No onion, no garlic recipes (Swaminarayan and sattvic)

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HeidesandBrown butter slice-and-bake cookies

The name means 'heath sand', after the pale sandy soil of the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony, and the texture lives up to it: these little rounds crumble the moment you bite. Browning the butter first gives them a nutty, toffee-ish flavour that plain shortbread lacks. German families bake them in Advent alongside Vanillekipferl and cinnamon stars, but they are just as good with afternoon coffee in any season. There is no egg in the dough, only butter, sugar, flour and a splash of milk, and the log is rolled in coarse sugar so every slice has a glittering edge. Chef's tip: let the browned butter set back to a soft, spreadable paste before you cream it; if you beat in butter that is still liquid, the dough turns greasy and the cookies flatten in the oven.

60 min

German Baking

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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

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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

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Kashmiri bakery kulchaPoppy seed or sesame tea biscuits

Before dawn the kandurwaan, Srinagar's neighbourhood baker, lights his clay oven, and by breakfast his shelf holds stacks of kulcha: small, thick, very crumbly rounds, some salted and crusted with poppy seeds, some sweet and dotted with sesame. They are nothing like the soft Punjabi bread of the same name. Kashmiris eat them with noon chai, the pink salted tea, breaking a kulcha into the cup or alternating bites and sips; they are also handed out at weddings and taken as gifts when visiting. This eggless home version makes both kinds from one ghee-rich dough. Do not overwork it: kneading develops gluten and you lose the sandy crumble that makes kulcha special. Chef's tip: bake them pale and low; a real Kashmiri kulcha is barely golden on top and crisp only on the base, so take them out while they still look a little underdone.

55 min

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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

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Kak-e KermanshahiThin buttered sugar sheets

Kermanshah, in Iran's Kurdish west, is famous for its ghee, and kak is the sweet that shows it off: dough rolled so thin you can read through it, baked crisp in seconds, then brushed with melted ghee and showered with sugar before the sheets are folded and stacked. Shops in the city's bazaar sell them in tall boxes, and families bring them out for guests and at Nowruz with glasses of black tea. They are traditionally made with Kermanshahi ghee, a nutty sheep's-milk ghee; ordinary ghee or clarified butter works well. The classic mistake is rolling too thickly: anything over a millimetre bakes up like a cracker, not a crisp, glassy sheet. Chef's tip: roll on a lightly oiled counter rather than flour, and stretch the last bit over the backs of your hands, as the Kermanshah bakers do; excess flour scorches on the hot tray.

120 min

Persian Baking

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Ooty varkeyFlaky spiral tea biscuits

Up in the cool tea country of the Nilgiris, around Ooty and Coonoor, small bakeries turn out trays of varkey every morning, and tourists carry home bags of them alongside the estate tea. They are flat, golden and lightly sweet, with tight spiral layers that crunch and then melt, a texture the bakers get by rolling a sugared dough up around a fat paste and slicing it like a Swiss roll. Eat them with strong milky Nilgiri tea; locals also crumble them over hot milk. Bakeries traditionally use vanaspati for the paste; butter mixed with a little ghee gives a cleaner taste in this eggless home version. Watch the spiral: if you press the slices too hard when flattening, the layers fuse and the biscuit bakes dense. Chef's tip: chill the rolled log until it is firm enough to slice cleanly; a soft log squashes under the knife and you lose the swirl.

165 min

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Jaga bataSteamed potatoes with butter and soy

Jaga bata is Hokkaido's simplest pleasure: whole steamed potatoes split open and topped with a slab of butter and a few drops of soy sauce, sold at Sapporo snow-festival stalls and summer street fairs, and made at home as a snack or side. The potato is floury and steaming, the butter melts into it, and the soy adds a savoury edge. The mistake is boiling the potatoes, which makes them watery so the butter slides off; steam them in their skins instead. Chef's tip: cut a deep cross into each hot potato and squeeze from the bottom so it bursts open like a flower to hold the butter.

25 min

Colombian Breakfast & Brunch

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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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Khanom kleeb lamduanFlower shortbread cookies

Named after the lamduan, a fragrant cream-coloured flower with three curled petals, these tiny Thai shortbreads are a classic of the royal-style Thai sweets once made in palace kitchens and now sold in Bangkok's old dessert shops and given at weddings and merit-making. Each flower is three teardrop petals around a ball, pale and fragile, and they melt like sandy fudge. Their perfume comes from tian op, a special scented dessert candle: it is lit, blown out, and left to smoke inside a closed container with the cookies. If you cannot find one, a little jasmine water in the dough gives a different but lovely scent. The mistake is baking them hot or long; they should stay ivory, never golden. Chef's tip: candle smoke is real fire and smoke, so do it in a metal or ceramic pot, well away from curtains and children, with the flame blown out before the lid goes on.

78 min

Thai Baking

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South African crunchiesOat and coconut tray-bake squares

Crunchies are the tray-bake South African home bakers turn to when the biscuit tin is empty: oats, coconut, flour and sugar stirred into butter melted with golden syrup, pressed into a tin and cut into squares while still warm. Unlike Australian Anzac biscuits, which are rolled into individual rounds, crunchies are baked in one slab, then sliced into chewy-centred, crisp-edged bars. They sell at school tuck shops and church bake sales, go into lunch boxes, and are a natural partner for a mug of rooibos. There is no egg in them, and they keep for a week. Chef's tip: score the squares as soon as the tin comes out of the oven and leave them to cool before lifting; waiting until the slab is cold to cut is the common mistake, and it shatters instead of slicing cleanly.

