This recipe has never let me down. If you want a fast and easy homemade bread recipe with a good texture and a delicious tangy flavour, this is the one for you. Because it contains no yeast, this bread is best made and consumed on the same day. The quantity makes one loaf.

Rice puddings are found in nearly every area of the world. Recipes can greatly vary even within a single country. The dessert can be boiled or baked. Different types of pudding vary depending on preparation methods and the ingredients selected. The following ingredients are regularly found in rice puddings.

rice - long/short grain white rice, brown rice, black rice, basmati, or jasmine rice milk - whole milk, coconut milk, cream or evaporated spices - nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger etc. flavourings - vanilla, orange, lemon, pistachio, rose water etc. sweetener - sugar, brown sugar, honey, sweetened condensed milk, fruit or syrups

This popular Indian sweet from India's Maharashtra State is simple to prepare. Yogurt is hung in a cloth to remove the excess liquid. The solid residue, called yogurt cheese or dehin, is sweetened, flavoured with saffron, pistachio nuts, cardamom, and rosewater, beaten until silky-smooth, and served ice-cold in little cups.

Birchermuesli is named after its creator, Dr. Bircher Benner, who was ousted from the Swiss medical profession in 1900 for his heretical claims that grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables had more nutritional value than did meats. Wash your mouth out, Doctor!!

In formulating the muesli, Benner had in mind his many patients from wealthy families who were suffering the effects of a diet too high in protein.

Although it was not originally intended as a breakfast food, it certainly fills that niche deliciously.

Step One Begin by choosing the right kind of potatoes. This is the most important step. In different countries the ideal chip potato has different names. The best potato for chips should be neither too watery nor too high in sugar, which respectively give it a crispy texture and a light golden colour. In Australia, many feel Bintjes are the best, in UK it's King Edward. Not sure about USA. You get the picture. Whatever the name, choose a floury potato.

This is is usually served in small servings in little bowls as an accompaniment to bold-flavoured main courses.

This Lebanese salad is probably the most famous of all Middle Eastern mezze (hors d'oeuvres). Bulgur wheat (parched, ground, par-boiled wheat grains) is not only tasty and substantial but also very nutritious. It is rich in protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, niacin, and vitamins B1 and B2.

Bulgur wheat salad is easy to prepare and is characterised by its fresh lemon-mint-parsley flavour. Traditional Middle Eastern cooks sometimes use an extra ingredient in their salads: a tart seasoning made from the ground seeds of a Mediterranean flowering plant called sumac, which adds a special lemony taste.

I have included this as optional. It is available from any well-stocked Middle Eastern grocer, as is the bulgur wheat which, incidentally, is sometimes referred to as bourghul or cracked wheat.

Tabbouleh can be served with flatbreads, and fresh, crisp lettuce leaves. Add more lemon juice if necessary, to assure the authentic fresh-lemon taste.

Buckwheat is not technically a grain, but it lends itself to breads and pancakes as it behaves like a grain. In India and elsewhere, on the grain-free Vaisnava fasting day of Ekadasi, buckwheat, as well as other pseudo-grains, like chestnut flour and tapioca flour, are used in a variety of versatile ways. If you like the taste of buckwheat, you'll love these tender versions of India's most popular flatbread, the chapati.

Buckwheat contains no gluten, so those of you who can't eat wheat will find this recipe appealing. As far as equipment is concerned, you'll need at least one non-stick frypan, (two or three are better), a rolling pin, a smooth surface for rolling, and some kitchen tongs. Makes 10 large chapatis.

Ghee, clarified butter, is the preferred cooking medium for many dishes. Most commonly used in traditional Indian cuisine, ghee is also popular in Middle Eastern cooking. Whilst olive oil, sesame oil, peanut oil, and coconut oil are popular, ghee has many advantages.

When butter is melted and slowly heated, all the moisture is evaporated, and the milk solids are separated from the clear butterfat. This residual, golden-coloured liquid, called ghee, is excellent for sauteeing and frying, as it can be heated to 190°C/375°F before reaching its smoking point.

Those of you (like myself) of "Anglo-Saxon" background, will perhaps be familiar with the cruel, non-vegetarian origins of this dish. It contains the cooked minced flesh of slaughtered baby sheep {called 'lamb', by the way} which is smothered in mashed potatoes and baked in the oven. Here's my tender-hearted version.

