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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

Atchara

Green papaya is peeled, seeded and shredded on a coarse grater. Carrot, ginger, garlic, red pepper, onion and raisins are all prepared in matching shreds. The vegetables are salted and rested for 1 hour to draw water; rinsed and squeezed dry. A syrup of cane vinegar, sugar and whole peppercorns simmers for 5 minutes. Hot syrup is poured over the vegetables in a sterilised jar. The jar is sealed, cooled and refrigerated overnight before eating. Improves over the following week.

Sides 1 hour 40 minutes Serves1

Avial

A handful of vegetables (drumstick, ash gourd, carrot, runner beans, green plantain) are cut into uniform 5 cm batons and cooked separately to keep their textures. Coconut is ground with cumin, green chilli and shallot into a paste, which is added to the cooked vegetables with thinned yogurt. The dish is warmed gently (never simmered) so the yogurt doesn't split, and finished with raw coconut oil and curry leaves.

Sides 45 minutes Serves4-6

Aysh Baladi

A simple dough of half plain flour and half wholemeal, yeast, salt and warm water. Rises for 1 hour. Divides into 6 portions; rolls into thin 18 cm discs; rests for 20 minutes. Baked at maximum heat on a hot baking stone for 3-4 minutes, they puff dramatically and fall flat as they cool, leaving a hollow pocket.

Sides 1 hour 57 minutes Serves4

Bagels

A stiff bread dough - much firmer than sandwich bread - kneaded long, given a first rise, divided and shaped into rings, cold-proofed overnight in the fridge for flavour development, then boiled briefly in a sweetened water bath before baking. The boil sets the crust and gives the characteristic shiny mahogany surface; the bake finishes the inside. Topped with seeds while wet so they stick.

Sides 2 hours 50 minutes Serves8

Baingan Bharta

A whole aubergine is charred directly over a gas flame until the skin is blackened and the flesh inside is soft. The charred skin is peeled off and the flesh roughly mashed. A masala of onion, garlic, ginger, green chilli and tomato is cooked down to a thick base, and the smoky aubergine flesh is folded through with a finishing touch of garam masala and coriander. Vegetable-side or vegetarian main; the smoke is what makes it.

Sides 45 minutes Serves4

Baked Beans

Navy beans soak overnight. Bacon and onion render in a wide pot; cooked beans go in with a sauce of molasses, tomato puree, brown sugar, mustard, cider vinegar and beef stock. Bake covered at 150°C for 3 hours, uncovering for the last 30 minutes so the sauce reduces and sets sticky. The beans hold shape but the sauce thickens to glaze them.

Sides 15 hours 45 minutes Serves6

Barbari

A wet yeasted dough, high hydration (75%) of strong flour, yeast, salt, water and a touch of oil. Long first rise. Two portions; each stretches to a 40-50 cm long oval on an oiled work surface. A flour-water paste (roomal) brushes over the top, this gives the signature glossy crust. Deep parallel ridges press down with fingertips. Sesame and nigella seeds scatter. Baked at maximum heat 5-7 minutes on a screaming-hot stone.

Sides 2 hours 40 minutes Serves4

Beignets

A soft eggy yeasted dough mixes, flour, yeast, sugar, salt, butter, egg, milk and a touch of evaporated milk for the classic richness. Rises for 2 hours (or overnight in the fridge). Rolls to 5 mm thick on a floured surface; cuts into 5 cm squares. Fries at 180°C 90 seconds per side. Drains briefly; dusts heavily with icing sugar; eaten hot.

Sides 2 hours 40 minutes Serves6

Bhindi Masala

The okra is washed, dried thoroughly and trimmed, then cut into 2 cm pieces. A dry-fry over high heat for 10 minutes cooks away the surface moisture that causes slime. Onion is then browned with whole cumin in a separate go, ginger and garlic added, tomato cooked down with the ground spices, and the dry-fried okra folded in for a final dry simmer. Finished with garam masala, amchur and coriander.

Sides 45 minutes Serves4

Bint Al-Sahn

A soft eggy dough is rolled into 7-8 paper-thin discs (closer to filo than to bread). Each disc is brushed with melted ghee and stacked into a wide round tin. The whole stack bakes at high heat for 25 minutes until deep gold and crisp at the edges. While hot, it's drenched in raw dark honey and scattered with toasted black caraway seeds (or nigella seeds).

Sides 2 hours 5 minutes Serves6

Black-Eyed Peas

Dried black-eyed peas, soaked overnight, simmered low and slow with a smoked ham hock and aromatics. The hock seasons the broth and gives up its meat at the end of the cook. Finished with a splash of cider vinegar to brighten and a pinch of cayenne for warmth. Eaten in shallow bowls with the broth, often spooned over rice.

Sides 1 hour 40 minutes Serves6

Bolinhos de Bacalhau

Salt cod soaks for 24 hours with several water changes to draw out the salt. Once desalted, it's poached, flaked and folded into hot mashed potato with onion, parsley, egg and a pinch of pepper. The mix is shaped between two tablespoons into the classic oval (two-spoon quenelle shape) and deep-fried.

Sides 24 hours 55 minutes Serves6

Bolo Do Caco

Bolo do caco is the Madeiran flatbread you'll get at every restaurant on the island, traditionally cooked on a hot basalt stone (the caco) but very happily on a heavy dry griddle at home. The dough is straightforward (strong flour, yeast, salt, water) with one twist: a small boiled and mashed orange sweet potato folded in, which gives the bread its faintly sweet edge and golden colour. After a single rise, you divide the dough, shape into 18 cm rounds, and press them onto a hot dry pan for five minutes a side until both faces are charred-spotted. Split horizontally, slathered with garlic-parsley butter, and closed back like a sandwich. Eat hot; it does not keep.

Sides 1 hour 45 minutes Serves4

Bombay Potatoes

Bombay Potatoes is comfort food at its finest. Small potatoes are partially cooked, then coated in a richly spiced oil infused with seeds and aromatics. Some potatoes are mashed to create a creamy base, while others remain whole for texture. The result is a warm, golden, deeply spiced side dish that's utterly satisfying. This is a vegetarian staple of Indian home cooking.

Sides 22 minutes Serves4-6

Caesar Salad

Croutons fry in olive oil with garlic. Romaine lettuce washes and crisps. Dressing whisks together: egg yolk, garlic, anchovies, mustard, lemon, parmesan, slowly emulsified with olive oil. Toss; pile on plates with shavings of parmesan.

Sides 25 minutes Serves4

Caponata

Aubergine cubes are salted to weep, fried hard in olive oil to deep gold, and reserved. A separate pan is used to soften diced onion and sliced celery in olive oil; garlic joins briefly; chopped tomatoes simmer with red wine vinegar and sugar to make the agrodolce base. Green olives, capers, sultanas (optional) and toasted pine nuts are stirred in. The fried aubergine is returned and simmers for 10 minutes to meld. Off heat, fresh basil is scattered. Rested at least 2 hours (ideally overnight) before serving at room temperature.

Sides 1 hour 40 minutes Serves6

Challah

Strong bread flour worked with eggs, honey, oil, salt and warm water until the dough is smooth and elastic. Two long rises, the first slack and the second tight after braiding. A six-strand braid if you're showing off, three-strand if you want the loaf made before the candles. Brushed with egg yolk for the lacquer-deep crust, scattered with sesame or poppy seeds, baked until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped.

Sides 3 hours 30 minutes Serves10

Chana Chaat

Cooked chickpeas (tinned for speed, OR overnight-soaked and home-cooked for the best texture) toss with diced red onion, finely chopped tomato, small-diced boiled potato and chopped fresh coriander. The dressing: lemon juice, chaat masala (a salty-sour spice mix sold at Pakistani shops), roasted ground cumin, Kashmiri chilli powder and a pinch of salt. Hot chilli sauce and tamarind chutney drizzle on; the chaat tosses; crushed papri tops; eat immediately.

Sides 20 minutes Serves4

Chanasan Makh

Mutton on the bone, shoulder, breast, leg in big pieces, is placed in a deep pot. Cold water covers. Salt is added (heroically, about 1 tablespoon per litre). The pot comes to a boil; the surface is skimmed thoroughly; then it simmers, partially covered, until the meat is so tender it falls in big juicy pieces from the bone. The dish is piled onto a platter; the broth is reserved and drunk in cups alongside.

Sides 1 hour 50 minutes Serves4

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