40 min

South African Baking

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Ikan goreng kunyit (turmeric fried fish)

Ikan goreng kunyit is cooked in Malay kampung kitchens and city flats alike for a simple lunch or dinner with rice, sambal and vegetables: small whole fish or thick steaks rubbed with turmeric, salt and a little chilli, then fried until golden and crisp at the edges. The mistake is moving the fish too soon; leave it until it releases from the pan on its own, or the crust tears and sticks. Chef's tip: score the fish to the bone so the turmeric seasons the flesh and it cooks evenly.

22 min

Malaysian Fish

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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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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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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

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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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Shimla mirch alooPepper and potato stir-fry

Shimla mirch aloo is everyday Punjabi home cooking from both sides of the border, the sabzi that fills a lunchbox paratha or sits next to dal on a weeknight in Rawalpindi. Potato cubes go soft and golden first, then strips of green pepper are tossed in just long enough to soften while keeping a little bite, all held together by a dry tomato-chilli masala. The classic mistake is adding the peppers with the potatoes: they collapse, turn khaki and lose their fresh, slightly bitter flavour. Chef's tip: a pinch of amchur at the end lifts the whole pan without adding any extra liquid.

25 min

Pakistani Vegetarian

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Currants rollSpiced currant pastry roll

In Trinidad and Tobago, currants roll is the thing in the bakery case next to the coconut drops and salara: flaky shortcrust rolled tightly around a dark, sticky mixture of currants, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, baked whole and cut into thick spiral slices. Schoolchildren buy a piece on the way home and it is a favourite at Christmas when the house is full of visitors. The pastry is crisp and short, the filling jammy and warmly spiced. Spooning the filling on hot and syrupy makes the roll leak and go soggy, so cool it until thick. Chef's tip: roll the pastry on baking paper and use the paper to lift and roll the log, keeping it tight and even.

75 min

Trinidadian Baking

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CampechanasFlaky sweet pastries with sugar top

Campechanas take their name from the port of Campeche, but now they shatter all over the coffee tables of Mexico City and Veracruz: oval, paper-thin layers of dough with a glossy, caramelised sugar crust that cracks as you bite. Mexicans buy them in the evening from the panadería, along with conchas, to dunk in café de olla or hot chocolate. They are traditionally made with lard; this version uses vegetable shortening, which gives the same light flakiness and keeps them vegan. Butter also works but browns faster. The trap is a timid oven: below full heat the sugar stays grainy and white instead of turning to glass. Chef's tip: press the sugar firmly into the top before baking so it melts into an even shiny layer.

180 min

Mexican Baking

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Hopia mungoMung bean pastries

Binondo, Manila's old Chinatown, is where Filipinos queue for hopia, flat little pastries with a paper-thin, flaky skin and a dense, sweet filling. Brought over by Hokkien bakers, they are now sold everywhere from provincial bus stations to convenience stores, and a box is a standard pasalubong (gift) after a trip. The classic is hopia mungo, filled with yellow mung bean paste; purple ube is the other favourite, and you can swap 300 g of sweetened ube halaya for the mung beans. Hopia pastry is traditionally made with lard; this version uses vegetable oil and shortening, so it is vegan. Chef's tip: dry the mung bean paste in the pan until a spoonful holds its shape when rolled; a soft paste is the commonest mistake, and it squeezes out of the seams as you flatten the pastries.

112 min

Filipino Baking

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Ten-fold rice porridge (jūbai-gayu)

Across Japan, a baby's first solid food at about five or six months is jūbai-gayu: rice cooked gently in ten times its volume of water until it collapses into a soft, pale porridge, then pressed or blended smooth. It tastes mild and slightly sweet, and parents start with a single spoonful a day before adding mashed vegetables such as pumpkin or carrot. None of the common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish) are in it, so it is an easy base to build on. Chef's tip: make a full pot and freeze it in ice-cube trays, so one cube can be warmed for each meal.

85 min

Japanese Rice & Grains

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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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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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Papinha salgada (Brazilian savoury baby mash)

When Brazilian babies reach six months, the papinha salgada, or 'savoury little mash', becomes their main lunch, served at the same time the family eats rice and beans. Each vegetable is mashed separately with a fork rather than blended, so the baby learns their different colours and tastes, and the warm broth from the family's unseasoned bean pot is spooned over the top. It is soft, earthy and mild. It contains none of the common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). Chef's tip: lift out a ladle of bean broth before you add salt, garlic or bacon to the family's pot.

40 min

Brazilian Sides

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Moong dal water for babies

In North Indian homes, moong dal ka pani is often the first thing other than milk a baby tastes, spooned from a steel katori at lunchtime while the family eats dal-chawal. Split yellow moong is cooked until it falls apart with a pinch of turmeric, then the thin top liquid is strained off; over the following weeks more of the soft dal is mashed in. It tastes mild and slightly sweet. It is free of the common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). Chef's tip: a drop of ghee can be added once your baby is used to dairy, but keep it plain at first.

