This Durban vegan eggplant curry —usually simply called brinjal curry after the lead vegetable's name in various Indian languages —uses baked or grilled eggplant (aubergine) to bring a deep, slightly smoky flavour to a curry brimming with the flavours of onions, pepper, chillies, tomatoes, coconut, and sweet potato in a rich mix of spices. It can be cooked fiery hot in accordance with the cliché about Durban curries or as a milder affair.

Spanish slow-roasted pork belly is widely known as the tapas bar dish 'torreznos con mojo dulce,' a sweet spicy sauce. But it also has other guises such here, served with a fresh, green salsa verde, skin-on roasted potatoes, Rioja-style beans and grilled padrón peppers. It's a slow dish, but gets on with it in the background while you get on with other things. A great weekend family meal or alternative to a traditional Sunday roast.

This Cape Malay seafood curry—technically it's fish and seafood—is a mild curry that is easy to make. It's less well-known than the famous lamb curries from the region, perhaps ironic given that it is more in keeping with the history of fishing at the Cape and today's healthier eating habits than lamb. It's relatively low in fat and brimming with vegetables too.

Cape Malay fish balls are highly adaptable. Not as well known as other Cape Malay dishes—such the famous lamb curries—these traditional fish balls made with a combination of white fish and smoked fish make tasty starters, great finger food at a party, and are also integrated into other delicious Cape Malay dishes.

Cape Malay lamb chop curry is an updated version of a very traditional dish from Cape Town that makes good use of what doesn't make it onto the braai—that famed South African barbecue. Based entirely in the legacy of Cape Malay cooking with its Indonesian influences, it nonetheless has a few contemporary tricks up its sleeve.As always, vegan and vegetarian options are included.

These Basque fusion buns, which I am calling Bil-bao Buns, are a fusion of flavours from the north of the Iberian Peninsula and Asian cooking, most notably Japanese food. With two fillings—pancetta and tomato and prawn and green asparagus—they are a quick and easy to make, they're an easy meal that puts something a little different into a mid-week, no-fuss supper.

Durban beef curry has a reputation for fieriness that has made it famous around the world. But, as this slow-cooked authentic recipe proves, it's not entirely about the hot spices and hearty beef that makes this curry a thing of beauty. A plethora of vegetables, herbs and spices are what come together to make it memorable, not to mention its unique history.

This weekend leftovers Durban curry turns remnants from a weekend roast or braai into a delicious weeknight meal whether chicken, lamb or beef—as I'm doing here—without it tasting like an afterthought. A modern tradition from South Africa's Eastern Seaboard, you can enjoy it anywhere there are leftovers

A chicken, butterbean and cauliflower curry comes from oThongathi, a place north of Durban up the coast best known for sugar cane. It's typical of the delicious, mild curries you can find in roadside places all along the coastal highway. It's sweet 'n sour qualities reflect the bounty of South African produce.

A version of a very traditional dish from Cape Town that uses hearty ingredients—lamb, potatoes, onions and tomatoes—with distinctive spices

This vegan butterbean curry with mint is my riff on Indian Diasporan cooking from Africa's east coast of the kinds used to make bunny chow

A recipe for a baseline spicy tequila marinade that works brilliantly if you're cooking outdoors over fire or indoors

This chicken curry with mushrooms and mint is another of the hidden gems of Indian Diasporan cuisine

A new recipe for a vegan spring risotto that combines some old French cooking ideas with green, fresh spring flavours

Korma—usually chicken—is a perennially popular Indian dish around the globe. Here's a quick, easy and delicious recipe for it.