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376 recipes

Hath maaluwaSeven vegetable coconut curry

Hath maaluwa, literally 'seven curries', is cooked in Sinhala homes for the Avurudu New Year in April and for dana, the meal offered to monks when a family gives alms. Unlike the sept cari of Mauritius or Trinidad's seven curry, which are seven separate dishes, this is one pot: pumpkin, long beans, aubergine, ash plantain, sweet potato and two pulses simmered together in turmeric-yellow coconut milk with curry leaves, pandan and cinnamon. It is mild, creamy and gently spiced, and it stretches to feed a crowd with rice. The common mistake is adding everything at once, so the pumpkin dissolves while the beans stay hard; the vegetables go in by how long they take. It is ready when a knife slides through the sweet potato and the gravy coats the vegetables. Chef's tip: fry the aubergine first; it stops it soaking up the gravy and falling apart.

60 minSri LankanCurriesVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

AggalaRice flour and coconut balls

When the astrologers' auspicious hour for Aluth Avurudu, the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, arrives in April, Sri Lankan families light the hearth, boil kiribath and lay out a table of sweets, and small dark aggala balls are one of the easiest to make. Roasted rice flour and toasted coconut are bound with hot kithul treacle and a surprising amount of black pepper, which gives a warm bite after the sweetness. They are dense, soft and slightly crumbly. The common mistake is under-roasting the flour, which leaves a raw, pasty taste; roast it until it smells like biscuits and flows loosely off the spoon. The treacle is ready when it bubbles all over and thickens slightly. Chef's tip: shape them while the mixture is still warm, with lightly oiled palms, because they harden and crack as they cool.

35 minSri LankanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pajagua mascadaBeef and cassava patties

Pajagua mascada is a Paraguayan street-food classic that appears on every table for the San Juan festival on 24 June, when bonfires burn and the night is full of games and traditional food. Minced beef is mixed with mashed cassava, onion, garlic and a little egg and flour, shaped into flat patties and fried until crisp. The name comes from Guaraní and refers to the 'chewing' of old Paraguayan cooks, who made it from leftover meat. Chef's tip: dry the boiled cassava well and remove its woody core, which keeps the patties light and crunchy.

60 minParaguayanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KaguyjyWhite corn pudding

On the night of 23–24 June, Paraguayans celebrate San Juan with bonfires, games like walking over hot coals and the 'paso de fuego', and a table of traditional foods, and kaguyjy (also mazamorra) is one of them. It is a soft, creamy pudding of cracked white corn (locro) simmered slowly in water and then milk with sugar or honey, sometimes with orange peel. It is eaten warm or cold. It is gluten free. Chef's tip: soak the corn overnight and cook it until each kernel is tender before adding the milk, or it never turns creamy.

130 minParaguayanDessertsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chipa so'oCheese bread with spiced beef

In Paraguay, families bake chipa in the clay tatakua ovens on Holy Wednesday so there is food for Thursday and Good Friday, when cooking stops. Chipa so'o ('chipa with meat') is a cassava-starch and cheese bread wrapped around a little filling of minced beef cooked with onion and egg, then baked until crisp outside and chewy within. It is naturally gluten free. Chef's tip: knead the dough until it no longer cracks at the edges when pressed; dry dough splits around the filling.

90 minParaguayanBreads & ParathasGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sopa teólogaTurkey broth with bread and cheese

Sopa teóloga ('the theologian's soup') goes back to colonial convents in Lima and Arequipa, where it was cooked for feast days, and it is still served at Holy Week and family celebrations. A rich turkey (or chicken) broth is thickened with soaked bread, milk and fresh cheese, with yellow potatoes and shreds of turkey, and finished with a little ají amarillo and chopped huacatay or parsley. It is thick, comforting and filling. Chef's tip: blend part of the soaked bread with broth before adding it, which gives the soup its creamy body without lumps.

