This Cantonese chicken with mushrooms, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and a lot of other tasty ingredients was a dish my father learned in Hong Kong in the 1960s . It was one of the first Chinese recipes he taught me. Thus, it occupies a special place in my heart and memory. An easy, no-fuss wok meal. it's simple to knock up in practically no time at all.

This panko chicken and mushrooms with udon noodles is another one of the fusion dishes that arose from Japanese culture in California, Mexico and Hawaii. Pure comfort food, it's easy to whip up with relatively little effort.

This Malaysian prawn curry is another of the dishes from my father's travels in Asia in the 1960s recorded in his personal journals. It's quick, easy and delicious and easily adapted if you prefer chicken to seafood or want a vegan option.

Coronation Chicken Korma is my take on a Diasporan curry house favourite; that rich and mild curry beloved of millions around the world who may never experience an authentic version of this dish invented in the kitchens of Mughal palaces in the 16th century. No, not the authentic dish, but most certainly an authentic curry house version that took the world by storm in the 1970s.

An easily cooked Madagascan squid curry with flavours of tomato, ginger, chilli and peanuts, the building blocks of Madagascan cuisine

A creamy coconut curry, another Indian Diasporan dish from Africa's east coast. It's a dish most often made with chicken

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

Another delicious vegan-to-carnivore curry from Southern Africa's Eastern Seaboard, a tomato and peanut curry with mustard greens

These top 12 versatile ingredients are the readymade things that can last in your kitchen cupboard or fridge for weeks—or even months