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
#vegetarian
165 entries filed under this tag.
Recipes
-
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
baking
Shortbread
Three ingredients in a fixed ratio, worked as little as possible and baked pale.
- Time
- 1h 40m
- Serves
- 16 fingers
- 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
-
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
-
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
-
breakfast
Soft Scrambled Eggs
Low heat, constant movement, and off the pan while they still look slightly underdone.
- Time
- 11m
- Serves
- 2
- 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
-
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
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
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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