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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Bouillie (French baby cereal porridge)

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

7 min

French Breakfast & Brunch

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CroquemboucheCaramel-bound choux puff tower

At a French wedding, christening or first communion, the croquembouche ('crunch in the mouth') arrives at the end of the meal: a tall cone of choux puffs filled with vanilla pastry cream, stuck together with amber caramel and wrapped in spun sugar threads. Guests crack puffs off with a knife or the back of a spoon, so each bite is crisp caramel, light pastry and cold, smooth cream. Pâtissiers often flavour the cream with orange liqueur; it is written here with vanilla only, and you can add 2 tablespoons of liqueur to the cooled cream. Underbaked choux is the classic mistake, because pale puffs go soft and collapse under the weight, so bake them until they are deep golden and dry inside; and since hot caramel burns badly, keep a bowl of iced water beside you and work with care. Chef's tip: build the tower on the day, no more than 4 hours before serving; the caramel softens in the fridge and humid air.

210 min

French Baking

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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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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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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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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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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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Pain de campagneCountry sourdough loaf

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

1335 min

French Breads & Parathas

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Œuf et mouillettes (egg and soldiers for toddlers)

In France, l'œuf à la coque with mouillettes, buttered bread fingers, is the gentle supper or Sunday breakfast every child knows. For babies and toddlers the egg is boiled a little longer, until the white is firm and the yolk is set but still soft and fudgy, so little ones can scoop and spread it rather than dip into a runny centre. It contains egg, gluten (wheat) and milk (butter). Chef's tip: start with eggs at room temperature so they don't crack in the hot water, and lower them in gently on a spoon.

11 min

French Breakfast & Brunch

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Gâteau battuTall egg-rich brioche cake

Picardy's tall, fluted gâteau battu ("beaten cake") gets its name from the long beating its dough needs: so many egg yolks and so much butter go in that it is closer to a thick batter than a bread dough. In the Somme it is the cake of family celebrations, first communions and weddings, and of Sunday breakfast, and it is baked in a distinctive tall, ridged mould that gives it the look of a chef's toque. The crumb is yellow, very light, buttery and only gently sweet. Serve it in slices with rhubarb jam, poached fruit or crème anglaise, or toasted the next day. Unmoulding too soon is how it collapses: the crumb is so tender that it needs 10 minutes to firm in the tin. Chef's tip: let the dough rise slowly until it reaches the rim of the mould, even if that takes 3 hours; rushing it gives a dense, cakey bottom.

300 min

French Baking

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Gâteau à la brocheSpit cake

At weddings and village fairs in the Aveyron and the Pyrenees, gâteau à la broche is a performance: a wooden cone turns on a spit in front of a wood fire while a cook ladles batter over it, layer after layer, for hours. The drips set into the spiky ridges that make the tall, hollow cake look like a fir tree. Slices have thin golden rings, a soft, buttery, eggy crumb and a scent of orange-flower water; it is eaten at the end of the feast with sweet wine for the adults or coffee. Older recipes use rum where this one uses orange-flower water and lemon, and at home a foil-wrapped rolling pin turned under a hot grill does the job of the spit. Pouring too much batter at once is the easy mistake: thick layers stay raw inside, so ladle thinly and let each one colour. Chef's tip: keep the batter at room temperature and stir it each time; cold batter clings badly and drips off in sheets.

140 min

French Baking

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Pain de mieSoft square sandwich loaf

Ask a Paris café what goes into a croque-monsieur and the answer is pain de mie, the 'crumb bread' baked in a lidded tin so it comes out as a neat square block. Shut away from the oven's heat, the dough rises against the lid into a fine, soft, close crumb with a thin, pale golden crust that barely needs trimming. French children take it to school as tartines with butter and chocolate spread, it makes the best croques, French toast and canapés, and it is the loaf to choose for neat cucumber sandwiches. Milk and butter keep it tender for several days. The tricky moment is the final rise: if the dough reaches the rim before the lid goes on, it squeezes out of the seams and bakes with a dense band; too little rise and the corners come out rounded. Chef's tip: put the lid on when the dough is about 1 cm below the rim, and grease the underside of the lid as well as the tin so the block turns out cleanly.

190 min

French Breads & Parathas

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Baguette

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

445 min

French Breads & Parathas

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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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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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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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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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