Recipe Description:

First, the Arabs brought their samosa-like pastries to medieval Spain when they invaded. In Spain these became empanadas (meaning ‘wrapped in bread’), and the conquistador Cortés is said to have feasted on ones filled with live rabbits and birds in Mexico City. Since then, empanadas have become a little more down to earth— smaller in size, with a buttery, pastry-style coating, and filled with actual, edible ingredients! We love the flavour of dried & smoked chipotle chilli inside ours, an ingenious and centuries-old native preservation technique used only on the deepest red sun-ripened jalapeño chillies.

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  For 2 - 50 minsFor 4 - 65 mins

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  For 2 - 65 minsFor 4 -80 mins

Recipe Description:

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  For 2 - 

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  For 2 - 

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Since winning Masterchef, Saliha Ahmed has dived even deeper into the fascinating history of her favourite cuisine. In her debut cookbook, Khazana (‘treasure trove’) Saliha has created a striking, fresh fusion of modern home cooking and the grand traditions of India’s bygone Mughal empire. This recipe is inspired by the Central Asian heritage of the first Mughal emperor, Babur, imagining the kinds of Indian flavour that might have found their way into the lamb ‘manty’ (dumplings) enjoyed at his royal banquets. The result is a meltingly tender, meaty dumpling that brings a surprising depth of warming, earthy spice.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 60 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 60 mins

Recipe Description:

Salted and dried soybeans have been prepared for over two millennia in China, predating the invention of soy sauce by hundreds of years. Used carefully, they offer a hit of seasoning as well as a piquant, wine-like flavour to sauces. In fact, there’s no fixed recipe for ‘black bean sauce’ in China, and using a pre-prepare mixture doesn’t compare to witnessing for yourself how a judicious amount of whole black beans, added to a sauce, can transform other flavours without overpowering them. Case in point, our mild, hearty version of the famous Cantonese-style black bean sauce adds subtlety as well as strength to the robust flavours of our marinated beef.

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  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

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  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 50 mins

Recipe Description:

Much of ‘Desi-Chinese’ cuisine involves cooks spicing up Chinese dishes with add-ons like garam masala or curry powder. Mumbai’s famous ‘Manchurian’ is arguably a much more bold and eclectic fusion food, an Indian curry that veers off course before any of the usual dried spices can be added. The typical Indian trio of fresh green chilli, garlic and ginger is sauteed, before being cleverly transformed into a unique twist on soy braising liquid. Served with our battered fish, this is not just the most sophisticated and exuberant Desi-Chinese dish, it’s a lava flow of evocative umami richness.

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  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 50 mins

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  For 2 - 40 minsFor 4 - 60 mins

Recipe Description:

Massaman is an unusual Thai curry, full of dried spices that aren’t typically found in the region’s cuisine, like cinnamon, cloves and star anise. It’s thought that traders from the Middle East and India, bringing luxury ingredients to the cosmopolitan Ayutthaya Kingdom on Thailand’s west coast, are responsible for the curry that literally translates as ‘Muslim curry’. By the 18th century, Massaman was so popular that the then-king of Thailand wrote a poem praising its ‘exciting allure’ that would ‘arouse any man’. We’re not sure about that, but its combination of intricate Thai technique and soothing, aromatic flavour is hard to beat.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 15 minsFor 4 - 20 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

Recipe Description:

Most famous for the Harmandar Sahib, or ‘Golden Temple’, Amritsar is not just a city revered for its religious significance. It’s also the bustling metropolis at the heart of Punjabi food culture, the epicentre of the region’s love for ghee, butter, cream and yoghurt. That said, like any foodie’s paradise, the city’s offerings are hugely balanced and varied. Those expecting a conventional Butter Chicken might be taken aback by this Amritsari curry’s subtly nutty, teasingly fragrant golden sauce, while we’ve enlisted the crunch of papads and the tang of our carrot pickle to provide an appetising contrast alongside.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 50 mins

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  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 55 mins

Recipe Description:

Chingri Malai Curry is a signature Bengali delicacy. A regal dish, fit for those special days when you feel like eating like a King. A curry cooked with seafood is almost always a mandatory dish on occasions such as weddings, the Poila Boisakh (Bengali New Year) and other celebrations. The main school of thought is that the early version of the recipe was brought over by Malaysian traders to the Bay of Bengal, which is where we see the word “Malai'', taking ownership in the title. Tiger prawns cooked in creamy coconut milk with a host of delectable spices: cumin, chilli, turmeric and garam masala, this prawn curry will be a crowd favourite on your dinner table.