60 min

Indian Soups

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RieskaPotato and barley flatbread

Ten minutes in a very hot oven is all rieska needs, which is why Finnish cooks in Lapland and Ostrobothnia have long baked it on the spot whenever there were cold boiled potatoes in the larder. This version, perunarieska, is unleavened: mashed potato bound with barley flour, rolled thin and baked until speckled brown. It is soft and slightly chewy, with an earthy barley flavour, and is best eaten straight from the oven with plenty of butter melting into it, perhaps with cheese and cucumber or a bowl of soup. Barley gives it the traditional taste but means it is not gluten free. Using warm potatoes is the common mistake; they soak up far more flour and the rieska turns tough. Chef's tip: prick the rounds all over with a fork before baking so they stay flat, then stack them under a cloth as they come out to keep them soft.

26 minScandinavian Breads & Parathas

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Shio pan

Shio pan (塩パン) began in 2003 at a small bakery in Yawatahama, a port town on the Ehime coast of Shikoku, and spread so fast that most Japanese bakeries now sell their own, as do the 'sogeum-ppang' shops of Seoul. Each roll is wound around a stick of cold butter; in the oven the butter melts out and fries the base, leaving a crisp, salty, golden bottom, a hollow, buttery tunnel inside and soft, chewy bread on top, finished with flaky salt. Eat them warm for breakfast with coffee, or split them for an egg or cucumber sandwich. Proving them somewhere too warm is the classic misstep: above about 28°C the butter leaks out before baking and the rolls lose their crunch. Chef's tip: leave the rolls on the tray for a couple of minutes after baking so they soak the melted butter back up into their bases.

165 min

Japanese Breads & Parathas

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Mini podi idli

In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, podi idli is the tiffin parents pack because it stays soft until lunch and needs no chutney: steamed mini idlis are tossed in hot sesame oil with mustard seeds, curry leaves and spicy-nutty idli podi, so every one is coated. Train travellers carry them for the same reason. It is vegan and contains sesame; check that your podi's asafoetida is gluten free if that matters. Chef's tip: let the idlis rest for 5 minutes after steaming so they firm up and don't break when you toss them.

25 min

Persian Breakfast & Brunch

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Fereni for babies (Persian rice-milk porridge)

Fereni is one of the oldest Persian sweets, and in Iranian homes it is also a baby's first spoon food: rice flour cooked slowly in milk until it is soft, pale and silky. Mothers often make it for breakfast or for a winter afternoon. For babies under one it is served plain; older children get the rosewater, a little sugar and a dusting of cinnamon that the family enjoys. It contains milk; there is no egg, gluten, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: stir with a whisk for the first few minutes, then switch to a spatula so you can scrape the bottom of the pan.

22 min

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Fruit sando

Japanese fruit sandwiches started in the fruit parlours of Tokyo and are now sold in every convenience store, but they are just as much a home treat for a sunny weekend or a special after-school snack. Pillowy crustless bread holds a thick layer of barely sweetened whipped cream and whole pieces of fruit arranged so that each cut reveals a neat pattern. It contains gluten and milk (and often egg, in milk bread). Chef's tip: plan the cut before you arrange the fruit, laying the strawberries along the diagonal line you will slice through.

20 min

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Honey joysHoney cornflake cakes

Honey joys have been on Australian children's birthday tables for generations, next to fairy bread and chocolate crackles: crunchy clusters of cornflakes coated in bubbling honey butter and baked in little paper cases until golden and crisp. Children can stir and spoon them while an adult handles the hot syrup. They are for school-age children and not for babies under one, who shouldn't have honey. They contain milk and usually gluten (from malt in cornflakes). Chef's tip: bake them just until golden; a few minutes too long and the honey turns bitter.

25 min

Australian Desserts

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Nendran banana powder kurukku (ethakka podi kurukku)

In Kerala, families dry slices of raw nendran banana in the sun, grind them to a cream-coloured flour and cook it into kurukku, a smooth, thick porridge that has been a baby's first food in the state for generations. It is usually given mid-morning, and grandmothers often keep a jar of home-made ethakka podi for each new grandchild. It tastes gently sweet and slightly earthy. It contains none of the common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). Chef's tip: to make the powder at home, peel raw nendran bananas, slice them thinly, dry them in a low oven or the sun until brittle, then grind and sieve.

13 min

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Bubur saring (sieved rice and vegetable porridge)

Indonesian parents call a baby's first solids MPASI, and the first stage is bubur saring: rice porridge cooked with vegetables and pressed through a sieve until velvety. Across Java it is often made each morning in a small pot and given at lunchtime, with a daun salam (Indonesian bay leaf) for a gentle scent. Carrot gives it colour and sweetness, spinach a soft green flavour. There are no common allergens in it (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). Chef's tip: add the spinach only in the last few minutes, so it stays green and doesn't turn the porridge grey.

50 min

Indonesian Rice & Grains

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Issho mochi (first-birthday rice cake)

In homes all over Japan, a child's first birthday is marked with issho mochi: a single large, round rice cake made from about 1.8 kg of glutinous rice, wrapped in a cloth and strapped to the baby's back. Whether the toddler stands, crawls or plops down laughing, the family cheers, and the mochi is then cut up, grilled and shared by the adults and older children as a wish for a lifetime of plenty. This home version uses glutinous rice flour, so no pounding is needed, and it is free of milk, egg, gluten, nuts and soya. Sticky mochi is a choking risk: the baby only carries it, adults and older children eat it, and small children should only have tiny, soft pieces while an adult watches. Chef's tip: write the child's name on the cloth bundle, not on the cake, so the mochi stays plain and everyone can eat it.

