Recipes

• indian

  Undhiyu

  Winter vegetables stuffed with green masala and steamed under a lid with fried fenugreek dumplings. Nothing is stirred from start to finish.

  Time

  1h 45m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Involved

• baking

  Flapjacks

  Butter, golden syrup and brown sugar melted together and stirred through oats, baked until the edges darken and left to set hard in the tin.

  Time

  1h 35m

  Serves

  16 squares

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Stuffed Peppers

  Halved rather than hollowed, filled with underdone rice that finishes in the oven, and roasted uncovered until the edges char.

  Time

  1h 20m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• side

  Soft Polenta

  Coarse polenta, forty-five minutes at a bare blip, and butter and cheese beaten in at the very end. Instant is a different food.

  Time

  1h

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Veg Kolhapuri

  Mixed vegetables in a fierce dark gravy built on coconut and whole spices roasted until they smoke. Not a mild dish, and not pretending to be.

  Time

  1h 10m

  Serves

  5

  Effort

  Involved

• soup

  Gazpacho

  Ripe tomatoes macerated in salt and sherry vinegar, blended with soaked bread and emulsified with a lot of good oil.

  Time

  3h 55m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• dessert

  Custard Tart

  A deep, thin-walled pastry case filled at the oven shelf with a nine-yolk cream custard, baked low and never refrigerated.

  Time

  6h 55m

  Serves

  10

  Effort

  Involved

• braise

  White Bean Stew

  Dried cannellini cooked slowly in a lot of olive oil and their own broth, with a ladleful mashed back in for body.

  Time

  9h 40m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• breakfast

  Courgette and Ricotta Frittata

  Started on the hob, finished under the grill, pulled while the centre is still soft. Ricotta keeps it from going rubbery.

  Time

  37m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• technique

  Pierogi Ruskie

  A hot-water dough that rolls out thin without fighting back, filled with potato, curd cheese and deeply browned onion.

  Time

  2h 5m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Involved

• baking

  Chocolate Babka

  An enriched dough chilled overnight, rolled thin with a cocoa butter paste, twisted so the layers show, and soaked in syrup straight from the oven.

  Time

  14h 55m

  Serves

  one loaf

  Effort

  Involved

• indian

  Methi Malai Matar

  Fenugreek leaves and peas in a pale cashew and onion gravy, kept white on purpose and finished with cream off the heat.

  Time

  50m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• salad

  Tofu Larb

  Crumbled tofu browned hard, dressed with lime and toasted rice powder, and eaten cold from lettuce leaves with a lot of herbs.

  Time

  35m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Paella de Verduras

  A thin layer of rice, stock poured once, and then nothing touches it. The crust on the bottom is the whole reward.

  Time

  1h 5m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• pasta

  Lasagne

  Two sauces, assembled in thin layers and rested before cutting. The béchamel is what stops it collapsing on the plate.

  Time

  1h 55m

  Serves

  8

  Effort

  Involved

• indian

  Aloo Matar

  Potatoes simmered in a tomato masala until the gravy clings, with peas thrown in late so they stay green and sweet.

  Time

  45m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Biscotti

  A lean, fat-free almond dough baked as logs, sliced warm and dried a second time until they snap rather than bend.

  Time

  1h 35m

  Serves

  30 biscotti

  Effort

  Easy

• side

  Cauliflower Cheese

  The florets boiled briefly and drained hard, under a mustard-sharp sauce built on a properly cooked roux.

  Time

  55m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Curd Rice

  Overcooked rice mashed with milk, cooled, then stirred through thick curd and tempered. The last thing eaten in a South Indian meal.

  Time

  1h 5m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Black Bean Burgers

  The beans dried out in the oven before mashing, which is the difference between a burger and a bean paste in a bun.

  Time

  1h 20m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• soup

  Borscht

  Grated beetroot sweated with the aromatics, cabbage in late, and vinegar at the very end to hold the colour.

  Time

  1h 15m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Lemon Rice

  Cold rice folded through a tempering of dal, peanuts and curry leaves, with the lemon squeezed in off the heat so it stays sharp.

  Time

  25m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Madeleines

  A brown-butter batter rested cold for two hours, then piped into a buttered tin and baked hot so each shell rises with a hump.

  Time

  2h 45m

  Serves

  18 madeleines

  Effort

  Moderate

• dessert

  Apple Crumble

  Bramleys tossed with a little cornflour so the juices thicken instead of flooding, under a lumpy oat topping that is never pressed down.