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  For 2 - mins For 4 - mins

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  For 2 - mins For 4 - mins

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Much of Indian cuisine was forever changed during the imperial reign of the culturally Persian Mughals. But in Hyderabad, the ‘City of Pearls’, a hybrid Indian-Turkish-Middle Eastern culture had already existed for centuries, and its hugely wealthy and partially independent monarchy, the ‘Nizams’, kept the grand traditions alive after the empire’s fall. Inspired by the city’s cultural melting pot, chefs in palatial kitchens developed a unique synthesis of South Indian ingredients, Persian influences and North Indian spice layering, all of which, from tahini to tamarind, is loaded into these hearty yet sophisticated aubergines.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

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  For 2 - 90 minsFor 4 - 100 mins

Recipe Description:

A ‘dan’ is a bamboo pole that street vendors in the city of Chengdu used to hoist on their shoulders, allowing them to carry a cooking pot for noodles on one end, and their sauce on the other. On setting up their wares in a side street, they’d shout ‘dan-dan’ to attract attention to the simple meal being prepared— a base of spicy sauce laced with tingly Sichuan pepper, a heaping of noodles, then a finishing touch of savoury, crispy minced pork and garnishes. Stirred together and eaten quickly while still hot, to this day it’s the preferred meal of Chengdu’s night owls and busy students, a teasing, fiery fast food with an artisanal spirit.

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  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

Recipe Description:

Emily and Amy Chung first hosted their now-famous Burmese supper club in 2013, serving up classic Burmese home cooking like baya kyaw (chana dal fritters) and ohn no khauk swe (coconut chicken noodles), not to mention their luxurious mango lime cheesecake. Since then they’ve had consistently sold out events and have raised over £10,000 for charity. Their debut cookbook is a testament not just to the incredible aromas & creativity of Burmese cuisine, but of these two sisters’ unique, practical yet masterfully executed interpretation of it.

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  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

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  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

Recipe Description:

Much of Egyptian cuisine is vegan, due in part to local Coptic Christians abstaining from all animal products over Lent and other fasting periods. In the 19th century, the arrival of Indian khichri lentils and rice slotted perfectly into this homegrown tradition, as did Italian pasta and tomato sauce. Hence this triumphant mash-up, pasta mixed through grains and topped with a spicy, garlicky and sharp tomato sauce— a dish so popular, many Egyptian menus list only three items: small, medium or large koshari. Often topped with meaty shawarma, our Mediterranean beetroot preserves the eclectic national dish’s authentically meat-free heart.

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  For 2 - 20 minsFor 4 - 25 mins

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  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

Recipe Description:

The Italians don’t have a monopoly on delicious flatbreads with tomato-based toppings. Lahmacun was described as early as the 13th century in a Syrian cookbook, and today it’s beloved all over the Middle East and (especially) between Eastern Turkey and Armenia. Like pizza, lahmacun stretches simple ingredients as far as possible, serving up herby meals to crowds on-the-go at minimum expense, with maximum baking artistry. Unlike pizza, minced lamb is the star, with more spices helping to develop the roasty flavours. Don’t slice it into triangles: take an entire flatbread, dollop over some baba ganoush and wrap it up!

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  For 2 - 50 minsFor 4 - 70 mins

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  For 2 - 60 minsFor 4 - 80 mins

Recipe Description:

Iraqi cuisine may contain recognisable Middle Eastern staples such as mezze, hummus, kofta and kebabs, but Iraqi chefs are justifiably proud of their unique spin on these familiar dishes. Case in point, this aubergine and kofta casserole, where slices of aubergine are rolled around the kofta, tender meaty bites dripping with a hearty tomato sauce thickened with ground almonds. The presentation is likely inspired by dolma (stuffed, wrapped leaves), also an Iraqi favourite. The herby, savoury-sweet and fragrant meat filling is a wonderfully deft balance of flavours

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  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 60 minsFor 4 - 70 mins

Recipe Description:

Aged just 29, Alfred Prasad became head chef of Tamarind in London, achieving a Michelin star that he maintained for 13 years. His light, seasonal cooking is inspired by childhood memories of exploring India with his parents, tasting the varied delights of India’s regional cuisines. His food philosophy of ‘health, heritage and happiness’ merges creativity and scientific precision, enhancing the essential flavours of fresh ingredients with characteristic subtlety. Alfred elevates this classic spinach and buttery paneer curry by crowning it with the mature maple and anise aromas of kasoori methi, traditionally aged, dried fenugreek leaves.

