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859 recipes

Sabeel sharbatRose milk with basil seeds

In the first ten days of Muharram, and above all on Ashura, volunteers in Pakistani towns set up sabeel stalls at the roadside and pour free cups of cold sweet milk for anyone passing, in memory of the thirst of Imam Husain's family at Karbala. The drink is pale pink, lightly rose-scented and dotted with swollen basil seeds, and it is made in huge steel pots at the stalls; this is the home-sized jug. Chef's tip: soak the basil seeds in water first, never straight in the milk, or they stay hard and clump.

10 min

Pakistani Drinks

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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 min

Paraguayan Breads & Parathas

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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 min

Paraguayan Meat

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Dowina (Kurdish yogurt soup)

Dowina, called ash-e doogh in Persian, is warming spring food in Kurdish homes around Newroz, when yogurt is plentiful and the first herbs are cut from the garden. Rice and chickpeas simmer in a tangy, lightly thickened yogurt broth, finished with fresh dill, coriander and a sizzle of dried mint in oil. It is eaten warm, never boiling hot, with flatbread. The common mistake is to heat the yogurt too fast without stirring, which makes it split into grainy curds. Chef's tip: whisk an egg yolk and a spoonful of rice flour into the yogurt before it goes on the heat; it holds the soup smooth all the way to the simmer.

75 minMiddle Eastern Soups

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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 min

Austrian Baking

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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 min

Belgian Meat

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Aloo bukhara chutneyDried plum chutney

Wherever a Pakistani wedding serves biryani and qorma, a little bowl of glossy aloo bukhara chutney sits alongside to cut the richness. Dried sour plums are softened, then cooked with sugar, a touch of vinegar, ginger, chilli and warm spices into a jammy, sweet-sour relish, dark and shining. It keeps for weeks and is made in big jars before the shaadi. Chef's tip: stop cooking while it still looks a little loose; it thickens a lot as it cools.

35 min

Pakistani Chutneys & Dips

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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 min

Austrian Baking

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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 min

Paraguayan Desserts

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Chana dal halwa

At Punjabi weddings in Lahore and Faisalabad in the cold months, the dessert table often carries a big tray of chana dal halwa beside the gajar halwa. Soaked split chickpeas are ground and fried slowly in ghee until they smell of roasted nuts and turn deep golden, then cooked with milk, sugar and cardamom into a rich, grainy halwa that keeps for days. It takes patience and a strong arm. Chef's tip: keep the heat low and scrape the bottom constantly; the dal catches fast once it starts to brown.

90 min

Pakistani Indian Sweets

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KhajlaFried pastry rounds in sweet milk

In the old lanes of Lahore and Karachi's Burns Road, sweet shops fry khajla through the night in Ramadan so families can buy it fresh for sehri, the meal eaten before dawn. Each round is a stack of paper-thin layers of ghee-rubbed dough that shatter when you press them, and it is crumbled into a bowl of hot sweetened milk, often with fine pheni, to give slow energy for the fasting day. Chef's tip: keep the oil only medium-hot; khajla must fry slowly so every inner layer turns crisp before the outside browns.

100 min

Pakistani Desserts

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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 min

Peruvian Soups

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KalanehWild leek stuffed flatbread

In Kurdistan and Kermanshah, Newroz arrives with the first spring greens on the hillsides, and families gather wild leeks to fold into kalaneh, thin griddle breads cooked over a fire or a hot pan and soaked in melted butter. The dough is plain and soft, rolled very thin around a pile of chopped leek or chives with a little salt and pepper, so the greens steam inside as the bread blisters. Eat it hot, torn into strips, with yogurt and tea at a Newroz picnic. The common mistake is wet greens, which turn the dough soggy and make it tear; dry them well after washing. Chef's tip: brush the butter on the moment the bread leaves the pan so it soaks right in.