60 min

Japanese Desserts

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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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Daigaku imo (candied sweet potato)

Daigaku imo, 'university potatoes', got their name from the Tokyo student cafés of the early 1900s, and today they are what Japanese parents fry when autumn sweet potatoes arrive and children come home hungry. The chunks are crisp at the edges and fluffy inside, coated in a glossy glaze that sets to a light crackle, with nutty black sesame on top. This version uses a modest amount of sugar balanced with soy sauce. It contains soya, gluten (soy sauce) and sesame. Chef's tip: pull the pan off the heat the moment the glaze turns thick and bubbly; a few seconds more and it hardens into toffee.

30 min

German Breakfast & Brunch

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Rice atole for babies (atole de arroz)

Atole is the warm, thick drink Mexicans have sipped since before the conquest, and in many homes the first version a baby tastes is atole de arroz, ground rice cooked with a stick of true cinnamon. For grown-ups it is sweetened with piloncillo and drunk at breakfast or on cold evenings around Día de Muertos; for babies the sugar stays out and it is thickened enough to eat from a spoon. It contains milk; there is no egg, gluten, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: grind the rice yourself in a spice grinder; shop-bought rice flour works, but freshly ground rice tastes sweeter.

25 min

Mexican Drinks

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Fruit and cereal mash (Obst-Getreide-Brei)

German weaning follows a well-known plan: a vegetable lunch first, then a milk and cereal evening meal, and finally an afternoon Obst-Getreide-Brei, a dairy-free mash of cooked cereal flakes and fruit, usually from around seven months. Fine oat or millet flakes are simmered in water, then stirred into stewed apple or pear with a spoon of rapeseed oil, which German paediatric advice recommends for healthy fats. It is fruity, smooth and naturally sweet. It contains gluten if made with oats (use millet flakes for gluten free); there is no milk, egg, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: stew the fruit in a little water rather than using juice, which adds sugar.

20 min

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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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Ssal mieum (Korean first rice gruel)

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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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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Imo mochi (Hokkaido potato mochi)

On Hokkaido, Japan's great potato island, imo mochi are what grandparents make from leftover boiled potatoes when the children come in from school or the ski slopes. Mashed potato is kneaded with potato starch into a smooth, stretchy dough, shaped into thick discs and fried until crisp outside and pleasantly chewy within, then glazed in a little butter, soy and sugar. A cube of cheese hidden inside is a popular children's twist. It contains milk, soya and gluten (soy sauce). Chef's tip: mash the potatoes while they are still hot; cold potato turns gluey and the patties crack.

35 min

French Breakfast & Brunch

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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

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Välling (Swedish oat and milk drink)

Välling, a thin gruel of cereal and milk, has been the Swedish child's bedtime drink for generations, and many families still make their own for toddlers once they move on to cow's milk at around a year old. It is smooth, warm and lightly oaty, with no added sugar or honey. It contains milk and gluten (oats are often processed with wheat; use certified gluten-free oats if needed); there is no egg, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: blend the oats to a fine flour first, so the drink is silky and flows easily from a beaker.

10 minScandinavian Drinks

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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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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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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

Filipino Snacks & Starters

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Polenta e lattePolenta in milk

In farmhouses across Lombardy and the Veneto, the polenta left over from lunch was cut into pieces at night and dropped into bowls of warm milk for the children, and polenta e latte is still remembered fondly as a cosy winter supper. Freshly made polenta works just as well: soft, golden and comforting, with the milk soaking into it. It contains milk; it has no gluten, egg, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: whisk the polenta into the water in a thin stream, like rain, to keep it smooth.

45 min

Italian Rice & Grains

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Sữa chua (Vietnamese set yogurt)

In Vietnamese homes, sữa chua is made in a row of small jars and kept in the fridge or freezer, and children in Hanoi and Saigon eat it after school straight from the cup, sometimes frozen hard like ice cream. The condensed milk gives it a mild caramel sweetness and a smooth, firm set that is less sharp than plain yogurt. It is sweetened, so this version uses less condensed milk than the street-stall kind. It contains milk. Chef's tip: keep the milk at blood heat, about 43 °C; hotter kills the yogurt culture and cooler sets slowly and sour.

25 min

Vietnamese Desserts

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Kamote cueFried caramelised sweet potato

Kamote cue is merienda sold from roadside woks across the Philippines, and children buy a stick or two on the walk home from school. Chunks of sweet potato are fried with brown sugar, which melts and wraps them in a crackly, shiny caramel crust while the inside goes soft and fluffy. It is a sweet treat, so portions are small. None of the common allergens are in it. Chef's tip: add the sugar only once the oil is hot and let it float and melt on the surface before stirring; stirring too early clumps it.