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  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

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  For 2 - 40 minsFor 4 - 55 mins

Recipe Description:

It’s difficult to find a common thread uniting all of Caribbean cuisine, with each island practicing its own special blend of Latin American, European, Amerindian, West Indian, Indian, Chinese and Middle Eastern cuisines. But one ingredient unites the entire region— the Scotch bonnet chilli pepper. While on the spicier side, it’s also an unmistakably fruity variety, almost always used fresh to impart its almost refreshing tropical flavour. Despite all the cultures that have brought their foods and traditions to the Caribbean, the Scotch bonnet is an enduring reminder of the islands’ original inhabitants.

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  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

Recipe Description:

Japanese food has a reputation for being delicate & understated, but such sophisticated delights won’t necessarily see you through the winter or fill your belly after a day’s skiing in the mountains near Joetsu. That’s where bowlfuls of thicker, heartier soup come in handy, perhaps infused with a sturdier than average miso paste that will stand up to the strong meaty flavours. Joetsu city’s famous tonjiru (pork miso soup) is one such dish, but we’ve been further inspired by the unusual spiciness of Japanese miso ramen, an unconventional formula that often features Chinese-style chilli bean paste to add that extra kick.

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  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

Recipe Description:

The Malabar coast usually refers to the entirety of India’s southwestern shoreline, but it is Kerala that tends to be most associated with the name, perhaps because it has historically drawn attention for the wealth of its trading ports, its cultural diversity and abundant supply of spices. Some of that abundance is on display here, from the tang of mustard seeds to the slightly bitter caramel sweetness of fenugreek. Together with curry leaves, they provide a typically intriguing base of Keralan flavour from which this sweet and soothing (yet undeniably spicy) tropical fish curry emerges.

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  For 2 - 20 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

Recipe Description:

Don’t let the name mislead you: ‘Mongolian’ is a popular adjective in Taiwanese cuisine. Restaurants in the 1950s, used to serving seafood, pork and poultry to their fellow islanders, needed a marketing gimmick for unfamiliar imported meats, and the cultural association between hearty Mongolian nomads and their wandering flocks and herds proved ideal. In this dish, lamb steak is sliced thinly, allowing good coverage for the soy, hoisin and red chilli sauce. The rich aroma of mushrooms and diced aromatics is balanced out by the earthiness of bulgur wheat and quinoa.

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  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 50 mins

Recipe Description:

Centuries ago, Chinese traders were drawn to the new opportunities available on the coast of modern-day Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, some settling down in the area with local wives. These families were the ancestors of the Peranakans, whose cuisine to this day is a unique mix of Chinese and Malay traditions. Laksa is a defining dish of this ‘nonya’ (‘auntie’) food, named as a tribute to the women who have passed down its secrets through the generations. It’s a perfect marriage between the soothing, refined slurp of a Chinese noodle soup and the flavourful punch of Southeast Asian curry pastes, chilli and coconut milk.

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  For 2 - 40 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 50 mins

Recipe Description:

Growing up in Sydney, Lara Lee first encountered Indonesian culture through her father’s mother. Lara Lee’s grandmother Margaret Thali was a self-taught cook who had worked through her grief as a young widow by opening a bakery on the ground floor of her home in Kupang, Timor. Lara’s first visit to that old house and her experiences travelling around Indonesia are the inspiration for her book Coconut & Sambal. This Coconut Beef & Peanut Stir Fry is one of Margaret’s old recipes, packed full of classic Indonesian aromas, with the crunchy peanuts and explosive flavours adding a dramatic touch.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

Recipe Description:

Thai cuisine’s use of various prepared curry pastes makes it easy to quickly prepare a dish with a complex flavour profile, and it also means that Thai cuisine traditionally encourages flexibility— red Thai curry paste is used for all sorts of marinades and stir-fries, in addition to the saucy coconut milk kaeng that we somewhat inaccurately call ‘curry’. Despite all that variety, you’d be hard pressed to find a Thai restaurant serve a duck kaeng that isn’t red. Perhaps it’s because the extra-savoury red chilli flavour cuts so marvellously through the sweet, juicy delicacy of duck meat. Who would dare tamper with such a classic?

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  For 2 - 15 minsFor 4 - 20 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

Recipe Description:  

Domoda is the national dish of The Gambia and a crowd favourite among tourists who chose to holiday in the restorative winter sun. The peanut or groundnut was first introduced in the 16th century by Portuguese traders from the Americas, and from that humble beginning the peanut (now a major crop within the country) is the driving flavour of their national food institution. The stewing sauce consisting of peanuts, onions, garlic, tomatoes and scotch bonnet peppers lends a rich and creamy backdrop to this simple, hearty Gambian chicken and sweet potato stew. 