65 minMiddle Eastern Breads & Parathas

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Zitui yan (Qingming swallow buns)

In Shanxi, families steam zitui yan for Cold Food Day and Qingming, the spring days of tomb-sweeping and remembering the dead. The buns are named after Jie Zitui, a loyal courtier of ancient Jin whose death in a mountain fire is said to be why no fires are lit on Cold Food Day, and they are shaped like swallows because the birds return in spring and carry wishes for new life. Children used to string them on willow twigs and hang them by the door. The dough is plain, slightly sweet and pillowy, with a chewy red date pressed into each bird. Serve them warm with tea, or cold the next day as the festival intends, alongside pickles and boiled eggs. Chef's tip: snip the tail and wing feathers with small scissors just before the second rise, so the cuts open into neat feathers as the buns puff.

150 min

Chinese Breads & Parathas

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Huizhou yi pin guo (layered New Year one-pot)Layered pork and tofu pot

In the Huizhou hill villages of southern Anhui, the Spring Festival centrepiece is yi pin guo, 'first-rank pot', named after the highest rank of imperial official and served as a wish for success in the coming year. Everything goes into one wide pot in layers: dried bamboo shoots at the bottom, then pork belly, fried tofu, egg dumplings filled with pork, and greens on top, so the juices of each layer drip down and season the one below. The result is rich and savoury, the bamboo soaked with pork fat, the tofu spongy with broth. Bring the pot to the table and let everyone dig down through the layers, with rice on the side. Chef's tip: soak the dried bamboo shoots overnight and boil them well; underprepared dried shoots stay leathery and sour.

180 min

Chinese Meat

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Dongzhi lamb soup (yangrou tang)Lamb and ginger soup

Yangrou tang is the Winter Solstice soup of Shandong and northern Jiangsu, where Dongzhi, the longest night, is a day to eat lamb and warm the body for the cold months; people say a bowl on Dongzhi keeps you from feeling the chill all winter. Lamb bones and meat are boiled hard until the broth turns milky white and rich, then seasoned simply with ginger, salt and white pepper. The broth is smooth and comforting, the sliced meat tender. Serve in deep bowls with coriander, chilli oil and warm flatbread or sesame buns to tear in. Chef's tip: season with salt only at the table or at the very end; salting early tightens the meat.

150 min

Chinese Soups

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Nian dou bao (sticky bean buns)

Before the Spring Festival, families in Dongbei make nian dou bao by the hundred, steam them and freeze them outside in the snow so there is a stack ready for every visit of the holiday. The name contains 'nian', sticky, which sounds like the word for year, so they are eaten for a year that holds together and rises higher. The dough, traditionally from glutinous millet that has been lightly fermented, is soft, chewy and gently tangy, wrapped round a smooth sweet red bean filling. This version uses glutinous rice flour and fine cornmeal for the golden colour, with a little yeast for that faint sourness. Serve them warm with tea or plain congee. Chef's tip: wet your hands before shaping; the dough clings to dry hands but behaves perfectly once they are damp.

180 min

Chinese Breads & Parathas

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Tang gua (malt sugar candy)

On Xiaonian, the 'little New Year' a week before the Spring Festival, families across northern China offer tang gua to the Kitchen God before he flies up to report on the household: the sticky sweets are meant to glue his mouth shut, or at least sweeten his words. The name means 'sugar melons', after their round, ribbed shape. Pulling the hot maltose over and over turns it from amber glass to a pale, airy candy that shatters and then turns chewy, with a toasty malt flavour and plenty of sesame. Serve them with tea on Xiaonian and keep the rest in a tin for New Year guests. Chef's tip: wear clean rubber or silicone gloves and work on an oiled tray; hot sugar sticks to skin and burns.

180 min

Chinese Desserts

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Pai gu ou tang (Hubei pork rib and lotus root soup)

Ask anyone from Wuhan what the Spring Festival tastes like and the answer is pai gu ou tang, a clay pot of pork ribs and lotus root that bubbles on the stove all New Year's Eve. Lotus root grows from the mud into something clean and pure, and its long threads that stretch when you bite a slice are said to keep the family linked even when apart. Hubei's floury lotus root, with nine holes, cooks down until it is soft and starchy and turns the broth a faint rosy pink; the ribs fall from the bone and the soup tastes sweet and mellow. Serve it first at the reunion dinner, in small bowls, with rice and the other dishes to follow. Chef's tip: look for thick, short, rusty-skinned lotus root sections; the slim, white, shiny kind stays crunchy however long you cook it.