115 minPeruvianSoups
by KrazyBadal 0 views

OsterpinzeEaster anise brioche

Osterpinze is the Easter bread of Styria, Carinthia and the area around Trieste, a soft, golden brioche dome with three deep cuts on top for the Holy Trinity, so that it opens into a crown as it bakes. The dough is rich with egg yolks and butter and flavoured with anise and lemon; old recipes add a splash of white wine, left out here. It is blessed in the Easter basket on Holy Saturday and eaten on Easter morning with ham, horseradish and eggs, or with butter and jam. Chef's tip: make the three cuts with scissors just before baking, deep enough to reach halfway down, so the crown opens wide.

75 minAustrianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

AllerheiligenstriezelBraided sweet loaf

In Bavaria and Austria, godparents give their godchildren an Allerheiligenstriezel on All Saints' Day, 1 November: a large braided loaf of sweet yeast dough, brushed with egg and scattered with almonds or pearl sugar. The braid is said to recall the old custom of cutting a plait of hair in mourning, and the size of the loaf once showed how generous the godparent was. It is lightly sweet, with lemon and vanilla, and is eaten sliced with butter or jam. Some recipes add rum-soaked raisins; these are soaked in warm water instead. Chef's tip: braid four strands for an impressive, high loaf.

85 minAustrianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Boudin blanc aux pommesWhite sausage with apple compote

In Liège and across Wallonia, Christmas Eve supper often begins with boudin blanc: pale, delicate sausages of finely minced pork and milk, sometimes with a little chicken, gently fried in butter until golden and served with warm, chunky apple compote and bread. Butchers make piles of them in December. Buy them fresh from a good butcher, or poached and ready to fry. Chef's tip: prick nothing and cook gently; boudin blanc is fragile, and a hot pan splits the skins.

30 minBelgianMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Puhul dosi (Sri Lankan candied ash pumpkin)

Puhul dosi is one of the sweets that crowd the Sri Lankan Avurudu table in April, when Sinhala and Tamil households mark the New Year with kokis, kavum and trays of homemade confectionery for visiting neighbours. Cubes of ash pumpkin, the pale winter melon with a waxy skin, are soaked overnight in lime water, then simmered in a cardamom and clove syrup until the syrup turns back to sugar and frosts each piece. The result is a thin, crunchy shell around a translucent, juicy middle that tastes faintly of spice. Serve a few pieces with plain tea or as part of a sweet platter. It is naturally egg-free: the calcium in the lime water firms the outer layer of the pumpkin so it keeps its shape, and crystallised sugar does the rest of the setting. Chef's tip: rinse the cubes in at least four changes of water after the soak; the common mistake is rushing this, which leaves a chalky, bitter aftertaste.

705 minSri LankanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chilcano de pescadoClear fish broth

In the fishermen's terminals of Chorrillos and Callao, chilcano is what you drink on a Sunday morning after a long night: a clear, gingery broth made from the heads and bones left over from cleaning fish for ceviche, with chunks of fish, red onion, chilli and a squeeze of lime in the bowl. It is light and warming, around 160 kcal a bowl, and still gives about 24 g of protein from the fish fillet and the broth. The common mistake is squeezing the lime into the pot while it boils, which turns it bitter; add it to each bowl at the table. Don't boil the bones for more than 30 minutes either, or the broth turns cloudy and harsh. Chef's tip: ask the fishmonger for heads and frames from mild white fish like sea bass or cod, and leave out oily fish such as mackerel, which makes the broth strong and fishy.

55 minPeruvianSoupsGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Aguadito de polloCoriander chicken rice soup

Aguadito is the soup Lima serves in the small hours: at the end of a wedding, after New Year's Eve and at weekend family lunches, it is ladled out thick and steaming to revive everyone. Rice simmers in chicken broth coloured deep green with blended coriander and warmed with yellow ají amarillo, along with peas, carrot, pepper, sweetcorn and potato. A portion gives about 24 g of protein, from the chicken with a little from the rice and peas, for around 480 kcal. The common mistake is adding the coriander purée too early: cooked for long it turns khaki and loses its fresh taste, so stir it in for the last 10 minutes. The chicken must reach 74 °C at the bone. Chef's tip: blend a handful of spinach with the coriander; it keeps the colour vivid green without changing the flavour.

