)

Kola trees came to Jamaica with enslaved West Africans, and the nut, called bissy on the island, has stayed in country medicine ever since. Older people in St Mary, St Elizabeth and the hills of Clarendon still keep a dried bissy in the kitchen and grate some into boiling water when the stomach is upset or after eating something that disagreed with them,. Parched in a dry pan first, the grated nut gives a reddish-brown tea that smells faintly of cocoa and tastes bitter and astringent, softened by plenty of sugar. The common mistake is boiling raw, ungrated nut and expecting much flavour: whole pieces give little. Grate it finely, parch it until it darkens and smells like toasted cocoa, then boil. It is ready when the tea is a deep reddish-brown and coats the tongue with bitterness. Kola nut is very high in caffeine, as strong as a big mug of coffee or more, so drink one cup, not late in the day, and keep it away from children, pregnant people and anyone sensitive to caffeine or with heart trouble. Chef's tip: strain it through a fine cloth; the grated nut leaves a gritty sediment that a sieve lets through.

20 minJamaicanDrinksVeganGluten free
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Dulces abrillantadosGlazed milk fudge figures

Walk through the old centre of Mérida and you'll pass windows full of tiny shiny sweets shaped like fruit, flowers and animals: dulces abrillantados, made from milk and sugar cooked down to a fudge, hand-moulded and dipped in syrup that dries to a glassy crust. Families buy boxes to take home from the Andes. They need patience: the shaping is fun, but the milk must be cooked until it truly pulls away from the pan. The common mistake is stopping too early, so the figures flatten. Chef's tip: dust your hands with icing sugar while shaping, and dry the figures overnight before glazing.

110 minVenezuelanDessertsGluten free
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Berezovy sok (birch sap)

For two or three weeks at the end of March and into April, while there is still snow under the trees and before the buds open, the birches around Moscow, Tver, Vologda and across the north start to run. Families tap a few trees at the dacha and drink the sap straight from the jar: clear, cold, very faintly sweet, tasting of rainwater and fresh wood. Because it spoils within two or three days, villagers bottled the rest with sugar, raisins and lemon zest, letting it ferment slightly into a sparkling drink that kept into early summer; like any ferment it makes a trace of alcohol, well under 1% if drunk young. Only tap with the owner's permission, choose trees thicker than 20 cm, drill one small hole and plug it with a wooden peg afterwards so the tree heals. The common mistake is sealing the bottles tight at warm room temperature, which can make them burst; keep them cool and open the caps daily. The bottled sap is ready when the raisins float, a ring of fine bubbles forms on top and it tastes gently sparkling. Chef's tip: drink the first glass straight from the tree; it is never quite as good again.

15 minRussianDrinksVeganGluten free
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Pineapple gojjuSweet and sour pineapple gravy

Pineapple gojju turns up on banana leaves at Kannada weddings, housewarmings and Ugadi feasts, where its bright sweet-sour-hot taste cuts through the rice, saaru and payasa. Ripe pineapple is simmered with tamarind and jaggery, then thickened with a roasted paste of sesame, coconut, chilli and lentils until glossy. It is eaten in small spoonfuls with rice or chapati, or as a relish on the side. The usual mistake is adding the jaggery too early and boiling it hard, which makes it sticky and dull; let the pineapple soften first. It keeps for 4 days in the fridge. Chef's tip: toast the sesame seeds separately and add them last, so they stay nutty and you can hear them crackle.

40 minIndianCurriesVeganGluten free
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Manda pithaSteamed rice dumplings with coconut

Manda pitha is the soft white dumpling of Odisha's Raja festival in mid-June, when girls swing on rope swings, wear new clothes and eat pitha for three days; it is also made for Prathamastami and other family feasts. A smooth dough of rice flour cooked in water is wrapped around a filling of coconut, jaggery, chhena, black pepper and cardamom, then steamed. The common mistake is mixing raw rice flour with cold water: the dough must be cooked with boiling water and kneaded hot, or it cracks when shaped. Chef's tip: grease your palms with a drop of ghee while shaping so the dough stays silky and the edges seal cleanly.