25 min

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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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Mashed nam wa banana (kluay nam wa bod)

Ask a Thai grandmother about first foods and she will talk about kluay nam wa, the short, plump banana that grows in nearly every garden in Thailand. Ripe ones are steamed, which softens the slightly astringent edge, then scraped and mashed for a baby's first taste, often in the afternoon. It is sweet, creamy and needs nothing added. There are no common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). If you can't find nam wa, use a small, very ripe ordinary banana. Chef's tip: steam the banana in its skin; it keeps the flesh moist and stops it browning.

13 min

Thai Desserts

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Kutakuta udon (soft-simmered baby udon)

Japanese parents call this kutakuta udon, 'floppy udon': thick wheat noodles simmered far longer than usual until they are soft enough to squash between two fingers, then chopped short for babies who are learning to chew, usually from around seven to nine months. The broth is a light kombu stock with sweet grated carrot and daikon and no soy sauce at all, so it tastes gentle and clean. It contains gluten (wheat); the other common allergens (milk, egg, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish) are not in it. Chef's tip: kombu is rich in iodine, so use only a small piece, soak it briefly and lift it out before the broth boils.

25 min

Japanese Pasta & Noodles

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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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Mingau de maisena (cornflour milk porridge)

In homes across Brazil, a little bowl of mingau de maisena is the classic supper before bed: milk stirred with cornflour over a low heat until it turns smooth and spoonable, like a thin custard. Grandmothers usually add sugar and cinnamon, but for babies from nine months the sweetness comes from mashed ripe banana instead. It contains milk (cow's milk is fine cooked into food from this age); it has no gluten, egg, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: mix the cornflour into cold milk before heating, never into hot milk, or it forms lumps at once.

10 min

Brazilian Breakfast & Brunch

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Butterflap breadFolded buttered rolls

Soft, squishy and folded like a little book, butterflap is a Trinidad and Tobago bakery classic, sold by the bag from Port of Spain to San Fernando. Each roll is an oval of milky dough spread with butter and folded over, so it bakes into a tender roll that peels open along a buttery seam. People eat them warm for breakfast with cheese or a hot cup of cocoa tea, split them for a sandwich at lunch, or tear them up beside a pot of stew. Many bakeries use margarine; butter tastes better. Spreading the butter too thick, right to the edges, is where it goes wrong: it leaks out and fries the base, so keep a clean border. Chef's tip: pack the folded rolls snugly in the tin so they rise up rather than out and stay soft at the sides.

147 min

Trinidadian Breads & Parathas

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Mango floatMango icebox cake

Mango float is the no-bake party cake of the Philippines, made in a big dish for birthdays, graduations and fiestas when Philippine mangoes are at their sweetest. Layers of crackers soften overnight in sweet cream until they slice like cake, with ripe mango in every forkful. Older children can assemble it themselves. It contains milk and gluten. Chef's tip: use mangoes that are fully ripe and fragrant but still firm enough to slice neatly; stringy, sour mangoes spoil it.

30 min

Indonesian Snacks & Starters

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Roti bakar (Indonesian toasted bread)

Roti bakar stalls light up street corners all over Indonesia from late afternoon, and children from Jakarta to Surabaya beg for the classic filling of chocolate sprinkles with grated cheese, an unlikely pairing that works. Thick slices of soft bread are spread with butter, toasted on a hot plate until crisp and golden, filled and cut into fingers. Traditional versions add a lot of condensed milk; here it is an optional drizzle. It contains gluten and milk (and may contain soya in the chocolate). Chef's tip: press the bread flat with a spatula as it toasts so the filling melts into it.

13 min

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SomunDimpled flatbread

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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TsochvoruSesame bread rings

Long before office hours, Srinagar's kandur bakers pull trays of tsochvoru from their clay ovens, and by seven a paper bag of them is on most breakfast cloths in the Valley. They are small, bagel-like rings, a little crisp outside and close-textured inside, covered in toasted sesame and faintly rich from milk and ghee. Kashmiris break them into pink, salty noon chai, or eat them with butter alongside kahwa in the afternoon. Unlike bagels they are not boiled, so they stay lighter and crunchier. Sesame sliding off in the oven is the usual disappointment; the dough must be brushed with milk and pressed into the seeds, not just sprinkled. Chef's tip: press each ring top-down into a plate of sesame, then poke the hole a second time just before baking, because it shrinks as the dough proves.

138 min

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Graham balls

Graham balls are often the first sweet a Filipino child makes, usually for a class party or a cousin's birthday: crushed graham crackers kneaded with condensed milk into a dough, wrapped round a mini marshmallow and rolled in more crumbs, then set in paper cases in the fridge. They need no oven, just clean hands. They contain gluten and milk, and marshmallows usually contain gelatine, so they are not vegetarian unless you use gelatine-free marshmallows or a vegetarian gelling agent version. Graham crackers can be swapped for digestive biscuits. Chef's tip: chill the mixture for 20 minutes before rolling and it stops sticking to your palms.

30 min

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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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Hot dogs in lompe (pølse i lompe)

On 17 May, Norway's Constitution Day, children parade with flags and then queue for pølse i lompe: a hot sausage wrapped in a soft, thin potato flatbread instead of a bun, with ketchup, mustard and sometimes crisp onions. The same snack turns up at every football tournament and birthday. Home-made lompe take a little time but freeze well; this recipe makes 8. It contains gluten and milk. Chef's tip: mash the potatoes while hot and let the dough cool completely before kneading in the flour, or it turns gluey.