75 minPeruvianSoupsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Halape (හලපේ, finger-millet and jaggery parcels steamed in leaves)Finger millet and jaggery leaf parcels

In village homes in the south and the hill country, halape is an afternoon snack and a temple-day treat, steamed in the large, heart-shaped leaves of the kenda tree, which leave a faint grassy perfume. The dough is kurakkan, finger-millet flour, which is brick-brown, slightly bitter and very filling; it wraps a sweet layer of grated coconut and dark kithul jaggery. Once steamed, the parcels are dense, moist and fudgy, a little like a rustic steamed pudding, and they are best warm with a cup of plain tea. Nothing here was ever made with egg: steaming sets the millet starch and the jaggery melts into the coconut and holds it together. Banana leaves work well if you cannot find kenda. Chef's tip: the common mistake is spreading the dough too thick; keep it about 5 mm so the middle steams through before the outside turns hard.

55 minSri LankanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Tam mak thuaPounded long bean salad

In Vientiane and Luang Prabang, tam mak thua is the everyday alternative to green papaya salad, pounded to order at market stalls and at home for lunch with sticky rice and grilled food. Raw long beans are bruised in a clay mortar with garlic, chilli, tomato and lime until they soak up the juices, giving a crunchy, sour-hot salad with a grassy sweetness. Lao cooks season it with fish sauce and padaek (fermented fish); this vegetarian version uses tamari (gluten-free soy sauce) and a few crushed peanuts for savouriness. It gives about 5 g of protein a portion, so serve it as a side to tofu or eggs and sticky rice. The most common mistake is cutting the beans too long or pounding too hard: bruise short pieces until they split, but don't mash them to pulp. Chef's tip: pound the garlic and chilli first, then the beans, and only add the tomato and lime at the end so the salad stays crisp.

15 minLaoSaladsVeganGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ParihuelaSpicy seafood soup

Parihuela is the big weekend seafood soup of Callao and the Peruvian coast, eaten at long Sunday lunches in cevicherías and praised as a cure for tiredness and late nights. A deep red broth of ají panca, ají amarillo, tomato and fish stock is loaded with chunks of fish, prawns, squid and mussels. A portion gives about 30 g of protein, from the fish and shellfish, for roughly 300 kcal. Some cooks add chicha de jora or beer; this version has none. The common mistake is adding all the seafood at once: squid and prawns turn rubbery while the fish cooks, so they go in last. Before cooking, discard any mussels that stay open when tapped, and after cooking discard any that stay shut. Chef's tip: fry the chilli pastes in the oil until they darken and smell sweet; that toasted ají is what gives parihuela its depth.

70 minPeruvianFishGluten freeSpicy
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ping paGrilled lemongrass-stuffed fish

Ping pa is grilled fish the Lao way, cooked along the Mekong from Vientiane to Luang Prabang at riverside stalls, picnics and family weekends. A whole fish is crusted in salt, stuffed with lemongrass and grilled slowly over charcoal until the skin chars and the inside steams in its own juice, then picked apart at the table and eaten with sticky rice, herbs and a smoky tomato jeow (dip). A portion has about 30 g of protein from the fish. The common mistake is grilling over fierce flames: the skin burns long before the middle is cooked, so use glowing coals. Chef's tip: the thick salt crust isn't eaten; it protects the skin and keeps the flesh juicy, so peel it back as you eat.