  Time

  1h 15m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Veggie Chilli

  Dried beans, whole spices toasted and ground, and a long uncovered simmer. Cocoa and cinnamon do the work meat usually does.

  Time

  9h 55m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Sabudana Khichdi

  Tapioca pearls soaked just enough to hydrate but not enough to dissolve, tossed with crushed peanuts, potato and green chilli.

  Time

  6h 30m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• braise

  Vegetarian Moussaka

  Lentils simmered dry with cinnamon, roasted aubergine instead of fried, and a thick béchamel enriched with yolks so it browns properly.

  Time

  2h 20m

  Serves

  8

  Effort

  Involved

• breakfast

  Congee

  One cup of rice, twelve of stock, and an hour of low heat until the grains dissolve. The toppings are the meal; the base is a canvas.

  Time

  1h 25m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• technique

  Tortilla Española

  Potatoes poached soft in olive oil, steeped in beaten egg, then set slowly so the middle stays just short of firm.

  Time

  1h 20m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Involved

• side

  Gratin Dauphinois

  Thin potato slices simmered in cream before they go anywhere near the oven. No cheese, no stock, nothing to hide behind.

  Time

  1h 50m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• baking

  Carrot Cake

  An oil-based traybake with coarsely grated carrot, spiced heavily enough to stand up to the cream cheese frosting.

  Time

  2h 45m

  Serves

  12

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Dahi Vada

  Urad dal fritters soaked soft in warm water, squeezed dry and drowned in sweetened curd with two chutneys and a lot of cumin.

  Time

  5h 25m

  Serves

  5

  Effort

  Involved

• salad

  Sesame Noodles

  Cold noodles in a sesame-and-black-vinegar dressing that stays emulsified because of the noodle water you saved.

  Time

  43m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Mushroom Stroganoff

  Mushrooms browned hard in two batches, not steamed in one crowded pan. The soured cream goes in off the heat.

  Time

  40m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• pasta

  Aglio e Olio

  The ten-minute pantry dinner. Everything depends on not letting the garlic go past gold.

  Time

  17m

  Serves

  2

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Chole Bhature

  Dark, sour chickpeas cooked with tea, and leavened bread that balloons in hot oil. A weekend project that feeds people properly.

  Time

  13h 30m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Involved

• soup

  Leek and Potato Soup

  Leeks sweated under a lid until they give up their sugar, then potato and stock. Three ingredients, no browning anywhere.

  Time

  50m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Victoria Sponge

  Equal weights of butter, sugar, egg and flour, creamed properly and baked in two tins so neither layer needs levelling.

  Time

  2h

  Serves

  8

  Effort

  Moderate

• dessert

  Bread and Butter Pudding

  Day-old bread buttered, layered with tea-soaked sultanas and left to drink a vanilla custard for half an hour before it goes in the water bath.

  Time

  1h 45m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Paneer Tikka

  Paneer in a thick hung-curd marinade, cooked fast and close to the heat so the outside blackens before the inside turns rubbery.

  Time

  2h 40m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• side

  Vegetable Gyoza

  Cabbage salted and wrung out, mushrooms browned dry, then pleated and cooked by the fry-steam-fry method that gives one crisp face.

  Time

  1h 25m

  Serves

  30 dumplings

  Effort

  Involved

• weeknight

  Banh Mi

  Lemongrass tofu in a shatteringly thin baguette, with pickled carrot and daikon, cucumber, chilli and a great deal of coriander.

  Time

  1h 45m

  Serves

  4 sandwiches

  Effort

  Moderate

• baking

  Soft Pretzels

  A firm, lightly buttered dough dipped in simmering soda water before baking, which is what gives the mahogany skin and the tang.

  Time

  2h 9m

  Serves

  8 pretzels

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Makki di Roti

  Maize flour bread with no gluten to hold it together, patted flat between wet palms and cooked slowly so it never cracks.

  Time

  55m

  Serves

  8 rotis

  Effort

  Moderate

• braise

  Ratatouille

  Each vegetable cooked on its own terms, then folded together at the end. Cooked all in one pan it becomes a grey stew.

  Time

  1h 25m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• breakfast

  Ful Medames

  Warm fava beans crushed in their own liquid with cumin, lemon and a lot of olive oil. Breakfast that holds you until evening.