60 minScandinavian Fast Food

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Shou tao bao (longevity peach buns)

In Chinese tradition the peach is the fruit of long life, so birthday tables, from a grandparent's 80th to a child's party, carry a plate of shou tao bao: fluffy white steamed buns pinched into a peach shape, blushed pink at the tip and filled with sweet lotus seed paste. Children love helping to shape the creases and add the pastry leaves. This version is made without milk. It contains gluten. Chef's tip: steam over a gentle, not roaring, boil and wait 5 minutes before lifting the lid, so the buns stay smooth and don't wrinkle.

105 min

Chinese Baking

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Khoba rotiThick pinched wholewheat flatbread

Pinched by hand into rows of tiny craters, khoba roti is the festive everyday bread of Rajasthan's Marwar and Mewar homes, made when guests come or for a Sunday thali. It is thick, almost a centimetre, with a crisp, toasty crust and a soft, chewy middle, and every hollow on top becomes a little cup for melted ghee. Serve it with panchmel dal, ker sangri, gatte ki sabzi or a fiery garlic chutney. The commonest mistake is a hot tawa: the outside chars while the thick centre stays doughy, so keep the flame low and be patient. Chef's tip: dip your thumb and finger in water between pinches; damp fingertips lift the dough into crisp ridges without tearing it.

45 min

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Brun pavHard-crusted bakery bun

Order brun maska at one of Mumbai's old Irani cafés, under the bentwood chairs and slow ceiling fans, and a waiter brings a hard, round bun split and spread thickly with butter, next to a cup of sweet Irani chai. Brun is the opposite of soft ladi pav: its floury top crackles, the crust is thick enough to knock on, and the inside is dense and chewy, made to be dunked until it softens. The bread itself is just flour, water, yeast and salt, so it is vegan; add the butter (or a vegan spread) only when serving. A long, fairly slow bake gives the crust; pulling it out when it is merely golden is the mistake that leaves you with an ordinary roll. Chef's tip: a day-old brun is even better for dunking, so bake a batch ahead and split and toast them lightly before buttering.

225 min

Tunisian 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.

149 min

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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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Bánh bò hấp (steamed honeycomb rice cake)

Bánh bò hấp are the soft, puffed rice cakes sold from glass-fronted carts in southern Vietnam, and children in the Mekong Delta pick them up in white, pink or pandan green on the way home from school. The yeasted rice-flour batter is steamed in small cups, so each cake splits open on top like a flower and is chewy and bouncy inside, with a gentle coconut flavour. The sugar here is a little lower than in market versions. None of the common allergens are in it. Chef's tip: steam over fierce, rolling boiling water; a gentle simmer gives flat, dense cakes that don't open.

40 min

Vietnamese Desserts

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Nkatie cake (Ghanaian peanut brittle)

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.

25 min

Ghanaian 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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Hina arare (Girls' Day rice puffs)

On 3 March, Japanese families with daughters set out tiered dolls for Hinamatsuri and fill little bowls with hina arare, crunchy pastel rice puffs whose pink, green and white stand for spring blossom, new leaves and snow. In the Kanto region they are sweet; around Kyoto and Osaka they are bigger and soy-glazed, so this version makes both. Puffing cooked rice at home is easy and children love watching it bloom in the oil. It contains soya and gluten (from the soy sauce) and is otherwise free of the common allergens. Chef's tip: dry the cooked rice until every grain is hard and glassy; damp rice spits and never puffs.

45 min

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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'.

5 min

Dutch Snacks & Starters

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Ragi laddooFinger millet jaggery balls

In Karnataka, ragi (finger millet) is everyday food, and mothers roll ragi laddoos to keep in a tin for after-school snacks and school sports days, because they are filling and keep well. The flour is roasted in ghee until it smells like toasted biscuits, then bound with melted jaggery and sesame into dark, fudgy balls. Jaggery is still sugar, so these are a treat, kept small. They contain milk (ghee) and sesame. Chef's tip: roast the flour slowly until it darkens a shade and smells nutty; under-roasted ragi tastes raw and floury.

30 min

Indian Indian Sweets

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Dal paratha

In north Indian kitchens, last night's thick dal rarely goes to waste: the next morning it is kneaded into wholewheat flour with ajwain and coriander and rolled into soft, savoury parathas for breakfast and the school tiffin. They are golden-flecked, faintly spiced and filling, and taste good cold with yoghurt or pickle. They contain gluten (wheat) and milk (ghee); use oil to make them dairy free. Chef's tip: add the dal before any water; it is often all the liquid the dough needs.

35 min

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Vitamina de banana (Brazilian banana smoothie)

In Brazil a smoothie is a vitamina, and vitamina de banana is what parents from São Paulo to Recife whizz up for breakfast or when children get home from school hungry. Ripe banana, cold milk and a spoonful of oats make a thick, naturally sweet drink that fills a gap until dinner, so no sugar is needed. It contains milk and gluten (oats, unless labelled gluten free). Chef's tip: use bananas with brown freckles on the skin; they are sweeter and blend creamier than green-tipped ones.

