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Rava appe (semolina vegetable dumplings)

Across Karnataka and Maharashtra, rava appe is a weekday trick for a quick breakfast or a lunchbox that comes back empty: semolina and yoghurt batter, studded with carrot, pepper and coriander, is cooked in a round-holed appe pan until the balls are crisp outside and soft inside, using only a little oil. Children eat them with a mild green chutney or ketchup. They contain gluten (semolina) and milk (yoghurt). Chef's tip: stir in the bicarbonate of soda only when the pan is hot and you are ready to cook, or the batter loses its lift.

35 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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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

Indian Breads & Parathas

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Mawa cakeCardamom khoya butter cake

Walk into an old Irani café in Mumbai or Pune at teatime and the glass jars on the counter will hold squat, golden mawa cakes, each crowned with a single cashew. The crumb is close and buttery, heavy with milky khoya and perfumed with cardamom, somewhere between a pound cake and a barfi. Locals dunk a slice in cutting chai or eat it with a bun maska on the side. This version uses eggs, as the classic bakeries do; eggless versions swap the eggs for yogurt or condensed milk and are just as popular. The usual slip is adding the khoya in hard lumps, which leave greasy pockets in the cake, so grate it and rub it smooth before it meets the butter. Chef's tip: warm the cardamom seeds in a dry pan for a minute before grinding; the aroma doubles and carries right through the bake.

65 min

Indian Baking

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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

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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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

Indian Snacks & Starters

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Chur chur naanCrushed flaky stuffed naan

Amritsar's dhabas around the Golden Temple are famous for this one: a layered, potato-and-paneer stuffed naan that the cook slaps out of the tandoor and then crushes between both palms (chur chur means crumbled) so the flaky layers break apart and soak up a spoonful of ghee. It arrives crisp at the edges, soft and buttery inside, with spiced filling showing through the cracks, and is eaten for lunch with chole, a bowl of dal makhani and a glass of lassi. At home a very hot oven and a preheated tray stand in for the tandoor. The usual slip is skipping the ghee between the coils; without it the dough fuses and there are no layers to crush. Chef's tip: crush the naan the moment it leaves the oven, wrapped in a clean tea towel so your hands are protected; once it cools it cracks instead of flaking.

120 min

Indian Breads & Parathas

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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

Indian Breads & Parathas

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Pan chutaAniseed round bread

The small town of Oropesa, half an hour from Cusco, calls itself Peru's bread capital, and its wood-fired bakeries are famous for chuta: big, flat, round loaves as wide as a dinner plate, glossy on top, with a faint sweetness and the warmth of aniseed. Travellers on the road to Puno and Bolivia stop to buy them by the bagful, and families bring them home for All Saints' Day and for sharing with hot coca tea or coffee, fresh cheese and butter. The bakeries traditionally use lard; this version uses vegetable shortening and butter, so it is vegetarian. The make-or-break moment is the proof: chuta is large and flat, and if it goes in under-risen it bakes dense and splits at the rim. Chef's tip: toast the aniseed for a minute in a dry pan and crush it lightly before adding, for a rounder, sweeter perfume.

240 min

Peruvian Breads & Parathas

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Goan baathSemolina and coconut cake

From Margao to Mapusa, Goan Catholic families start baath a day early: semolina, fresh coconut, sugar and butter are rubbed together and left overnight so the grains drink up the coconut milk. The next morning eggs go in and the cake is baked until brown and fragrant, ready for the Christmas kuswar plate alongside bebinca and neureos, or cut into diamonds for a wedding. The crust is crisp and caramelised; the inside is dense, moist and chewy with coconut, scented with cardamom and sometimes a little rose water. Desiccated coconut is the common shortcut and the common mistake: it makes a dry, crumbly baath, so use fresh or frozen grated coconut. Chef's tip: bake it in a heavy metal tin and do not open the oven for the first 40 minutes; the slow, steady heat gives the dark crust without a raw middle.

660 min

Indian Baking

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Sweetcorn pulao

Sweetcorn pulao is a modern city favourite in India, from Pune to Delhi, cooked on school nights and packed into the next day's tiffin: fluffy basmati with juicy corn, gently perfumed with cumin, bay and cardamom, mild enough for the youngest at the table. Serve it with raita or a simple dal. It contains milk (ghee); use oil for a dairy-free version. Chef's tip: once the lid is on, don't stir; stirring breaks the grains and makes the pulao sticky.