70 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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DashmiMilk and jaggery flatbread

Dashmi is the bread Maharashtrian mothers make for pilgrimages, school trips and the first days of a long journey: wholewheat dough kneaded with warm milk instead of water and sweetened with jaggery, cooked on a tawa until soft and spotted. Milk and ghee keep it tender for two or three days without a fridge in cool weather, and children eat it plain or with pickle. The common mistake is rolling it too thin and cooking it on a fierce tawa, which makes it crisp like a khakhra; it should stay soft and pliable. Chef's tip: stack the dashmis in a cloth as they come off the tawa, so the trapped steam softens them further.

40 minIndianBreads & Parathas
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Chhena kheeriFresh cheese in sweet milk

Chhena kheeri is one of the dishes of the Jagannath temple's chhappan bhog in Puri, and Odia households make it for festivals, birthdays and the evening Rath Yatra meal. Soft, freshly made chhena is crumbled into milk that has been simmered down until creamy and sweet, then scented with cardamom and a little camphor in temple style, or simply nutmeg at home. The common mistake is adding the chhena too early and boiling it hard, which makes it rubbery; it should go in at the end and simmer only briefly. Chef's tip: crumble the chhena by hand into pieces the size of rice grains, so every spoonful has some.

75 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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Bellam paramannamRice and moong dal jaggery pudding

Bellam paramannam is the naivedyam of Telangana and Andhra homes, cooked for Sankranti, Ugadi, Varalakshmi Vratam and almost any puja, a soft rice-and-moong pudding sweetened with jaggery and glossed with ghee. Its colour is a warm caramel and its taste deeper than a sugar kheer. The classic mistake is adding jaggery to milk that is still on a high boil, which can split it; take the pot off the heat, let it stop bubbling, then stir the jaggery in. Chef's tip: roast the moong dal in a spoon of ghee until it smells toasty before cooking; it gives the paramannam its homely flavour.

45 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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Dousha bao (red bean buns)

All over China, from Beijing breakfast stalls to Shanghai school bags, dousha bao are the sweet buns people grab in the morning and tuck into a lunch box for later: fluffy white yeasted dough wrapped around smooth red bean paste and steamed until springy. They freeze beautifully, so families make a big batch on Sunday. The mistake is opening the steamer lid as soon as the timer goes; the sudden cold makes the buns wrinkle and collapse. Turn off the heat and wait five minutes before lifting the lid. Chef's tip: chill the bean paste and roll it into balls before wrapping; a firm filling is much easier to seal neatly.

55 minChineseBakingVegan
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Hiyashi tomatoChilled tomato

Hiyashi tomato is the simplest thing on any Japanese izakaya menu in July and August: ripe tomatoes, chilled until icy, cut into wedges and served on a small plate, sometimes on crushed ice, to cool down a hot evening in Tokyo or Osaka. Many bars sprinkle salt; this home version leaves it out and offers a few drops of rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil instead, so the tomato's own sweetness and acidity do the work. About 0.0 g added salt; roughly 0.03 g per portion occurs naturally in the tomato. The usual mistake is using hard, pale supermarket tomatoes: this dish is only as good as the fruit, so buy deep red ones that smell of tomato at the stalk. Chef's tip: chill the plate as well as the tomatoes, so the wedges stay cold to the last bite.

5 minJapaneseSaladsVeganGluten free
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Dudh pithaRice dumplings in milk

Dudh pitha is made in Jharkhand and Bihar for Makar Sankranti, Sohrai and winter evenings, when the new rice is milled: small rice-flour dumplings are stuffed with coconut and jaggery (some families use spiced chana dal instead) and simmered in milk until it thickens around them. It is eaten warm from a bowl with a spoon. The common mistake is adding jaggery straight to boiling milk, which can curdle it; sweeten the milk with sugar and keep the jaggery inside the dumplings. Chef's tip: shape the dumplings while the dough is warm and keep your palms greased, so the edges seal without cracking.

