Five international dishes

Anitha Bennett

Restaurants serving multinational cuisine are popping up all over the place, and can help your family savour foreign delicacies in your own city. It’s a good way to get your kids off junk food and fast food joints. Here are international dishes you could try at home.

Fajita
This is a staple of Mexican menus. Typically it consists of marinated and grilled strips of chicken, prawns or beef, served with warm flour tortillas. Onions, potatoes and bell peppers are roasted and grilled together with the meat. A spoonful of guacamole (made from avacado) and sour cream added to this makes the filling complete. The tortilla is rolled up and dipped into spicy salsa to become an amazing meal.

Kappa maki
A vegetarian sushi roll, Kappa maki is served as a starter in Japanese cuisine. It comprises cucumber strips with salt and Japanese rice wrapped in nori (strips of dried edible seaweed). This flavourful combination with a soya sauce dip or with a dab of wasabi (horseradish sauce) makes Kappa maki must-try!

Falafal
Falafal is typically Lebanese street food served hot inside pita bread pockets. The Falafal ball or patty is made from ground chickpeas and spices. It is deep-fried and dropped into pockets made of Fas bread and topped with onions and other pickled vegetables. Drizzled with Tahini or hot sauce, Falafal makes a tasty anytime snack.

Miang Kham
Miang Kham is a Thai appetizer made up of lettuce, spinach or betel leaves accompanied by various fillings — small bits of lemon, peanuts, onion, red chilli, ginger, flakes of dry roasted coconut, dried prawns and a sauce made of palm sugar. Pile the accompaniments on the leaf, trickle the sauce and pop it into your mouth as a whole to experience a delightful combination of flavours!

Paella
A biriyani of sorts, paella is a popular meal in Spanish cuisine. What goes into making the best paella is left for the taster to find out. It’s a combination of rice, vegetables and meat of all sorts. Snails, prawns, chicken, beef and lamb can be added into the paella, sometimes all in one go! Flavoured with rich saffron and olive oil, paella is a treat to eat!