Açorda Alentejana

Açorda Alentejana

This is the Alentejo's classic morning-after breakfast and lunchtime supper: a thin garlic-and-coriander broth ladled over chunks of stale country bread with a poached egg slipped in at the end. You start by pounding fresh coriander, garlic, salt and olive oil into a paste in a wide bowl, then pour boiling water (or light stock) over it to make a fragrant broth. Stale bread goes in to soak up the liquid, eggs poach in the same broth for the last minute, and the whole bowl comes to the table warm enough to steam but cool enough to eat with a spoon. Stir the yolk through your portion as you eat. It is the cleanest, most aromatic 15-minute bowl of bread soup you will ever make.

Portuguese 30 minutes Serves4
Ajiaco

Ajiaco

Chicken poaches with onion, garlic and herbs into a clean, golden broth. The first potato (sabanera, or floury maris piper) drops in to start; the small yellow papa criolla follows to break down and thicken; pastusa or red potatoes go in last to hold shape. Cobs of sweet corn cook in the same pot. Guascas, the dish's signature herb, adds at the very end. Each bowl tops with shredded chicken, avocado, capers and a generous spoon of cream; rice on the side.

Colombian 1 hour 40 minutes Serves6
Aloo Paratha

Aloo Paratha

Whole-wheat (atta) flour is mixed with salt and just enough warm water to make a soft dough; rests for 20 minutes. Potatoes boil whole, peel hot, mash with cumin, garam masala, ginger, green chilli, amchoor and coriander. The dough divides into balls. Each ball flattens into a small disc; a heaped spoon of potato sits in the middle; the dough pleats up around the filling and pinches closed; flattens again carefully; rolls out gently to a 20 cm disc. Each cooks on a hot tawa or non-stick pan with ghee, 2 minutes per side, until crispy and gold.

Sides 1 hour 25 minutes Serves4
Alur Chop

Alur Chop

Alur chop (alu meaning potato, chop being a Bengali loan-word for a fried cutlet, inherited from the British "chop") is the workhorse of Bengali street snacks: every tea stall, every train platform, every late-afternoon adda has a stack of these warming under a glass cover. The construction is two layers. The inner mash is heavily seasoned: boiled potato folded through fried onion, ginger, green chilli, roasted cumin and a measured punch of Bengali bhaja moshla (a dry-roasted spice blend of cumin, coriander and dried chilli). Some versions add a few peanuts or roasted chana dal for crunch; in Kolkata the mash often includes a slick of mustard oil for fragrance. The outer shell is a thin chickpea-flour batter, the same family as beguni and piyaju, fried hot so it sets into a thin crisp casing rather than a heavy crust. The trick is contrast: a shell crisp enough to crackle, a centre soft and yielding and a touch wet from the onion. They are sold individually wrapped in newspaper for a few rupees and eaten standing up, often with muri puffed rice and a small dollop of kasundi (Bengali fermented mustard sauce) on the side. A monsoon and winter snack above all, when the cold air makes the hot oil and the inside-warm chop feel particularly right.

Snacks 55 minutes Serves4
Amok Trey

Amok Trey

Cambodia's national dish, the centrepiece of any Khmer feast and the proper-occasion food across the country. You start by pounding kroeung fresh in a mortar (the paste of lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, garlic, shallots, kaffir lime zest and coriander root that defines Khmer cooking, and that no shop-bought paste comes close to matching). The kroeung fries briefly to bloom its aromatics, coconut cream and stock loosen it, and eggs whisk in to set the eventual custard. Chunks of firm white fish fold through with chopped greens (traditionally noni leaves, with spinach or chard standing in), and the whole mix spoons into banana-leaf cups (or small ramekins). Twenty minutes in a steamer turns the custard just-set around the soft fish, and the banana leaves perfume everything. Served from the parcels with steamed rice and a wedge of lime.

Cambodian 55 minutes Serves4
Andhra Chicken Curry

Andhra Chicken Curry

Chicken thighs are marinated briefly with turmeric, ginger-garlic paste, yogurt and a pinch of red chilli. A dry-roast of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, coconut, fennel, coriander and dried red chillies is ground with a splash of water into a coarse paste. The base is built with shallots, curry leaves and tomato; the chicken is browned in stages; and the masala paste is folded in for the long, gentle simmer. Tamarind and a curry-leaf temper finish.

Indian 1 hour 35 minutes Serves4-6
Aroog

Aroog

Fine bulgur (#1 grade) soaks in hot water until soft and fluffy. Lamb or beef mince mixes with the bulgur, grated onion, lots of chopped parsley and coriander, ground baharat, cumin and a pinch of cinnamon. The mixture should be soft enough to spread, if it's too dry the aroog crumble. Small portions press onto a hot oiled pan and flatten to 1 cm thick discs; cook for 4-5 minutes per side over medium heat until deeply browned and the meat is just cooked through. Lift, drain briefly, eat hot with lemon and yoghurt.

Snacks 1 hour 20 minutes Serves4
Ash Reshteh

Ash Reshteh

Dried beans (chickpeas + kidney beans + green lentils, OR the popular cheat of mixing all dried into one pot) soak overnight. Onion fries in oil; turmeric, salt and the soaked-and-drained beans go in with stock; simmers for 1 hour 15 minutes until tender. A heaping double handful of finely chopped fresh herbs (parsley, coriander, dill plus blanched spinach) goes in. Reshteh noodles (Persian flat egg noodles, sold at Iranian shops) add for the last 10 minutes. The bowl finishes with a sour-fermented kashk drizzle, dried-mint-and-garlic-in-oil sizzle, deep-fried golden onion, and a swirl of yogurt. Garnishes are not optional.

Persian 2 hours 10 minutes Serves6
Aushak

Aushak

Aushak are the Afghan leek-and-mint dumplings that share their plating shape with mantu: a smear of garlic yogurt under, dumplings boiled and fanned over, a thick lamb meat sauce ladled across the top, dried mint and chilli to finish. The filling is just leeks (or scallions), salted briefly to draw the water out, squeezed dry, then mixed with fresh mint, ground coriander and pepper. Wonton wrappers (or homemade dough) seal around a teaspoon of filling pinched into half-moons or triangles. While the dumplings boil, you make the topping: ground beef or lamb fried with onion, garlic, tomato paste and dried mint, simmered into a thick savoury sauce. The yogurt sauce is just chaka with garlic. Plate together while everything is still warm.

Snacks 1 hour 15 minutes Serves4
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