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 30 mins For 4 - 35 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 40 mins For 4 - 45 mins

Recipe Description:

Although Thai chefs are often judged solely by their Pad Thai skills, this national dish is more culturally eclectic than you might think. The name, meaning ‘Thai-style stir fry’, probably comes from Chinese expats, who combined their techniques of noodle making and wok cooking with sweet-sour, pungent Thai flavours like lime and tamarind. Thailand’s wartime dictator, facing a rice shortage, then nationalised the dish, sending the recipe to Thais so that they could open up noodle shops and street carts. Noodle fever soon gripped the nation— no surprise, since this quick, tasty dish is easy to prepare, yet enticingly difficult to perfect.

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  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 50 mins

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  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 65 mins

Recipe Description: 

Chicken Tinga, or Tinga de Pollo, is a traditional Mexican dish that originates from the state of Puebla, home to the battle of Cinco de Mayo, and also considered a Mecca of the many delicious Mexican classics we know and love. During the colonial period, cooks in Puebla invented tinga, a true marriage between Spain and Mexico, using a mixture of Mexican foods with a European cooking method. Chicken Tinga is essentially a stew made with shredded chicken in a sauce of tomatoes, chipotle chiles in adobo, and onions. It’s great no matter what you put with it, but to make things extra fun, we decided to put our Chicken Tinga in tacos, garnished with red onions, avocado, coriander, feta and lots of lime!

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 30 mins For 4 - 30 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

Recipe Description:

Admittedly ‘shawarma’ usually refers to thin slices of meat shaved from a cone-shaped vertical rotisserie— but this spiced and roasted cauliflower, with its aromatic, charred outside and deep, savoury centre, deserves the comparison. To bolster this tribute to Levantine cuisine, we’ve paired it with another Middle Eastern icon. Mujadara means ‘pockmarked’, named after the lentils dotted among the rice. The caramelised onions make an irresistible garnish for this moreish rice dish.

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  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

• Total time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 50 mins

Recipe Description:

Named after the creamy tomato sauce at its heart (‘makhani’ means ‘butter’), this Punjabi curry is better known outside of India in its ‘butter chicken’ incarnation. While grounded in North Indian cuisine’s traditional use of spices, dairy and acids to enrich and preserve meat, the original recipe was invented in a flash of inspiration by a chef at Delhi’s iconic Moti Mahal restaurant, stirring butter and tomatoes into leftover tandoori chicken that had dried out. It wasn't long before prawns received the makhani treatment, their juicy tenderness proving ideal in this famously silky, classically mild sauce.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 5 minsFor 4 - 10 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

Recipe Description:

Burmese food is often described as a combination of neighbouring Indian, Chinese and Thai cuisines, but perhaps this is just a matter of familiarity— if Burmese food had taken off in Britain first, we’d all be describing lemongrass and turmeric as our favourite Burmese ingredients. Burmese cooks make it all seem effortless, foregoing complicated curry pastes or spice layering techniques in favour of a simple yet carefully balanced approach: decent handfuls of good ingredients thrown into the same pot, as with this deliciously sweet-creamy-fragrant curry and its combined tomato and coconut gravy.

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  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 50 minsFor 4 - 60 mins

Recipe Description:

A tortilla with a dollop of filling, folded over and eaten quickly— the taco could not be simpler, but its variations are endlessly diverse. Only a culinary tour across Mexico could show you the full variety, but the next best option would be a trip to Mexico City, where market stall owners from every region compete to show off their antojitos (‘liittle cravings’, a local nickname for street food). The dish probably dates back millenia, but we like the theory that Mexican miners named it after their small, lightly packed explosives (also called ‘tacos’). True to fashion, our black bean & avocado taco packs a spicy, smoky chipotle kick

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

Recipe Description:

In the hybrid culture of India’s Mughal Empire, elaborately adorned cookbooks were as much of a status symbol as any work of science or literature, helping to popularise a rich, spiced up Indian version of Persian cuisine. Korma, meat or vegetables braised in a rich yoghurt sauce, is perhaps the most prestigious recipe in this tradition— the emperor Shah Jahan feasted on it when he celebrated the construction of the Taj Mahal. Mushrooms grow more readily in Nepal than Northern India, but they’ve found new popularity as a strong, savoury ingredient, perfect for comforting, mild dishes with toasty, warming fragrances like this one.

