This vegan mushroom masala from Durban has become a go-to weekday curry, easy and fairly quick to make. If you love mushrooms and a bit of spice, this should definitely be in your repertoire. It's also easily adapted for non-vegans.

This chicken leftover pie is a great way to make use of roast chicken, a perfect second act for all those households that love roast chicken, but don't have the capacity to devour an entire bird at the Sunday table.

This dish of pasta with celery and basil sauce, served here with broad beans, is an amalgam of a fondly remembered dish from childhood via what happens when you start nosing around in the British Library. Highfalutin bibliographic japes aside, it's also easy to cook.

This celeriac and beef carbonnade from Arras in the north of France is a slow-cooked delight that takes some time, but is actually very easy to cook. A hearty warmer as the nights start to draw in...

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.

This pasta with creamy asparagus and smoked salmon is one of my favourite summer dishes for when you're hungry but want something a little refreshing. It's certainly filling, but it is also light with the flavours of warm weather; citrus and green things. Better still, it takes very little effort to cook.

Durban in South Africa is known for its curries. The first in a colour-coded insider series on the Indian Diasporan traditions of the Durban curry focuses on the background to the fiery, red seafood and fish curries of South Africa's Eastern Seaboard and its iconic standard bearer, Durban king prawn curry

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

Cajun shrimp cassoulet is a delicious dish from Louisiana. Technically not a cassoulet, don't let that stop you.

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

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

Tagliatelle with sausage ragù is an authentic Bolognese favourite; also a hack for those who find it hard to get their hands on salsiccia

Tiger prawn nasi goreng, a version of this Indonesian quick-to-cook crowd pleaser of spiced fried rice, seafood, egg, salad and pickles

Sweet and sour curry with apple and spinach is by default vegan, but its most indulgent versions are lacto-vegggie or include chicken

This Cajun bacon hash is a dish from the Southern USA actually harks back to much older French cuisine traditions

Tuscan pasta with fennel —and sausage for those who eat meat—is another dish that can be readily be vegetarian or not.

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

Vegetarian tandoori masala butternut squash, roasted to perfection and served with a mildly spiced dish of leeks, lentils, celery

A fricassée with dumplings; fresh green flavours. Quick and ideal for mixed groups of diners—vegans, vegetarians and carnivores