  Time

  35m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• technique

  Potato Gnocchi

  Baked potatoes, riced hot, and the least flour you can get away with. Kneading is the enemy here, not the technique.

  Time

  2h

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Involved

• indian

  Sarson ka Saag

  Mustard greens cooked down for over an hour, mashed rather than blended, thickened with maize flour and finished with a ghee tadka.

  Time

  1h 50m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Involved

• weeknight

  Nasi Goreng

  Yesterday's rice fried with a pounded chilli-shallot base and darkened with kecap manis, a fried egg landing on top.

  Time

  27m

  Serves

  3

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Soda Bread

  Four ingredients, thirty seconds of mixing and no proving. The loaf is in the oven before a yeasted dough has finished its first stir.

  Time

  1h 20m

  Serves

  one round loaf

  Effort

  Easy

• soup

  Kimchi Jjigae

  Sour, overripe kimchi fried in sesame oil before any liquid goes near it, then simmered hard with tofu into a scarlet stew.

  Time

  40m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Gatte ki Sabzi

  Gram flour dumplings boiled, sliced and dropped into a yoghurt gravy. A Rajasthani dish designed around having no fresh vegetables at all.

  Time

  1h 5m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• salad

  Gado Gado

  Blanched and raw vegetables, egg and fried tofu under a thick peanut sauce loosened with tamarind and kecap manis.

  Time

  50m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• side

  Agedashi Tofu

  Tofu dusted in potato starch, fried until the shell crackles, and sat in warm dashi broth so you eat it before it softens.

  Time

  1h 5m

  Serves

  4 as a starter

  Effort

  Moderate

• dessert

  Rice Pudding

  Two hours at 140°C in a shallow dish, which is what builds the brown skin and gives the grains time to collapse into the milk.

  Time

  2h 30m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Bisi Bele Bath

  Rice, toor dal and vegetables cooked past the point of separateness, held together by a roasted masala and finished with ghee-fried cashews.

  Time

  1h 15m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Involved

• weeknight

  Thai Green Curry

  Paste pounded from scratch and cracked in coconut cream until the oil splits out. That one step is the difference between fragrant and flat.

  Time

  55m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Involved

• baking

  Cornbread

  Buttermilk batter poured into a smoking cast-iron skillet, which fries the base into a crust before the oven gets to work.

  Time

  44m

  Serves

  8

  Effort

  Easy

• pasta

  Baked Macaroni Cheese

  A béchamel base, cheese off the heat, and pasta pulled early because it keeps cooking in the oven.

  Time

  55m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Avial

  Mixed vegetables cut into batons, barely steamed, then bound with coarse coconut and sour curd. Raw coconut oil goes in at the end.

  Time

  50m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• baking

  Challah

  An egg-rich, oil-based plaited loaf that stays soft for days. Two thin coats of yolk glaze give the lacquered finish.

  Time

  3h 50m

  Serves

  one large plaited loaf

  Effort

  Moderate

• weeknight

  Pad See Ew

  Wide rice noodles charred in a dry-hot pan with Chinese broccoli, egg and dark soy. Four minutes of cooking, all of it fast.

  Time

  25m

  Serves

  2

  Effort

  Moderate

• side

  Japchae

  Sweet potato noodles, springy and translucent, tossed with vegetables cooked one at a time and a soy-sesame dressing.

  Time

  45m

  Serves

  6 as a side

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Pesarattu

  A green moong crepe from Andhra, ground from soaked beans rather than fermented, with raw onion pressed into the wet side.

  Time

  4h 40m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• soup

  Tom Yum

  A hot-and-sour mushroom broth built on bruised lemongrass, galangal and lime leaf, with the lime juice going in only at the very end.

  Time

  35m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• braise

  Pot Roast

  One large piece of beef, a covered pot and four hours. Vegetables added late so they are not baby food by the end.

  Time

  4h 45m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• breakfast

  Blueberry Muffins

  A high blast of heat first for the domed top, then down to finish. Frozen berries, tossed in flour so they stay put.

  Time

  47m

  Serves

  12 muffins

  Effort

  Easy

• technique

  Scallion Pancakes

  A hot-water dough rolled thin, painted with oil paste, coiled and flattened. The layers come from the coil, not the rolling.

  Time

  1h 45m

  Serves

  4 pancakes

  Effort

  Involved

• indian

  Vada Pav

  A spiced potato ball in a gram-flour jacket, jammed into a soft roll with dry garlic chutney. Eat it standing up.