45 min

Indian Rice & Grains

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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

Indian Snacks & Starters

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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

Indian Snacks & Starters

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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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Indian bakery veg puff

Walk into any bakery from Bengaluru to Delhi after school and the glass counter will be full of veg puffs: golden, shattering rectangles of puff pastry around a soft potato, pea and carrot masala. They are also the savoury star of children's birthday parties, served warm with ketchup alongside cake. This version keeps the chilli gentle for children. It contains gluten and milk (in all-butter pastry). Chef's tip: let the filling cool completely before wrapping, or the butter in the pastry melts and the layers won't rise.

65 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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Vegetable cutlet

From Kolkata's railway canteens to Bengaluru's school tiffins, the vegetable cutlet is one of India's most familiar snacks: mashed potato with peas, carrot and green beans, lightly spiced, shaped into ovals, rolled in breadcrumbs and shallow-fried until crunchy. Children take them to school with ketchup and eat them warm at tea time. They are vegan and contain gluten (breadcrumbs). Chef's tip: chill the shaped cutlets for 20 minutes before frying; cold patties hold together and crisp better.

45 min

Indian Snacks & Starters

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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

Indian 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

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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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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Vegetable frankie

The frankie was born on the streets of Mumbai and soon moved into the city's tiffin boxes: a soft flour roti wrapped around a spiced potato filling, sprinkled with a tangy chaat-masala vinegar and raw onion, then rolled in paper. Children eat it for lunch and after school, and parents tone down the chilli. This version is vegan; it contains gluten (wheat flour). Chef's tip: just a few drops of the masala water per roll; it should taste tangy, not make the roti soggy.

45 min

Indian Fast Food

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Placek ze śliwkamiPlum and crumble yeast cake

When the węgierki plums ripen in late August, Polish grandmothers from Kraków to Gdańsk bake placek ze śliwkami on the big oven tray and cut it into squares for Sunday coffee or for the neighbours. Under a buttery kruszonka crumble the plums melt into jammy, sharp pools on a soft, slightly sweet yeast dough. It is best on the day, still faintly warm, with a mug of coffee or a dollop of whipped cream. Laying the plums skin side down is the classic mistake: the juice floods the dough and leaves it raw, so set them cut side up and close together. Chef's tip: toss the plum halves with a spoonful of semolina or breadcrumbs before arranging; it soaks up the juice and keeps the base light.

150 min

Polish Baking

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BizcochueloPlain whisked sponge cake

Nearly every Argentine birthday torta starts life as a bizcochuelo: a tall, plain sponge of eggs, sugar, flour and cornflour, with no butter and no baking powder, lifted only by long whisking. Grandmothers bake it on Sunday to split into three and fill with dulce de leche and whipped cream, or eat it plain in the afternoon with mate. The crumb is fine, dry-ish and airy, made to soak up syrup. Opening the oven in the first 20 minutes is the classic way to flatten it, so leave the door shut. Chef's tip: whisk until the mixture reaches 'punto letra', thick enough that a ribbon drawn on the surface holds its shape for a few seconds; that takes a good 8–10 minutes with an electric mixer, and warm eggs get there faster.

55 min

Argentinian Baking

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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

Indian Breakfast & Brunch

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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

Indian Snacks & Starters

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Cebularz lubelskiOnion and poppy seed flatbread

Lublin's bakers have topped flat rounds of yeast dough with onion and poppy seed since at least the nineteenth century, when the city's Jewish bakeries sold them as "cebulnik"; today cebularz lubelski is a protected regional speciality and a street snack sold warm from bakery windows across eastern Poland. The base is a soft, slightly sweet enriched dough, the centre thin and the rim puffed, and the onion bakes until tender, sweet and just catching at the edges. Eat one warm on its own, with a glass of kefir, or alongside a bowl of soup. Wet onion is the downfall here: salt it, wait, then squeeze out the juice, or the middle turns soggy. Chef's tip: press the centres really thin with your fingertips just before topping; if they puff back up, the onion slides off.

143 min

Polish Breads & Parathas

by KrazyBadal 0 views

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