180 min

Chinese Soups

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Sichuan xiang chang (spicy cured sausage)

When the weather turns cold in Sichuan, families buy pork by the shoulder, season it with chilli and Sichuan pepper and stuff it into casings, so that xiang chang hang in every home by the Spring Festival. Plates of sliced sausage beside la rou signal plenty for the year to come, and every household swears by its own spice blend. The pork is coarsely chopped, so the sausage is chewy and juicy with pockets of sweet fat, fiery, numbing and a little sweet. Steam and slice it to serve with rice, or stir-fry with cabbage. This home method uses pink curing salt and dries the sausages in the fridge for safety; they must always be cooked before eating. Chef's tip: keep the meat and your equipment cold throughout; warm fat smears and the sausage turns crumbly.

245 min

Chinese Meat

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Boiled water caltrops (zhu lingjiao)Boiled water chestnuts in shell

Boiled water caltrops are a Mid-Autumn snack in Jiangnan and Guangdong, piled on the table beside mooncakes and pomelo while the family waits for the moon. The dark, two-horned nuts are harvested in autumn, and their name, ling, sounds like the word for clever, so children are told to eat them to grow bright; some families also say the shape looks like a bat, a symbol of good fortune. Inside the shell the white flesh is floury and sweet, much like a chestnut. Serve them warm in a big bowl with tea and the rest of the moon-watching snacks. Chef's tip: buy them fresh in autumn from Chinese grocers and always cook them through; never eat water caltrops raw, as they grow in ponds and can carry parasites.

40 min

Chinese Snacks & Starters

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Zhenzhu wanzi (pearl meatballs)

Pearl meatballs come from Mianyang in Hubei, where they are a fixture of the Spring Festival banquet: round shapes stand for a family gathered whole, and the gleaming grains of rice for pearls and wealth. Steaming turns the glutinous rice coating translucent and slightly chewy, while the pork inside stays tender and juicy, with crunch from water chestnuts. They are mild and soft, so children love them, and they look beautiful on a steamer of mixed dim sum or as one of the many dishes at the reunion dinner. Tamari keeps them gluten free; ordinary light soy sauce works if that does not matter to you. Chef's tip: beat the pork in one direction until sticky before shaping; it keeps the meatballs bouncy and stops the rice from falling off.

55 min

Chinese Meat

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Tian shao bai (sweet pork belly over sticky rice)

Tian shao bai is one of the 'three steamed bowls' of a Sichuan countryside banquet, and no Spring Festival feast there is complete without it. Thick slices of pork belly are cut into hinged pockets, filled with sweet red bean paste and packed into a bowl over glutinous rice with brown sugar, then steamed for hours and turned out as a glossy dome: sweetness for the year ahead and a richness that says the harvest was good. The pork fat melts into the rice, the skin turns soft and wobbly, and the bean paste and sugar make it rich and sticky like a pudding. Serve it towards the end of the meal in small portions with tea. Chef's tip: chill the boiled belly before slicing; cold pork cuts into clean, even slices that hold together.

195 min

Chinese Meat

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Sanzi (fried dough threads)

Sanzi are lacy coils of fried dough threads, made across Jiangsu and Shandong and by Hui and Uyghur cooks in Xinjiang. They belong to Hanshi, Cold Food Day, just before Qingming, when old custom forbade lighting the stove, so families fried them in advance to eat cold; the shatteringly crisp coils keep well for days and stand for the care taken to prepare for the remembrance. The dough is lightly salted and the strands snap like thin crackers, with a nutty note from sesame. Break them over congee or soy milk, or eat them on their own with tea. Chef's tip: rest the oiled ropes properly; relaxed dough stretches to thread-thin without snapping.

120 min

Chinese Snacks & Starters

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