  Time

  50m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Involved

• baking

  Brioche

  An enriched dough kneaded to full gluten before a single gram of butter goes in, chilled overnight, and baked as a row of joined balls.

  Time

  16h 30m

  Serves

  one loaf

  Effort

  Involved

• dessert

  Pavlova

  A meringue with cornflour and vinegar stirred through, baked low and left in the cooling oven so the shell crisps over a marshmallow middle.

  Time

  5h 55m

  Serves

  8

  Effort

  Moderate

• weeknight

  Okonomiyaki

  A thick cabbage pancake bound with grated yam batter, griddled slowly and finished with sauce, mayonnaise and a snow of aonori.

  Time

  40m

  Serves

  2 large pancakes

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Misal Pav

  Sprouted moth beans under a slick of red kat, buried in fried farsan and eaten with buttered pav before the topping goes soft.

  Time

  13h 10m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Involved

• salad

  Freekeh Salad

  Green wheat with a smoky, chewy bite, dressed while still warm so the grain drinks the lemon rather than sitting in it.

  Time

  1h 10m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• side

  Cacık

  Turkish yoghurt with cucumber, garlic and dried mint, loosened with cold water until you can drink it or spoon it.

  Time

  45m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Bagels

  A stiff, low-hydration dough held overnight in the fridge, boiled in malted alkaline water and baked hot for a shiny, chewy skin.

  Time

  14h 12m

  Serves

  8 bagels

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Thepla

  Soft fenugreek flatbreads with gram flour worked into the dough. They stay pliable for days, which is why they travel.

  Time

  1h 10m

  Serves

  12 theplas

  Effort

  Moderate

• weeknight

  Bibimbap

  Rice under a wheel of separately seasoned vegetables, a fried egg, and gochujang sauce stirred through at the table.

  Time

  1h

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Involved

• soup

  Laksa

  A coconut curry noodle soup with a pounded rempah, tofu puffs that soak up broth like sponges, and a spoonful of chilli on top.

  Time

  1h 10m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Involved

• indian

  Dhokla

  A steamed chickpea-flour sponge, sour with lemon and aerated in the last ten seconds, then flooded with a sweet mustard-seed tempering.

  Time

  1h

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• pasta

  Marinara Sauce

  Four ingredients, forty minutes, and no browning at all. The point is bright tomato, not deep savoury.

  Time

  45m

  Serves

  enough for 500 g pasta

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Sourdough Loaf

  A single-loaf schedule built around one long bulk ferment and an overnight retard, baked cold from the fridge in a preheated pot.

  Time

  20h 25m

  Serves

  one large loaf

  Effort

  Involved

• braise

  Braised Lamb Shanks

  A cheap cut that needs three hours and rewards them. Brown hard, braise low, reduce the sauce at the end.

  Time

  3h 55m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• breakfast

  French Toast

  Stale bread, a long soak, and a pan cool enough that the custard sets before the outside burns.

  Time

  32m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• technique

  Labneh

  Yoghurt salted and hung until it turns into something between cream cheese and clotted cream. One ingredient, one day, no cooking.

  Time

  24h 10m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Malai Kofta

  Paneer and potato dumplings in a smooth cashew gravy. Bind them properly and fry them hot, or they disintegrate in the oil.

  Time

  1h 40m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Involved

• dessert

  Lemon Tart

  A thin sweet pastry shell sealed with egg white, filled with a strained lemon cream and baked barely warm so it sets glassy.

  Time

  6h 45m

  Serves

  10

  Effort

  Involved

• weeknight

  Dan Dan Noodles

  A sauce built in the bottom of the bowl — sesame paste, chilli oil, black vinegar — with hot noodles dropped straight onto it and tossed at the table.

  Time

  30m

  Serves

  2

  Effort

  Moderate

• side

  Dolma

  Vine leaves rolled around herby rice and simmered under a plate. Undercooked rice going in is what makes them tight going out.

  Time

  2h 50m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Involved

• indian

  Cabbage Thoran

  A dry Kerala stir-fry of finely shredded cabbage with coconut. Fifteen minutes, and the coconut goes in raw at the end.

  Time

  27m

  Serves

  4 as a side

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Mushroom Wellington

  A duxelles cooked until it squeaks, roasted portobellos at the core, and pastry that goes into a hot oven cold.

  Time

  2h 50m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Involved

• indian

  Pav Bhaji

  Vegetables cooked to collapse, mashed on the griddle with butter and spice, and served with soft rolls fried in the same pan.

  Time

  1h 5m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• salad

  Fattoush

  Chopped salad built around fried pita and sumac. The bread goes in at the table so it is still crisp when you eat it.

  Time

  38m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• soup

  Miso Soup

  Kombu and dried shiitake steeped, never boiled, then miso whisked in off the heat. Twenty minutes, mostly waiting.

  Time

  50m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Mapo Tofu

  Silken tofu in a red, numbing sauce built on fermented chilli bean paste. Minced mushrooms do the job the pork usually does.

  Time

  35m

  Serves

  4 with rice

  Effort

  Moderate

• baking

  Leek and Gruyère Quiche

  A properly blind-baked shell, a custard baked low until it still wobbles, and leeks sweated down to almost nothing.

  Time

  2h 35m

  Serves

  8

  Effort

  Involved

• indian

  Chapati

  Two ingredients and a hot dry pan. The puff comes from steam, and it only happens if the dough is soft and properly rested.

  Time

  1h 10m

  Serves

  10 chapatis

  Effort

  Moderate

• side

  Imam Bayildi

  Whole aubergines split, stuffed with sweet onion and tomato, and braised in olive oil until they can be cut with a spoon.

  Time

  2h 45m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• weeknight

  Koshari

  Egypt's stacked plate of rice, lentils and macaroni under a sharp tomato sauce, garlic vinegar and a mountain of fried onions.

  Time

  1h 35m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Involved

• dessert

  Baked Cheesecake

  A low-and-slow water-bath bake, cooled in the switched-off oven and chilled overnight so it slices clean and cracks never appear.

  Time

  9h 30m

  Serves

  12

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Aloo Paratha

  Stuffed flatbread. The filling must be dry and completely cool, or it tears the dough on the first roll.

  Time

  1h 35m

  Serves

  8 parathas

  Effort

  Moderate

• braise

  Braised Short Ribs

  Beef ribs in red wine and stock, cooked until the bone slides out. Chill overnight to lift the fat off cleanly.

  Time

  16h

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• breakfast

  Overnight Oats

  No cooking at all. The ratio is the recipe, and the chia seeds are what stop it being soup.

  Time

  8h 5m

  Serves

  1 jar

  Effort

  Easy

• technique

  Quick Pickled Onions

  Ten minutes of work and thirty of waiting. They turn bright pink on their own and improve almost anything savoury.

  Time

  43m

  Serves

  one jar

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Socca

  A single thin chickpea pancake baked in a screaming-hot pan until the edges blister black and the middle stays custardy.

  Time

  2h 25m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• pasta

  Basil Pesto

  Raw sauce, so every ingredient shows. Keep the basil cold and bruise it rather than shredding it.

  Time

  15m

  Serves

  enough for 400 g pasta

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Khichdi

  Rice and moong dal cooked together to a soft, savoury porridge. The dish people make when they are ill, and eat when they are not.

  Time

  45m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• soup

  Harira

  Moroccan tomato, lentil and chickpea soup thickened at the end with a flour slurry that turns it velvety rather than merely thick.

  Time

  14h

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• weeknight

  Mujadara

  Lentils and rice under a heap of onions fried almost to the point of burning. The onions are the seasoning, so give them the time.

  Time

  1h 20m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Jeera Rice

  Basmati with cumin bloomed in ghee. The absorption method, a fixed ratio, and a lid you do not lift.

  Time

  40m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Spanakopita

  Spinach salted and wrung dry, bound with feta and egg, layered between buttered filo. The wringing is the whole recipe.

  Time

  1h 55m

  Serves

  8

  Effort

  Involved

• side

  Zaalouk

  Moroccan aubergine and tomato cooked right down to a dark, garlicky jam. It is finished when a spoon leaves a clean trail.

  Time

  1h 45m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Vegetable Biryani

  Rice parboiled separately, layered over a spiced vegetable base, and steamed sealed so the two finish together.

  Time

  1h 45m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Involved

• salad

  Tabbouleh

  A parsley salad with bulgur in it, not the other way round. The grain hydrates in tomato juice and lemon rather than water.

  Time

  1h

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Falafel

  Soaked raw chickpeas, never cooked ones, ground with herbs and fried hard. The starch sets in the oil and holds the whole thing together.

  Time

  13h 15m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Involved

• baking

  Shortbread

  Three ingredients in a fixed ratio, worked as little as possible and baked pale.

  Time

  1h 40m

  Serves

  16 fingers

  Effort

  Easy

• dessert

  Tiramisu

  No baking at all. A whipped mascarpone cream, a fast dip in coffee, and a full night in the fridge.

  Time

  12h 30m

  Serves

  8

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Poha

  Flattened rice rinsed rather than soaked, then warmed through with mustard seeds, onion and turmeric. Ten minutes from start to plate.

  Time

  20m

  Serves

  3

  Effort

  Easy

• braise

  Coq au Vin

  Chicken thighs braised in red wine. Marinate overnight, brown properly, and reduce the sauce after the meat comes out.

  Time

  13h 45m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• breakfast

  Soft Scrambled Eggs

  Low heat, constant movement, and off the pan while they still look slightly underdone.

  Time

  11m

  Serves

  2

  Effort

  Easy

• technique

  Chicken Stock

  Bones, cold water, aromatics and four hours at a temperature that never quite bubbles. The single most useful thing to keep in a freezer.

  Time

  4h 15m

  Serves

  about 2 litres

  Effort

  Easy

• soup

  Chicken Noodle Soup

  Poach the chicken to make the stock, then use both. Noodles cooked apart so day two is still soup.

  Time

  1h 50m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Upma

  Semolina toasted dry, then hydrated with boiling water. Fifteen minutes, and the toasting is what keeps it from turning to paste.

  Time

  35m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• side

  Muhammara

  Charred red peppers pounded with walnuts, breadcrumbs and pomegranate molasses into a rough, sweet-sour paste.

  Time

  1h 45m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Smash Burgers

  Loose balls of beef flattened hard onto a screaming pan for thirty seconds. The crust is the entire point.

  Time

  25m

  Serves

  4 burgers

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Cinnamon Rolls

  An enriched dough proved overnight in the fridge, so the baking happens while you are awake.

  Time

  13h 8m

  Serves

  12 rolls

  Effort

  Involved

• indian

  Idli

  Steamed cakes from the same fermented family as dosa, but ground thicker and steamed rather than griddled.

  Time

  20h 42m

  Serves

  20 idli

  Effort

  Involved

• pasta

  Ragù Bolognese

  Milk before wine, wine before tomato, and three hours at a bare blip. The soffritto is where the patience pays.

  Time

  3h 40m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• baking

  Apple Galette

  A free-form tart that forgives bad pastry work. Ground almonds under the fruit keep the base from going soft.

  Time

  2h 15m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Masala Dosa

  A fermented rice and lentil batter spread thin on a hot griddle, wrapped around spiced potato. The fermentation takes a day and does all the work.

  Time

  21h 10m

  Serves

  10 dosas

  Effort

  Involved

• weeknight

  Fish Tacos

  A quick chilli rub, four minutes in a hot pan, and a slaw dressed at the last minute so it stays crunchy.

  Time

  38m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• dessert

  Vanilla Ice Cream

  A cooked custard base, aged overnight, then churned. The ageing step is the one everyone skips and the one that matters.

  Time

  12h 45m

  Serves

  about 1 litre

  Effort

  Moderate

• side

  Gigantes Plaki

  Big white beans baked in tomato and olive oil until the sauce reduces to a jammy skin and the beans turn creamy.

  Time

  14h 30m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Coconut Chutney

  Fresh coconut, roasted gram and a green chilli, ground loose. Five minutes, and it goes with almost everything from a South Indian kitchen.

  Time

  13m

  Serves

  about 1 1/2 cups

  Effort

  Easy

• salad

  Crunchy Slaw

  Salt the cabbage, wring it out, then dress it. Twenty extra minutes buys you a slaw that is still crisp an hour later.

  Time

  1h

  Serves

  6 as a side

  Effort

  Easy

• soup

  Red Lentil Soup

  Thirty minutes from cupboard to bowl. Lentils need no soaking and thicken the soup themselves.

  Time

  40m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Lemon Drizzle Cake

  The drizzle goes on hot, so it soaks in rather than sitting on top. Zest in the sugar, not the batter.

  Time

  1h 40m

  Serves

  one 900 g loaf

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Sheet-Pan Sausages and Peppers

  One tray, one temperature, and a staggered start so nothing is either raw or leathery.

  Time

  45m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Rasam

  A thin, sour, peppery broth. Never let it boil once the tamarind and dal water are in — it goes cloudy and dull.

  Time

  40m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• braise

  Oven Pulled Pork

  A dry rub, eight hours at a very low temperature, and a rest that matters as much as the cook.

  Time

  9h 20m

  Serves

  8

  Effort

  Easy

• breakfast

  Granola

  One syrup, one fat, and a low oven. Press it flat and leave it alone if you want clusters.

  Time

  1h 55m

  Serves

  about 8 cups

  Effort

  Easy

• technique

  Mayonnaise

  One yolk holds a surprising amount of oil, as long as you add it slowly enough. Five minutes, and it fixes if it breaks.

  Time

  10m

  Serves

  about 1 cup

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Sambar

  A tamarind and lentil stew with mixed vegetables, finished with a mustard seed tempering. The tamarind goes in after the dal, not with it.

  Time

  1h 5m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• baking

  Scones

  Cold butter, a barely-mixed dough, and a straight cut down. Twelve minutes from bowl to oven.

  Time

  29m

  Serves

  8 scones

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Crispy Chicken Thighs

  Skin side down in a cold pan, weighted, and left alone for most of the cook. You turn them once, near the end.

  Time

  40m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• side

  Briam

  Sliced summer vegetables baked slowly in a great deal of olive oil until the edges blacken and everything collapses together.

  Time

  2h 15m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Kadhi Pakora

  A yoghurt and gram flour sauce simmered for an hour, with onion fritters dropped in at the end. The flour is what stops the yoghurt splitting.

  Time

  1h 35m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• dessert

  Panna Cotta

  Cream set with the smallest amount of gelatin that will hold. It should barely stand up and wobble when the plate moves.

  Time

  5h 25m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Pizza Dough

  Three days in the fridge, a hot stone, and dough shaped by hand so the rim keeps its air.

  Time

  48h 53m

  Serves

  4 x 250 g bases

  Effort

  Moderate

• soup

  Minestrone

  A soffritto, whatever vegetables you have, and a parmesan rind in the pot. The pasta is cooked separately for a reason.

  Time

  1h 10m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Bhindi Masala

  Okra fried dry and hard before anything wet touches it. That single rule is what keeps it from going slimy.

  Time

  50m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• pasta

  Carbonara

  Egg, cured pork, hard cheese and pepper. No cream, and no heat under the pan when the eggs go in.

  Time

  25m

  Serves

  2

  Effort

  Moderate

• weeknight

  Fried Rice

  Cold day-old rice, a screaming pan, and everything prepped before you start. The whole cook is four minutes.

  Time

  23m

  Serves

  3

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Baingan Bharta

  Aubergines charred whole over a flame until they collapse, then mashed into a smoky masala. The char is the dish.

  Time

  1h 10m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• salad

  Panzanella

  Stale bread salad. Salt the tomatoes first and use the juice they give up as most of the dressing.

  Time

  50m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Fudgy Brownies

  Melted chocolate rather than cocoa, whipped eggs for the paper-thin crust, and pulled from the oven while the middle still wobbles.

  Time

  2h 45m

  Serves

  16 squares

  Effort

  Moderate

• side

  Baba Ganoush

  Aubergines burnt black over a live flame, drained hard, then folded with tahini and lemon. Smoke and texture, not a smooth purée.

  Time

  1h 10m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• braise

  Beef Bourguignon

  Brown everything separately, braise it low for three hours, and add the garnish at the end so it still tastes of itself.

  Time

  3h 55m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Involved

• breakfast

  Shakshuka

  A thick pepper and tomato base with eggs poached in wells. The sauce has to be reduced before the eggs go in, or you end up with soup.

  Time

  40m

  Serves

  3

  Effort

  Easy

• technique

  Pan-Seared Steak

  Dry surface, hot pan, butter only at the end. Temperature decides everything and a thermometer removes the argument.

  Time

  23m

  Serves

  2

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Aloo Gobi

  A dry curry, not a gravy. Roast the cauliflower separately so it browns instead of steaming into mush.

  Time

  55m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Miso-Glazed Salmon

  A four-ingredient glaze, a short marinade, and eight minutes under the grill. The sugar in the miso is doing the browning, so watch it.

  Time

  49m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Banana Bread

  The blacker the bananas the better. Melted butter, one bowl, and a batter you deliberately undermix.

  Time

  1h 30m

  Serves

  one 900 g loaf

  Effort

  Easy

• dessert

  Chocolate Mousse

  Chocolate, eggs and a little sugar. No cream, no gelatin — the structure comes entirely from beaten whites.

  Time

  4h 25m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Matar Paneer

  Peas and paneer in a straightforward onion-tomato gravy. A weeknight dish that takes half an hour and no special ingredients.

  Time

  45m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• soup

  Roasted Tomato Soup

  Roast the tomatoes rather than simmering them. Concentration and browning do what cream is usually asked to cover up.

  Time

  1h 10m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• indian

  Paneer Butter Masala

  A smooth cashew and tomato gravy, strained for silkiness. Sweet, mild and finished with crushed fenugreek leaves.

  Time

  1h

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• weeknight

  Chana Masala

  Tinned chickpeas, one onion cooked far longer than feels reasonable, and whole spices bloomed in fat. Dinner in forty minutes, most of it unattended.

  Time

  45m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• side

  Hummus

  Dried chickpeas cooked soft with bicarbonate of soda, then whipped with tahini and ice water until the purée mounds like buttercream.

  Time

  13h 30m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• baking

  No-Knead Bread

  Twelve hours of time doing the work of ten minutes of kneading, baked in a lidded pot that traps its own steam.

  Time

  16h

  Serves

  one large loaf

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Palak Paneer

  Spinach blanched and shocked so it stays green, blitzed coarse, and paneer added at the very end.

  Time

  45m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• pasta

  Cacio e Pepe

  Four ingredients and one failure mode. The trick is temperature control — the cheese must never meet heat it can't handle.

  Time

  17m

  Serves

  2

  Effort

  Moderate

• weeknight

  Mushroom Risotto

  Twenty minutes of stirring you cannot skip, and one measurement — the rice must stay just barely covered — that decides the whole thing.

  Time

  48m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Rajma

  Kidney beans in a thick onion and tomato gravy. Cook the masala until the oil separates, then let the beans thicken it themselves.

  Time

  9h 30m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

• salad

  Caesar Salad

  An emulsified anchovy and egg dressing, croutons fried in the pan rather than baked, and cold crisp leaves.

  Time

  28m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• baking

  Overnight Focaccia

  A wet dough, a cold night in the fridge, and almost no kneading. The oven does the work; you mostly need to be patient in advance.

  Time

  15h 45m

  Serves

  one 23x33 cm tray

  Effort

  Moderate

• braise

  Beef Chilli

  Chuck cut by hand instead of minced, dried chillies instead of powder, and three hours where you do nothing at all.

  Time

  3h 30m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• breakfast

  Buttermilk Pancakes

  Lumpy batter, a rested ten minutes, and a pan that is cooler than you think. Most bad pancakes are overmixed, overheated, or both.

  Time

  35m

  Serves

  about 10 pancakes

  Effort

  Easy

• technique

  Basic Vinaigrette

  A ratio rather than a recipe. Learn the three-to-one and the mustard trick and you will never buy salad dressing again.

  Time

  5m

  Serves

  enough for 6 salads

  Effort

  Easy

• dessert

  Crème Brûlée

  A baked custard in a water bath, chilled hard, then blowtorched at the last minute. The contrast only lasts minutes.

  Time

  5h 55m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• soup

  French Onion Soup

  Ninety minutes of onions and about six of everything else. There is no shortcut and the shortcut versions taste like it.

  Time

  2h 10m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Dal Makhani

  Black lentils soaked overnight and simmered for hours until they turn glossy. Butter and cream at the end, not the start.

  Time

  11h 45m

  Serves

  6

  Effort

  Moderate

• side

  Stir-Fried Greens with Garlic

  Ninety seconds of actual cooking. The trick is a dry pan, dry greens, and not stirring as much as you think.

  Time

  14m

  Serves

  4 as a side

  Effort

  Easy

• weeknight

  Weeknight Roast Chicken

  Salt it in the morning, roast it hot, and let it rest. Three decisions, one pan, and enough leftovers to make the next night easy.

  Time

  9h 10m

  Serves

  4, with leftovers

  Effort

  Easy

• baking

  Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

  Browning the butter first trades some chew for a lot of flavour. The dough rests overnight, which is where most of the improvement actually comes from.

  Time

  12h 37m

  Serves

  about 20 cookies

  Effort

  Moderate

• indian

  Dal Tadka

  Soft yellow lentils finished with a tempering of spices bloomed in ghee, poured over at the table.

  Time

  45m

  Serves

  4

  Effort

  Easy

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