Ramadan

This is easily the juiciest chicken I’d ever had in my life. The yogurt marinade acts like a brine, tenderizing the meat and making it even juicier than a normal roasted chicken.

These chicken and mushroom spring rolls are spiced with the sweet and salty flavors of kecap manis, the syrupy soy sauce for which Indonesia is famous.

A cornerstone of Ethiopian cooking, this clarified butter is infused with spices and herbs native the region, giving it unique flavor and aroma.

Melty, cheesy, crunchy, spicy: These sandwiches, a street food favorite in India, check all the boxes.

Standing three tiers high, the magnificent Bombay sandwich is a whopper of a construction. It’s available on every street corner, and each stallholder obsesses over their own special blend of spices, vegetables, and chutneys, for that “better than yours” taste. Although it’s a wonder, it’s also a labor of love to make at home, and so in this recipe I’ve attempted to embody its spirit—a sharp, hot green chutney, cheese, and onion—but in a pastry roll that can be made in just minutes.

This aromatic rice pudding is flavored with cinnamon and cardamom, and gets a topping of pistachios and edible flowers.

This creamy, frozen Indian dessert gets its flavor from finely ground pistachios and a pinch of floral, earthy saffron.

These milky little doughnuts are a burnished bronze on the outside, white and cakey inside, and soaked to the core with delicately flavored rose syrup.

These pistachio- and almond-studded sweets are made with semolina and ghee. Eat the halva hot and soft out of the frying pan, or press it into a cake tin and cut it into squares.

You'll find these round chickpea flour and spiced potato fritters wherever Indian snack sellers congregate. Serve them with whatever chutney you like for dipping.

These crispy fritters are made with grated carrots, onions, and ginger, plus garam masala and chile. The dipping sauce has a hefty pour of bourbon, which adds warming depth.

This vegetable fritter recipe calls for onions, cabbage, potato, and carrot, but you can use any combination of vegetables you have.

Pakistani haleem is a warmly spiced, satisfyingly thick stew made from long-simmered lentils, barley, and bone-in chunks of lamb or goat.

Paneer is a fresh farmhouse-style cheese that has a slightly tangy, subtly salty flavor with a texture similar to tofu. It’s a breeze to make at home using only three ingredients: milk, lemon juice, and salt. 

This vibrantly colored mango curry is authentically Keralan, and one we’d typically pair with a fish curry and accompany with rice.

Fish and chips, when done well, is a cornerstone of British culinary success. It can be wrapped in old newspaper and eaten at the beach with a wooden fork with the same fervor and joy as a finely dined fish and chips served on white china with an expensive bottle of Chablis next to it. That comforting combination of carb and fish protein can be seen in many other cultures too. (Fish tacos, anyone?) So why wouldn’t Ghana have its own version?

This dish of seared paneer channels flavors traditionally found in matar paneer—coriander, cumin, chile, and ginger—by incorporating them into a quick-cooking cherry tomato sauce.

These crispy zucchini fritters take inspiration from the Bengali onion snack piyaju. Soaked and blended red lentils make up the batter, which is spiked with turmeric and chile powder.

While it is not uncommon to find ginger blended into limeades, lemonades, and fresh sugarcane juice in India, it also pairs nicely with tamarind. Serve cold and give it a good stir before drinking.    This recipe is made with tamarind pulp, which contains large seeds that you will need to remove. Avoid the temptation to use concentrates. They’re more convenient because they don’t have seeds, but they don’t taste nearly as fresh.

In this recipe, summer produce gets stuffed with spiced ground lamb and cooked in an oniony tomato sauce. Top it off with crispy garlic, herbs, and yogurt.

This zesty dish sits between a stew and a soup and is flavored with garlic, cumin, chile flakes, and tons of fresh herbs. Serve it with rice or crusty bread for a hearty, comforting dinner.

These energy bites not only hit the spot for something sweet, they’re also nutrient-dense and hit all your macros.

The salad works best with strips of Persian flatbread, but plain tortillas work just as well. The addition of golpar, with its citrusy aroma, really lifts this dish, accentuating the sweetness of the pomegranates and adding a wonderful depth of flavor, so try and track some down if you can.

This lovely, simple dish is great to have in your fridge at all times. It adds a wonderful, distinctive flavor to any dish it accompanies.