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  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

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  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

Recipe Description:

In Ho Chi Minh City, the term ‘street food’ often seems unnecessary— if you want your delicious lemongrass-infused chicken to bring in the punters, you’d be foolish not to waft its sweet-savoury aroma as far as possible. That’s why you’ll see chefs behind outdoor grills with plastic stools at the ready for all comers, serving chicken on top of this light and refreshing summer rice noodle salad. In Northern Vietnam they call similar dishes ‘bun cha’, but down south the sauce is more vibrant and herb-forward, the chicken marinade sweeter and punchier, and it more than deserves its own name.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 -30 minsFor 4 -30 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 -35 minsFor 4 -35 mins

Recipe Description:

Anywhere in India that there’s a Muslim community or a history of Persian trade, there’s a biryani, a supercharged Indo-Persian pilaf cooked in a single pot. Biryani is, literally, a potted history of India, a cross-cultural cosmopolitan blend spread out in infinite regional variations, each a distillation of that community’s favourite flavours. In our version, spicy marinated chicken is browned in an onion tarka. Then the real magic happens, fragrant rice steaming and stewing together with the meat into infinitely more than the sum of its parts.

Recipe Description:

Brassica Oleracea goes by many aliases worldwide: broccoli, kale and cabbage, to name a few. Cauliflower is the slyest chameleon of them all, able to act grainy, floury or meaty, as in this trendy plant ‘steak’. Trendy, yes, but Indian vegetarians have been cooking with similarly ingenious meat substitutes for centuries. This tender centerpiece, lightly marinated and roasted to perfection, is no second-stringer, though, ably supported by the equally world class combo of a spicy chickpea curry and a refreshing salad

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 20 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

Recipe Description:

In the hybrid culture of India’s Mughal Empire, elaborately adorned cookbooks were as much of a status symbol as any work of science or literature, helping to popularise a rich, spiced-up Indian version of Persian cuisine. Korma is perhaps the most prestigious recipe in this tradition, said to have been served to the emperor to celebrate the construction of the Taj Mahal. Great korma is a balancing act, using spices for their heady fragrance while remaining mild and creamy in flavour.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 15 minsFor 4 - 25 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

Recipe Description:

It’s no accident that the fifth taste, umami or ‘savouriness’, was first discovered in Japan. Natural umami is easy to find, so there’s little need for the umami additive known as MSG. Umami has three types: glutamates (from plant-based ingredients like onions and soy sauce), inosinates (animals), and guanylates (dried mushrooms). Combining different umami types multiplies the effect, which is why, from the dashi’s combination of glutamate-rich kombu (glutamate-rich seaweed) with inosinate-filled bonito (smoked fish), down to the beef and shiitake, this is a mind-blowingly savoury broth that lingers pleasantly on the palate.

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  For 2 - 20 minsFor 4 - 25 mins

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  For 2 - 50 minsFor 4 - 55 mins

Recipe Description:  

The word okonomi in Japanese means “what you like” and the word yaki means to grill or cook - altogether meaning “what you like, grilled’. You can imagine that with a name like this the possibilities of fillings and toppings are endless. There are two definite styles of this cabbage and flour-based pancake; Osakans mix their toppings into the batter where Hiroshimans grill their pancake first before layering on their toppings. What they both have in common though, is that both douse their creations in the signature okonomiyaki brown sauce. If you ever make it to either place, someone will ask you “which style do you prefer’. This answer can be quite political, and of course, depending on which city you're in, there’s only one right answer!

• Preparation time:

  For 2 -  45 mins For 4 -  60 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 45 mins For 4 -  60 mins

Recipe Description:

Before cultivation spread to other parts of Asia, the far southwest coast of the Indian peninsula that we now call Kerala was the sole source of all the black pepper in the world. This valuable commodity put Kerala on the map, multicultural port cities springing up throughout history to provide more and more hubs for trading the original ‘black gold’. Pepper was once the spice of kings, but these days, any Keralan eatery might coat juicy lamb steaks in abundant quantities for a crowd-pleasing stir fry.

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  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 50 mins

Recipe Description:

The Lao people of Laos and northern Thailand have often been unfairly eclipsed, their identities and culture rolled into a homogenised concept of Thai-ness. Often mislabelled in restaurants around the world as Thai food, Laotian larb deserves its own distinct place in the hallowed halls of Asian cuisine. This minty salad of minced meat and raw vegetables has a distinctively zesty, cooling freshness, bolstered by the typically Lao fondness for unripe tropical fruit in savoury dishes, such as this piquant green papaya.