There comes a time in every writer's life for an office cleanup. A couple of weeks ago I took the plunge. Hoping to discover a few long-forgotten bits and pieces in the process, I sorted through twenty-six years of accumulated paperwork and files. I wasn't disappointed.

I knew I had many vegetarian recipes stored away, but the final count of over 3000 was indeed a pleasant surprise. Inside one dusty box, I found a collection of very old recipes that I had kept aside, perhaps for some future cookbook. I dug up a recipe for a hundred-year-old apple pie (actually the recipe was a hundred years old, not the pie), and a medieval Swedish cream fudge.

I was searching far and wide for a quick vegie burger recipe, and found a great one, quite by chance, on an Internet cooking seminar for kids. Here it is, slightly improved, courtesy of Jayasri Devi of Crescent City, California.

This is a crisp-based pizza holding a filling of herb-flavoured tomatoes, with a topping of sliced black olives, peppers, and golden, melting mozzarella cheese – yum! To save time, prepare the filling whilst the dough is rising.

Semolina halava is the most popular dessert served at any of the Hare Krishna restaurants worldwide. This version of the famous hot, fluffy pudding with pineapple and apples rates high in the "halava-top-ten". I have cooked halava for 4 or 5 persons and for 1500 persons; either way, following the same basic steps yields equally stunning results.

The secret of good halava is to roast the semolina very slowly for at least 20 minutes, with enough butter so as not to scorch the grains. Steam the finished halava over very low heat with a tight-fitting lid for 5 minutes to fully plump the semolina grains; then allow it to sit covered for another 5 minutes. Fluffy, plump grained halava is best served hot, on its own, or with a spoonful of cream or custard. Serves 6 - 8 persons, or a couple of halava addicts.

Here's a fabulous recipe if you ever have a lot of cucumbers and don't know what to do with them.

Homemade hummus is much, much better than any shop-bought version, unless you are purchasing the freshly made product from a traditional middle-eastern suppler. Truly authentic hummus is made from freshly soaked, boiled and peeled chickpeas - not as daunting as it sounds! If that's all too hard, buy canned chickpeas, and proceed from there; but the result will definitely be inferior.

Here in Australia, I use the Ord River chickpeas from Western Australia. When cooked they produce big, soft creamy-textured chickpeas, ideal for hummus. Overseas readers should locate the largest chickpeas you can find. Big is beautiful in the chickpea world, I have discovered. This recipe makes 1½ cups.

You can purchase chickpea flour at Italian grocers, or at Indian grocery stores under different names such as gram flour, dal flour, chana dal flour, or besan. When toasted in butter and sweetened it forms the basis of this delightful and popular confectionery, laddu. Enjoy!

This dish proves just how delicious pumpkin can be if teamed up with the correct flavour partners. Succulent Gujarati Pumpkin is excellent served with hot chapatis. Makes enough for 6 persons.

Laksa is a taste sensation—a delicious one-pot soupy combination of mild, chili-hot, rich, aromatic and delicate flavours, and a tantalising combination of crunchy, soft and milky textures. There are many versions of laksa served throughout the Malaysian peninsula. This is my hearty vegetarian version.

(From "The Book of Egg Free Cakes" By Cintia Stammers)

Dukkah is a loose, coarsely-ground mixture of sesame seeds, hazelnuts and aromatic cumin and coriander. It is delicious eaten on oil-dunked bread for breakfast, or as a snack. It has of late started appearing quite regularly on restaurant menus as an appetizer, hence its inclusion in this chapter.

Variants of dukkah are found all over the Middle East, and this version is from Egypt. It is a very personal and individual mixture that varies from one family to another; hence no two versions are exactly the same.

This two-tiered carob cake is light in texture without the use of any eggs. The cake's light texture is due to the slightly soured milk. Filled and iced with Carob Vienna Icing, it is an irresistible dessert.

Spinach with home-made curd cheese and cream is one of North India's favourite vegetable dishes. There are dozens of regional varieties. Here's a simple, quick-cooking version. Serve with rice or hot buttered chapatis.

When mangoes are in season and plentiful, treat yourself to this delightful, simple to prepare recipe that hails from Northern India.

Serves 4.

Known as sabu or sabudana, sago and tapioca are both used similarly and interchangeably in Indian cooking, especially as a light-meal choice for Ekadasi grain-fasting days. There is sometimes confusion about which is which because the white beads of sago and tapioca can look identical. But they are from quite different sources.