60 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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PappchiFried wheat and rice biscuits

Pappchi are little scalloped discs that Chhattisgarhi families fry in large batches for Teeja, Diwali and weddings, made from wheat flour and rice flour, fried slowly and then turned in sticky sugar syrup until they wear a thin white glaze. They snap cleanly and keep for weeks in a steel tin. A common mistake is taking the syrup too far, so it crystallises into lumps; you want a one-string syrup that dries to a matt coat as it cools. Chef's tip: press the edge of each disc with a thimble or bottle cap to make the frilled pattern, which also helps them fry crisp.

60 minIndianIndian Sweets
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TepacheFermented pineapple drink

In Guadalajara and markets across central Mexico, tepacheros sell this drink from big clay jars, ladled over ice into bags with a straw on hot afternoons. It is the thrifty drink of the house: the peel and core left after eating a pineapple are fermented for two or three days with piloncillo, cinnamon and cloves until the liquid turns golden, faintly fizzy and pleasantly sour, like a spiced pineapple cider. Wild yeasts from the peel do the work, so it makes a trace of alcohol, well under 1% when drunk young; the longer it sits, the sourer and more alcoholic it gets. The common mistake is leaving it too long in a warm kitchen, when it turns vinegary and cloudy; in hot weather check after 36 hours. It is ready when it has a layer of fine bubbles, smells sweet-sour and fruity, and tastes tart rather than syrupy. White, flat foam can be skimmed; fuzzy, coloured mould, a slimy texture or a rotten smell mean throw it away. Keep it in the fridge 3–5 days, and if you bottle it for fizz, burp the bottles daily so pressure cannot build. Chef's tip: use an organic pineapple and do not scrub the peel, as the yeasts live on its skin.

25 minMexicanDrinksVeganGluten free
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KusliSemolina-filled Diwali pastries

Kusli are the crimped half-moon pastries that fill tins in Chhattisgarhi homes before Diwali and Chhath, close cousins of the gujiya and karanji but filled with semolina roasted in ghee, dry coconut and sugar rather than mawa. They keep for a fortnight and are handed to visitors with thethri and khurmi. The common mistake is frying them in very hot oil; they blister and brown outside while the pastry stays raw within. Chef's tip: seal the edges with a dab of milk and a firm pinch-and-fold twist so not a crumb of filling leaks into the oil.

75 minIndianIndian Sweets
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Calia e simenzaRoasted chickpeas and pumpkin seeds

Calia (toasted chickpeas) and simenza (salted pumpkin seeds) are sold together in twisted paper bags by the old caliari of Palermo, at the Festino of Santa Rosalia in July, along the Foro Italico seafront and outside the Teatro Massimo after a show. You crack the seeds with your teeth and chase them with the crunchy, nutty chickpeas, a habit that can last a whole evening. This home version roasts soaked dried chickpeas and salted seeds in the oven. Chef's tip: dry the soaked chickpeas really well; any surface water steams them instead of making them crunchy.

60 minItalianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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OgokbapFive-grain rice

Ogokbap is cooked across Korea for Jeongwol Daeboreum, the first full moon of the lunar year, when families share five-grain rice with nine kinds of dried namul and crack nuts to wish for good health. Sticky rice, millet, sorghum, black soybeans and adzuki beans cook together into a chewy, purple-tinged rice with a nutty, gently sweet flavour. It is good any time of year beside soup and banchan. The usual mistake is putting the adzuki beans in raw with the rice: they stay hard while the rice turns soft, so parboil them first. Chef's tip: keep a little of the adzuki cooking water for the rice, as it gives ogokbap its lovely rosy colour.

70 minKoreanRice & GrainsVeganGluten free
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Jogi guiGrilled yellow croaker

Yellow croaker from Yeonggwang on Korea's west coast is so prized that dried gulbi are given as gifts at Chuseok, and a simply grilled or pan-roasted croaker is a classic of the family table and of ancestral memorial meals. The fish is salted, dried briefly and cooked whole until the skin crackles and the flesh comes away in sweet, moist flakes; you eat it with rice, kimchi and a few vegetable banchan. Suitable as part of a balanced diet: high in protein with no batter or flour. About 210 kcal and 1 g carbohydrate per portion. The usual mistake is turning the fish too early, so the skin tears and sticks; wait until it releases on its own. Small sea bream or red mullet work if you cannot find croaker. Chef's tip: pat the fish completely dry and leave it uncovered in the fridge for 30 minutes before cooking for the crispest skin.

25 minKoreanFishGluten free
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Lito (sarbottam pitho porridge)

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

12 minNepaliBreakfast & BrunchVegan
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Kakinada kajaSyrup-soaked layered pastries

Kakinada kaja is the famous sweet of Kakinada in Andhra's East Godavari, a long, golden pastry made of layered dough that is fried and soaked in syrup until the hollow centre fills with sweetness and bursts when bitten. Telugu families buy it for weddings, Sankranti and housewarmings. The common mistake is syrup that is too thick: Kakinada kaja is soaked in a thin, just-sticky syrup so it seeps inside, while the outside stays crisp. Fry slowly so the layers open. Chef's tip: roll the dough sheet tightly into a log after spreading the ghee paste, and seal the ends, so each piece puffs into distinct layers.

90 minIndianIndian Sweets
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Mashed matooke for babiesMashed green banana for babies

Matooke, the green cooking banana trucked into Kampala's Owino and Nakasero markets in great bunches, is Uganda's everyday staple, and the first food most Ugandan babies eat. The fingers are peeled, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed until they turn soft and golden, then mashed with a little of the steaming water into a smooth, mild, slightly earthy purée. Families feed it at the midday meal, on its own at first and later with groundnut sauce. Nothing is added for babies: no salt, sugar or honey. It is free of the major allergens. Chef's tip: oil your hands and knife before peeling; green matooke oozes a sticky sap that stains skin and boards.

60 minEast AfricanSidesVeganGluten free
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Parwal ki mithaiStuffed candied pointed gourd

Parwal ki mithai surprises anyone who knows pointed gourd only as a curry vegetable: in Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh sweet makers peel the gourds, candy them in syrup until translucent, then fill them with sweetened mawa and nuts. They sit in shop windows at Diwali, Chhath and weddings, often glinting with silver leaf. The common mistake is undercooking the gourds before candying, which leaves them crunchy and vegetal; blanch until a knife slides in easily. Silver leaf (vark) is optional; choose one certified vegetarian. Chef's tip: scrape out every seed carefully, because even a few hard seeds spoil the soft bite.

90 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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Puttu and banana for toddlersRice cake and banana for toddlers

In Kerala homes from Thrissur to Thiruvananthapuram, breakfast often arrives as a steaming log of puttu pushed out of its tall metal mould, and the little ones get theirs crumbled into a bowl and mashed with a sweet, ripe poovan banana. The rice flour and fresh coconut steam into soft, fluffy crumbs that soak up the banana, and a splash of warm milk makes it spoonable for toddlers from 12 months. There is no added salt or sugar: the banana does the sweetening. It contains coconut, and milk if you add it; there is no gluten, egg, nuts or soya. Chef's tip: dampen the flour until a squeezed handful just holds its shape, then crumbles when you poke it.

25 minIndianBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
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ChauselaRice flour puris

Chausela is the puri of the Chhattisgarh plains, where rice rather than wheat fills the granary, and it turns up at Hareli, Pola and any Sunday breakfast with a sharp tomato chutney or a potato curry. The dough is scalded with boiling water so the rice flour holds together, and the puris fry up pale, soft and lightly crisp at the edges. The usual mistake is mixing the flour with cold water; it cracks as you roll and the puris split in the oil. Chef's tip: knead the dough while it is still warm, using the heel of an oiled palm, and keep it under a damp cloth so the rounds stay supple.

30 minIndianBreads & ParathasVeganGluten free
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KilanjiRice crepes with coconut banana sauce

On the coral islands of Lakshadweep, kilanji is the treat for weddings, Eid mornings and a welcome guest. Thin, soft crepes of soaked rice and egg, or rice alone as here, are folded and drenched in a warm sauce of coconut milk sweetened with coconut jaggery and full of mashed ripe banana and cardamom. The islanders often add egg to the batter; this version keeps it vegan with a touch of cooked rice for softness. The common mistake is a gritty batter: the rice needs a full four hours' soak and a long, fine grind, or the crepes tear. Chef's tip: keep the sauce barely warm, never boiling, so the coconut milk stays silky.

290 minIndianDessertsVeganGluten free
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Agra dalmothFried lentil snack mix

Agra is famous for two sweets and one namkeen, and dalmoth is the namkeen: soaked masoor and chana dal fried until crunchy and tossed with chilli, black salt, dry mango and a little sugar, sold in big tins near the Taj and packed for every train journey. It is eaten with tea in the afternoon and handed round to guests at Diwali. The dal is fried dry, without any batter coating. The common mistake is frying the dal straight from soaking water; any moisture makes the oil spit dangerously and the dal chewy, so dry it on a cloth for at least an hour. Chef's tip: fry the masoor and chana separately, as they need different times to turn crisp.

50 minIndianSnacks & StartersVeganGluten free
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KhurchanScraped milk skin sweet

Khurchan means 'scrapings', and in Mathura and the sweet lanes of Old Delhi it is made by simmering milk in a wide iron kadhai and lifting off the skin that forms, layer after layer, then stacking the sheets with a sprinkle of sugar and cardamom. It is a winter sweet, sold in small squares, and offered at Janmashtami in Krishna's town. It takes patience, not skill. The common mistake is letting the milk boil, which breaks the skin; keep it just steaming, never bubbling. Chef's tip: fan the surface of the milk gently with a paper plate between layers; the cooler air makes the skin form faster and thicker.

125 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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BelgramiChewy fresh cheese sweet

Belgrami belongs to Udwantnagar in Bihar's Bhojpur district, where sweet makers have cooked it for generations and travellers buy boxes on the way through. Fresh chhena is cooked down with sugar until it firms into a dense, slightly chewy, pale cream block with a gentle caramel note, then cut into pieces. It keeps for days, which makes it a favourite gift at weddings and Chhath. The common mistake is stopping too early: it must cook until the mass pulls into one lump and no longer sticks to the pan, or the pieces stay soft and weep. Chef's tip: use chhena from full-fat cow's milk and hang it for an hour, so it is dry enough to cook down quickly.

105 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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Bandar ladduGram flour and jaggery balls

Bandar laddu is named after Bandar, the old name of Machilipatnam on the Andhra coast, and it is the sweet families carry home after a trip there, offer at Sankranti and give at weddings. Gram-flour pearls are fried, then pounded with jaggery syrup and ghee until the mixture turns dense, smooth and fudgy, unlike the grainy besan laddu of the north. The common mistake is not cooking the jaggery syrup far enough: it needs to reach the soft-ball stage, or the laddus slump and turn sticky. Chef's tip: pound the mix while it is still warm, in batches, in a heavy mortar or food processor, until it clumps when pressed.

60 minIndianIndian SweetsGluten free
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PantuaFried milk balls in syrup

Pantua is the Bengali answer to gulab jamun, but made with fresh chhena and a little semolina instead of only khoya, which gives a lighter, slightly grainy inside under a deep brown skin. It is the sweet of Jamai Sasthi, Bijoya visits and Sunday afternoons in Kolkata, often with a hidden cardamom seed or nugget of sugar at the centre. The common mistake is under-kneading the chhena: if the dough is crumbly the balls crack and drink oil. Knead until it feels smooth and leaves a film of fat on your palm. Chef's tip: let the syrup and the fried pantua both be warm, not boiling, when they meet, so the balls soak up syrup without collapsing.

85 minIndianIndian Sweets
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Lavang latikaClove-sealed syrup pastries

Lavang latika is a festive sweet of Bengal and Bihar, shaped like a tiny sealed envelope with a single clove pinned through the flap; it fills sweet-shop trays at Bijoya Dashami, Diwali and Bhai Phonta. Inside is mawa with coconut, nuts and cardamom, and after slow frying the parcels are soaked in syrup, so the outside is crisp and sweet and the clove gives a warm, peppery bite. The common mistake is folding the pastry loosely; the flaps must overlap well and be pressed shut before the clove goes in, or the parcels unfold in the ghee. Remove the clove before eating if you prefer. Chef's tip: soak the cloves in hot water for 5 minutes so they push through the pastry without cracking it.

90 minIndianIndian Sweets
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