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• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 55 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 55 mins

Recipe Description:

There are many variations on Chinese ‘hong shao’, or the ‘red (hot) cooking’ technique, but most involve frying or grilling an ingredient, braising it in soy sauce, rice wine and aromatics, then reducing and thickening the sauce to a deep, dark red glaze. It’s a technique possibly as ancient as soy sauce itself, and still often cooked the old way, in small clay pots that help to seal in the evolving flavours of the simmering sauce. Tofu’s neutral, absorbent tenderness is perfect for ‘hong shao’, while mushroom sauce, often called ‘vegan oyster sauce’, adds an extra layer of indulgent umami joy to our Cantonese home-style recipe. 

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  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

Recipe Description:

Sri Lankan cuisine revolves around what would typically be called ‘curry’, whether red (dried chilli), black (extra-toasted spices) or ‘white’— referring to the coconut milk, not the colour of the final dish. These categories may seem vague, but when a typical home-cooked Sri Lankan meal might involve a dozen dishes, freedom to adapt and vary recipes becomes very important! This dish would be called ‘elu mas’ in Sri Lanka, which means ‘mutton’ but usually involves the more locally available goat. We’ve chosen lamb; despite its long simmering, you’ll find the aroma of fresh curry leaf still lingering as you gobble up the last morsels of unctuous meat and tender okra.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 60 minsFor 4 - 60 mins

Recipe Description:

Georgia stands on the crossroads between East and West, a small country that has managed to preserve its unique cultural identity in the midst of its Turkish, Persian and Russian neighbours. Ajapsandali, a meltingly luscious aubergine stew that celebrates the last of the summer harvest, is a typical example— all the rustic heartiness of a ratatouille, infused with a beguiling blend of Eastern spices. To add to the intrigue, we’ve topped ours with feta as a nod to the zingy, crumbly appeal of Georgia’s local cheeses. Earthy and bright, saucy yet firm, this is a perfect introduction to the bounties of Georgian cuisine.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 50 minsFor 4 - 60 mins

Recipe Description:

Now a full-fledged celebrity chef with an MBE to boot, it’s hard to believe that Romy Gill opened her first restaurant just 6 years ago. But she spent decades plotting and perfecting her skills. Her journey began when, homesick in the UK, a bad experience at a local Indian restaurant instilled in her the ambition of showing Britain that Indian cuisine should be about fresh ingredients and nuanced, comforting flavour. Zaika is Romy’s debut book, a tribute to the ‘simple yet delicious’ plant-based food she grew up with in West Bengal. Beloved across India, this smoky and spicy aubergine delicacy is Romy’s ‘ultimate desert island dish.

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  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 40 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

Recipe Description:

Of all the Iranian ways to cook rice, ‘polo’ makes the grandest statement, a showstopping centerpiece that testifies to the generous and ambitious cooking displayed on the Persian sofreh (tablecloth). ‘Adas’ (lentil) polo is the dish’s oldest form, probably developed soon after the arrival of rice into Iran from South Asia. It consists simply of rice and lentils mixed together, but polo is never simple; a good polo is infused with herbs and spices and layered with a spectrum of colourful ingredients, such as these juicy, savoury Mediterranean roast vegetables in a pomegranate glaze, garnished with parsley yoghurt and toasted almonds.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 40 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

Recipe Description:

You might recognise the word ‘pad’, meaning ‘stir fried’, from ‘pad thai’, Thailand’s iconic national dish, but pad krapow deserves to be equally famous, a meaty fry with ample amounts of garlic and local basil. The Thai basil in our recipe is similarly sweet in aroma to the more common variety, but with gently spicy, aniseed notes. It’s also sturdier, able to withstand stir-frying, only gaining in flavour as it heats and wilts. Served traditionally with jasmine rice, it’s an irresistibly fragrant experience.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 60 mins

Recipe Description:

In Chengdu, Sichuan, the memory of traditional home cooking is kept alive in small eateries nestled among the back alleys and side streets— so-called ‘fly restaurants’, probably named more for their size than for any concerns about hygiene. ‘Fly restaurants’ offer a warm welcome to all comers, an unpretentious hole-in-the-wall ambience and a full slate of familiar local dishes. This braised pork belly is infused with comforting star anise and cinnamon as well as bracingly spicy chilli bean paste. The carrots absorb flavour until they’re just as meaty as the pork itself, making for a humble stew that is far more than the sum of its parts.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 15 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 20 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

Recipe Description:

Whether it originated as the traditional meal during an ancestral memorial ceremony, a way of using up leftovers before the new year, or a portable farmer’s lunch, bibimbap has surely been around for centuries. Even before the Korean language had an alphabet, Korean tables were graced with this hearty, nutritious one-bowl meal of rice, vegetables, gochujang and other side dishes. Don’t focus too hard on the precise layout of the various ingredients: as soon as a bibimbap reaches the table, its lucky recipient is expected to gleefully swirl the ingredients together, ensuring an explosive symphony of flavour with every mouthful.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 20 minsFor 4 - 25 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 50 mins

Recipe Description:

The zibdiya is a traditional clay pot from Gaza, often placed over a blazing hot grill and then used as a cooking pot, serving dish and eating vessel all in one. This fiery prawn and tomato stew is perhaps the most delicious thing you could find in a zibdiya— with liberal amounts of chilli and dill, it reflects the Gazan affinity for this alternatingly spicy and cooling flavour combination. Its fresh seafood and iconic flavours arguably make it the heart of Gazan cuisine, a passionate, bold and strong-flavoured statement in a bowl.

• Active time:

  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

• Total time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

Recipe Description:

The salted and dried-out soybeans known as ‘black beans’ have been prepared for over two millennia in China, predating the invention of soy sauce by hundreds of years. Used carefully, they offer a hit of seasoning as well as a piquant, wine-like flavour to sauces. There’s no fixed recipe for ‘black bean sauce’ in China, and pre-prepared mixtures simply don’t compare to the versatility and flavour that comes from using whole black beans. Our Cantonese-style sauce is imbued with garlic and ginger aromas that provide a clean, refreshing aura to balance the savoury depth of the black beans and umami-rich salmon.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 60 mins

Recipe Description:

While the ingredients for rendang might look familiar to anyone well-versed in Indian or Thai food, their use in this dish has no precedent anywhere else. Rendang is unique to the Minangkabau people of Indonesia, who have been preparing it for hundreds of years. Beef is coated in a spice paste and simmered slowly in coconut milk until richly dark and almost dry. Before refrigeration, it was the ideal food-on-the-go for merchants and travellers braving the tropical heat, but today it’s the highlight of Minang restaurants worldwide, where it has gained a little saucy tenderness without losing its intense, concentrated flavours.

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• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 40 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 40 minsFor 4 - 55 mins

Recipe Description:

Pilaf is a dish so ancient, its origins probably predate the beginning of recorded history. Wherever it was first made, what we do know is that for many people across Asia all the way to the Mediterranean sea, there is no cooking technique more deeply rooted than the simmering of rice in a flavourful broth, timed perfectly so that each grain is fluffy and separate, with its own distinct bite. Our pilaf is a showcase of hearty ingredients that are popular across the Middle East and the Levant, but especially celebrates the lip-smacking tartness of fruity pomegranate seeds, tangy sumac and refreshing mint yoghurt.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 60 minsFor 4 - 70 mins

Recipe Description:

Traditional Korean cuisine is so full of tasty vegetable dishes, and so easily adapted for vegetarians, that it’s rare to find more modern Korean cooking, like Korean fried chicken, adapted for those on a plant-based diet. Which is a pity, because tofu is the perfect companion for the red yangnyeom (‘seasoning’) glaze that popularly covers the country’s iconic fried chicken— unlike chicken, tofu only needs a quick pan-frying to develop a flavoursome golden crust, and its tender, refreshing insides are a great contrast to the sticky, spicy coating.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

Recipe Description:

The oldest recipes in the world were found in Iraq, etched on ancient tablets that detail the festival food prepared in long-ruined temples. Modern Iraqi cuisine still has traces of that ancient legacy, as well as bearing the influence of Turkey, Iran and the Middle East, even as far as India. This saffron-raisin sauce, infused with ground nuts and spices, is a powerful sensory experience typical of the region’s cooking; it might even be considered a rather humble dish! The combination could be cooked in one pot, as a casserole, but we love the interplay between the buttery, full-on sauce and the separate roast chicken and potatoes.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 20 minsFor 4 - 25 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

Recipe Description:

Pho (pronounced ‘fuh’) emerged from the cultural flux of Vietnam a century ago, when Chinese and Vietnamese street vendors, influenced by French eating habits, began adding beef to their rice noodle broths. Once established, pho’s fans were slow to embrace any variations to the recipe. Especially reviled was the drab, meatless pho imposed on wartime Hanoi, nicknamed ‘pilotless pho’ after the US reconnaissance drones flying overhead. Thanks to an abundance of fresh aromatics, our umami-rich pho stock, meaty shiitake and crunchy veg, now you can cook a vegan pho that is anything but ‘pilotless’ in flavour.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 15 minsFor 4 - 15 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 20 minsFor 4 - 20 mins