50 minLaoFishGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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

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

240 minSri LankanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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

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

80 minSri LankanDessertsVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pejerrey arrebozadoBattered fish fillets with onion salsa

Pejerrey arrebozado is a Lima classic from the cevicherías and home kitchens of the coast, eaten at lunch on a plate with white rice, a heap of sharp salsa criolla and sometimes boiled potato. The pejerrey, a small silverside, is opened into butterflied fillets, dipped in a light egg-and-flour batter and fried golden. Outside Peru, use small fillets of whiting, sole, haddock or tilapia. The batter here uses sparkling water, not beer, so it is alcohol free. The common mistake is frying in oil that isn't hot enough: the batter drinks the oil and turns greasy, so test with a drop of batter first. Chef's tip: make the salsa criolla first and let the onion sit in lime for ten minutes; it softens its bite and turns a pretty pink.

25 minPeruvianFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chicharrón de pescadoCrisp fried fish chunks

Up and down the Peruvian coast, from Chorrillos in Lima to the beaches of Piura, chicharrón de pescado is the crunchy plate ordered alongside ceviche at a long seafood lunch: bite-size chunks of firm white fish marinated briefly in garlic and lime, dusted in flour and fried, then served with fried cassava, salsa criolla and tartar or rocoto sauce. Using frozen peeled cassava keeps it to half an hour. The common mistake is leaving the fish in the lime too long: after about ten minutes the acid starts to 'cook' the outside and the coating slips off. Chef's tip: toss the floured pieces in a sieve to shake off every bit of loose flour; a thin coat fries crisp, a thick one turns pasty.

30 minPeruvianFish
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Belgian frangipane tartlets

Look in the glass counter of a Flemish bakery and between the rice tarts and cream puffs sit rows of frangipanetaartjes: small shortcrust cases with a hidden layer of apricot jam, filled with almond frangipane and glazed with a thin, crackly white icing. Belgians pick them up on Saturday mornings or for a birthday at the office and eat them with coffee. They are buttery, nutty and moist, with a sharp fruity note from the jam. Too much jam is the mistake to watch: it bubbles up through the frangipane and glues the tartlets to the tin. Chef's tip: brush the warm tartlets with hot apricot jam first and let it set before the icing goes on; the jam seals the surface so the glaze stays white and shiny.

60 minBelgianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Kola kandaHerbal rice and coconut porridge

Kola kanda is a Sri Lankan breakfast porridge, sold in small cups at roadside stalls and morning markets in Colombo and drunk warm before work. Red rice is cooked soft with garlic, then blended greens, traditionally gotu kola, and coconut milk turn it a vivid green with a fresh, slightly grassy flavour. It is served with a piece of jaggery to nibble between sips. The mistake to avoid is boiling it after the greens go in, which turns the colour olive and the taste stewed. Chef's tip: crack the red rice in a spice grinder first; the broken grains cook in about 20 minutes and give the classic loose, creamy texture.

30 minSri LankanBreakfast & BrunchVeganGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Sri Lankan ribbon cake

Pink, green and yellow stripes of butter cake, held together with thin lines of vanilla buttercream: a slice of ribbon cake is the picture of a Colombo bakery counter and of Sri Lankan birthday parties, where it is cut into fingers and wrapped in greaseproof paper for guests. It's also in Christmas cake boxes and on wedding tea tables. The cake itself is a classic butter cake, soft and sweet, with a little vanilla; the colours are what make it. Overbaking the thin layers is the common slip; the edges brown and the colours turn dull, so check them early. Chef's tip: trim a thin slice off every edge after layering; the bright, clean stripes only show once the browned crust is gone.

115 minSri LankanBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

TopfengolatschenSweet quark puff pastry squares

A Topfengolatsche is what Viennese office workers grab from the bakery on the way in, and what grandparents order with a Melange in a coffee house on a Sunday afternoon. The corners of a puff pastry square are folded over a lemony, vanilla-scented filling of Topfen (Austrian quark) with plump raisins, and the top gets a thin white glaze. It is flaky, light and not too sweet. Raisins are sometimes soaked in rum; warm water or orange juice works just as well, and the recipe below is alcohol-free. Wet quark is the classic problem, because it turns the filling runny and it leaks out in the oven. Chef's tip: hang the quark in a sieve lined with a clean cloth for an hour, or squeeze it, until it is as thick as soft cream cheese.

57 minAustrianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

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