5 min

Brazilian Drinks

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Roasted makhana (crunchy fox nuts)

Across North India, a jar of roasted makhana sits on the kitchen shelf for after-school munching, Navratri fasting days and evening cricket on television. The puffed lotus seeds turn from soft to crisp and light in a few minutes of slow roasting in ghee, like a nutty, savoury popcorn. Rock salt and pepper keep it suitable for fasting; turmeric or chaat masala are everyday variations. It contains milk (ghee). Whole makhana are a choking risk for under-5s, so crush them for little ones. Chef's tip: test one before you season: it should snap with a clean crunch, not bend.

12 min

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Masala corn cup

In Mumbai and other Indian cities, cups of hot masala corn are sold at beaches, cinema halls and outside tuition classes, and children grab them after school as an easy, savoury snack. Steamed sweetcorn kernels are tossed with butter, a squeeze of lemon and tangy chaat masala, with a little chilli for older children. It is quick and naturally sweet. It contains milk (butter). Chef's tip: add the lemon only at the very end, off the heat, so it stays bright and doesn't make the butter split.

10 min

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Ghee-shakkar roti roll

Ask anyone who grew up in north India about school tiffin and the ghee-shakkar roti comes up: a soft, warm chapati brushed with ghee, sprinkled with a little sugar or jaggery powder and rolled like a cigar, made by a parent in the rush before the school bus. It is sweet, buttery and wheaty, and still tastes good cold at the morning break. It contains milk (ghee) and gluten (wheat). Chef's tip: use jaggery powder and a light hand; a teaspoon per roti is plenty, and the ghee carries the flavour.

25 min

Chinese Breakfast & Brunch

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Jumeokbap (Korean vegetable rice balls)

Jumeokbap means 'fist rice', and Korean parents squeeze it together in minutes for picnics, school trips and busy mornings: warm rice tossed with sesame oil, crumbled seasoned laver and tiny pieces of vegetables, then pressed into balls a child can hold. It tastes nutty and gently salty. Tuna with mayonnaise or minced beef is a common addition, but this version is fully vegan. It contains sesame and, from the soy sauce in some seasoned laver, may contain soya and wheat. Chef's tip: mix the rice while it is warm; cold rice won't stick and the balls crumble in the lunchbox.

18 min

Korean Rice & Grains

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Chocolate slices on rye (pålægschokolade)

Pålægschokolade, wafer-thin slices of chocolate made for laying on bread, is a Danish lunchbox treat, usually saved for Fridays or birthdays: buttered dark rye, a slab of chocolate on top, then cut into fingers. The sour, dense rye and the sweet chocolate are a famous match. Shop slices are thin squares; here you make your own from a bar, which lets you pick dark chocolate with less sugar. It contains gluten (rye and wheat), milk and soya (lecithin in most chocolate). Chef's tip: spread the chocolate as thin as a coin; thick pieces crack and fall off.

15 minScandinavian Breads & Parathas

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Rice cereal paste (mǐ hú)

Long before boxed cereals, Chinese mothers made mǐ hú, rice paste, by dry-toasting rice in a wok, grinding it fine and cooking it with water. It is still a favourite first food all over China, often served as the baby's breakfast while the family eats congee. Toasting gives it a gentle, biscuity flavour and makes it cook in minutes. There is no salt or sugar, and none of the common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). Chef's tip: toast and grind a larger batch, sieve it, and keep the powder in a clean, dry jar for up to two weeks.

20 min

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Semolina in broth (semolino in brodo)

Semolino in brodo is the dish Italian nonne cook for anyone who needs something gentle: babies at the start of weaning and older children with a cold. Fine durum-wheat semolina is rained into hot vegetable broth and stirred into a soft, silky porridge, usually served at supper. For babies the broth is home-made without salt, and the grated parmesan that adults add stays out or is kept to the tiniest pinch, because it is salty. It contains gluten (wheat), and milk if you add parmesan; there is no egg, nuts, soya, sesame or fish. Chef's tip: rain the semolina in from a height while whisking, and you will never get lumps.

12 min

Italian Soups

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Am (Filipino rice-water first porridge)

Filipino lolas remember giving babies am, the thick, cloudy liquid that rises to the top as rice boils, ladled off and cooled before the rest of the pot is cooked for the family's lunch. Today it is offered as a thin, smooth first porridge, a few spoonfuls alongside other first foods such as mashed squash or banana, rather than on its own. It tastes mild and slightly sweet. It contains none of the common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). Chef's tip: use more water than usual and keep the lid off, so the liquid thickens into a creamy am instead of evaporating away.

25 min

Filipino Drinks

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Champorado (Filipino chocolate rice porridge)

Champorado is the Filipino comfort bowl for rainy-season mornings and afternoon merienda, when children come home soaked from school in the monsoon. Glutinous rice is simmered with tablea, the pure roasted cacao tablets from Batangas and Cebu, into a thick, glossy, chocolatey porridge, then swirled with milk at the table. It is sweet, so this version uses less sugar than most and leans on the dark chocolate. It contains milk (and may contain soya in the chocolate). Chef's tip: keep stirring once the rice thickens; glutinous rice catches on the bottom of the pan very quickly.

35 min

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Aloo bondaPotato fritters

In Karnataka and across South India, aloo bonda are fried at home on rainy afternoons and sold in every darshini café, and children come home from school to a plate of them with coconut chutney and tea for the grown-ups. Soft potato with mustard seeds, curry leaves and ginger is wrapped in a golden, crisp gram-flour coat. For children, the green chilli can be cut right back. Gram flour is gluten free, but asafoetida often contains wheat, so check the label. Chef's tip: the batter should coat a spoon thickly, like pancake batter; too thin and it slides off the potato in the oil.

45 min

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Idiyappam with coconut milk

Idiyappam, lacy nests of rice noodles pressed and steamed, is a breakfast across Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and soaked in fresh coconut milk it is one of the first 'proper' foods many South Indian babies eat, from about nine months. The strands are soft, a little springy and taste of sweet coconut. Grown-ups add salt to the dough and children over one often have a little jaggery stirred into the coconut milk; for babies both are left out. It has none of the common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish), though coconut can rarely cause a reaction. Chef's tip: the water must be at a rolling boil when it hits the flour, or the dough is crumbly and won't press.

35 min

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Pumpkin congee for babies (cháo bí đỏ)

Vietnamese grandmothers often make a baby's early bowls of cháo with bí đỏ, the dense orange pumpkin sold in every market from Hà Nội to Cần Thơ. The rice is lightly toasted before simmering, a Vietnamese habit that gives the congee a faint nutty smell, and the pumpkin melts into it, turning it bright gold and naturally sweet. It is a weekday lunch for babies from six months, made without the fish sauce the rest of the family would add. No common allergens are in it (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). Chef's tip: choose a dry, dense pumpkin such as kabocha; watery squash makes a thin, bland congee.

55 min

Vietnamese Rice & Grains

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Lugaw for babies with squash and malunggay

In the Philippines, lugaw is the porridge every household turns to, and for babies it is cooked plain and extra soft, without the patis (fish sauce) or salt the family adds. Mothers often stir in mashed kalabasa, the orange squash from the market, and a few malunggay (moringa) leaves picked from the backyard tree, giving a sweet, gently green bowl for lunch or merienda. A slice of ginger in the pot is traditional and adds warmth. It has none of the common allergens (milk, egg, gluten, peanut, tree nuts, soya, sesame, fish). Chef's tip: strip malunggay leaves from their stalks completely; the little stems stay tough even after long cooking.

50 min

Filipino Rice & Grains

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Sev mamraPuffed rice snack mix

In Gujarati homes from Ahmedabad to Surat, a big steel tin of sev mamra is always ready for children coming home from school, unexpected guests and train journeys. Puffed rice is tossed in a little hot oil with turmeric, curry leaves and peanuts until crisp, then mixed with fine gram-flour sev for a savoury, mildly tangy crunch. A pinch of sugar is traditional; it is optional here. It contains peanuts. Whole peanuts are a choking risk for under-5s, so leave them out or crush them for little ones. Chef's tip: warm the puffed rice in the pan for a few minutes first; even slightly stale mamra turns crisp again.

15 min

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DilkhushCoconut and candied fruit stuffed bread

Teatime at an Iyengar bakery in Bengaluru or Mangaluru means dilkhush ("happy heart") stacked in wedges beside the khara buns: a soft, sweet bread round with a thick layer of grated coconut, sugar, tutti-frutti and cashews baked inside it. The dough in these bakeries is usually eggless, so the crumb is light and milky rather than rich, and the filling stays moist and chewy. Eat a wedge with a small glass of filter coffee or masala chai, or pack it for a school snack. The usual mistake is to pile the filling to the very edge; leave a clear 2 cm rim or the seal splits and the coconut toasts black on the tray. Chef's tip: squeeze a little milk into dry desiccated coconut before mixing the filling, so it tastes closer to fresh coconut and does not steal moisture from the bread.

145 min

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Krentenbollen (Dutch currant buns)

In the Netherlands a krentenbol, buttered and sometimes topped with a slice of Gouda, is packed in schoolbags for the morning break and eaten with milk after school. The buns are soft, slightly sweet and so full of currants and raisins that there is barely room for the bread. This version adds little sugar, letting the dried fruit sweeten it. It contains gluten and milk. Chef's tip: soak the dried fruit in hot water before kneading it in; dry fruit pulls moisture from the dough and burns on the surface.

50 min

Dutch Baking

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Glazirovanny syrok (chocolate-glazed curd bars)

Glazirovanny syrok, the chocolate-coated curd cheese bar, has been sold in Russian dairy aisles since Soviet times and is still what children across Russia, Ukraine and the Baltics grab after school. Made at home, it is a firm, creamy, gently sweet vanilla tvorog filling under a thin snap of dark chocolate, like a tiny cheesecake bar. This version uses less sugar than shop bars. It contains milk (and may contain soya in the chocolate). Chef's tip: press the tvorog through a sieve first; it is the only way to get the smooth, dense texture of a real syrok.

30 min

Russian Desserts

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Buko saladYoung coconut fruit salad

Buko salad is the dessert Filipino families bring to every birthday, christening and Christmas Noche Buena: strips of soft young coconut, mixed fruit, chewy nata de coco and sweet cream, chilled until icy cold. Children fish out the cherries first. It is quick to make the day before and is gluten free; it contains milk. Grapes in tinned fruit are already halved, but quarter any whole grapes lengthwise for younger children. Chef's tip: drain the fruit and nata de coco really well in a sieve for 15 minutes, or the salad turns watery overnight.

20 min