Recipe Description:

Korean cuisine has always involved jang, the name for a variety of soy-based fermented sauces. Soy sauce itself is a type of ‘jang’, as is the soybean paste left over once the sauce has been brewed and strained. Jang used to be spiced with various local varieties of peppercorn; but ever since gochu-jang (a soybean paste infused with deep red Korean dried chilli powder) arrived, it has defined so much about South Korean cuisine. Smoky, sweet, and intensely savoury, it pairs well with ingredients like honey and soy that can amplify its key flavours while softening its spiciness, as in these decadently marinated pork chops.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 55 mins

Recipe Description:

Mafé is a deeply comforting, rich tomato & peanut stew. Peanuts are Senegal’s primary crop; once brought over from South America, they soon eclipsed the region’s native ‘Bambara groundnut’ as a national staple food. The Bambara groundnut is now a rare and somewhat neglected crop, but its memory lives on in this traditional favourite, popular all over West Africa and further afield. Sometimes featuring chicken or fish, we’ve gone for the beef mafé that is often cooked for special occasions in Senegal, the deep nuttiness of the sauce not proving too overpowering for the beef’s assertively meaty flavour.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 20 minsFor 4 - 25 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 40 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

Recipe Description: 

Experiencing a perfect forkful of moussaka is a uniquely Greek gastronomy experience. The main school of thought is that the Arabs introduced the dish when they brought the aubergine to Greece. It is believed that the Greek version is an ancestor of the Levant variation musakhkhan, the word deriving from the Arabic word musaqqâ, meaning “moistened” referring to the dish's delicious tomatoey juices. Our take on the traditional moussaka contains luscious layers of juicy minced lamb in a seasoned tomato base, layered with creamy aubergine, topped with a cheesy yoghurt based sauce and baked to absolute perfection.

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• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 35 mins For 4 - 45 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 45 minsFor 4 - 55 mins

Recipe Description:

While fried rice can be traced back over a thousand years to China’s Sui dynasty, its reputation as a dish is not exactly auspicious. Originally a way of mixing together the leftovers of the previous night’s various delicacies into one quick, hearty lunch, if fried rice ever appears during a formal meal, it’s usually trotted out at the end, to signal the host’s generosity in serving the more expensive, refined dishes first. Still, no matter how impressive the banquet, we’ll always leave some room for fluffy, crispy fried rice infused with all the meaty flavours from the frying pan, subtly seasoned and scattered with spring onions.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 20 minsFor 4 - 25 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 20 minsFor 4 - 25 mins

Recipe Description:

The noodles for a chow mein are stir-fried until lightly crisp in places, needing lots of oil to keep them slippery, whereas an authentic Cantonese lo mein requires only that noodles be stirred through at the end of cooking. Not only is the taste subtler and cleaner, accentuating the brightness of the vegetables; it also ensures that the starchiness of the noodles mingles with the wet ingredients to create a silky, emulsified sauce that is addictively slurpable. The accompanying Chinese cabbage’s sweet juiciness pairs well with pickled or fermented flavours, as in Korean kimchi or this delicately salty glaze of savoury miso.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 35 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 40 minsFor 4 - 50 mins

Recipe Description:

More than half of the population of Gujarat is vegetarian. Rather than imitating meaty flavours, though, Gujarati cooking tends to lean into the natural sweetness of plant-based ingredients, using unrefined sugars to amplify their red and green vegetable sauces, with salt and spice (and often distinctive fresh herbs like our methi leaves) as a counterbalancing culinary force. Tarka, whole spices tempered in oil, is known in Gujarati as vaghar; that’s only the beginning of the bold flavour layering that characterises this roasted cauliflower showstopper.

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 25 minsFor 4 - 30 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 40 minsFor 4 - 45 mins

Recipe Description:

One thing Brits and Thais have in common? A love of fried fish (we don’t know why, but perhaps it’s something in the water). Rather than coating the fish in a thick batter to protect the flesh from drying out, though, Thai cooks often use only a whisper of dredging or batter, frying until the flesh itself is flaky, crispy & golden on the outside. It’s a delicious treat served plainly, but for extra flavour we’ve been inspired by the central Thai dish pla sam rot, or ‘three flavours fish’, a medley of sweet, tangy and spicy flavours that punctuate every crispy, crackly mouthful

• Preparation time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

• Cooking time:

  For 2 - 30 minsFor 4 - 35 mins

Recipe Description: