One base recipe, curries from all over the world.

Tandoori-style chicken in a mild, silky tomato gravy finished with butter and cream.

Britain’s favourite curry: grilled chicken tikka in a creamy, spiced tomato sauce, a little bolder and less sweet than butter chicken.

Kashmir’s deep-red lamb or mutton curry.

Chickpeas in a tangy, spiced onion-tomato gravy, the everyday favourite of North India and Pakistan.

A bright, coconut-based fish curry from the Konkan coast, made sour with kokum or tamarind and red with dried Kashmiri chillies.

A fiery, peppery chicken curry from the Chettiar community of Tamil Nadu.

Pakistan’s favourite restaurant curry, cooked fast over high heat in a wok-like karahi.

Sri Lanka’s curries use a dark, roasted curry powder (coriander, cumin, fennel and sweet spices toasted until brown), curry leaves, pandan leaf and coconut milk, which give them a flavour quite different from Indian curries.

Thailand’s best-known curry, made with a paste of fresh green chillies, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots and coriander root, simmered in coconut milk.

A mild, rich Thai curry with potatoes and peanuts, warmed with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.

A dry, dark, slow-cooked beef curry from the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, also loved in Malaysia and Singapore.

A thick, mild, slightly sweet curry that reached Japan through the British in the late 1800s, which is why it is thickened with a flour roux like a British stew.

A Sunday favourite in Jamaica, brought to the Caribbean by Indian indentured workers in the 19th century and made Jamaican with allspice, thyme, scallions and Scotch bonnet pepper.

A fiery, bright-red curry made by Durban’s large Indian community, the descendants of indentured workers.

Myanmar’s everyday curry style is called “see pyan”, meaning “the oil returns”: it is cooked until the water evaporates and the oil rises back to the top.

A rich braise from the Mughal royal kitchens of Delhi and Lucknow: meat cooked slowly in yogurt with fried onions, ground nuts and gentle whole spices.

A stew of beef or mutton shank simmered overnight in the old Mughal way and eaten at dawn after the morning prayer, which gave it its name (from the Arabic “nahar”, morning).

Chittagong’s famous dark beef curry.

Malaysia’s everyday chicken curry, cooked in Malay homes and Mamak (Indian Muslim) restaurants alike: chicken and potatoes in a paste of meat curry powder, with coconut milk, curry leaves and star anise.

Indonesia’s rich goat curry, often cooked for Eid al-Adha.

The everyday stew of Afghan homes: chicken cooked in plenty of browned onions with tomato, a little yogurt and gentle spices such as coriander and turmeric.

Iran’s best-loved stew, often called its national dish: lamb or beef with kidney beans in a deep green mass of fried herbs, made sour with dried limes.

Morocco’s classic slow-cooked chicken with preserved lemons and olives, named after the cone-lidded clay pot it is cooked in.

The everyday stew of the Gulf: chicken, lamb or fish with vegetables in a light tomato gravy, spiced with baharat and made sour with dried black lime (loomi).

A coconut chicken curry from Kenya’s Swahili coast, cooked by Swahili and Indian families alike.

White beans stewed with onion, peppers and tomato and pepper paste, often with a little lamb or beef.

A classic Turkish home and restaurant stew: small pieces of lamb or beef cooked slowly with onions, tomato and pepper paste until meltingly soft.

A summer vegetable stew whose name means “assorted”: aubergine, courgette, green beans, peppers, potatoes and okra cooked together in tomato and olive oil, with or without meat.

China’s best-loved home braise: pork belly cooked slowly in soy sauce, rice wine and caramelised sugar until glossy, dark red and tender.

Sichuan’s most famous dish: soft tofu in a spicy, numbing sauce of fermented broad bean chilli paste (doubanjiang) and Sichuan pepper, usually with a little minced beef or pork.

A Hong Kong café (cha chaan teng) favourite: beef brisket simmered until tender in a mild, fragrant curry with potatoes and a little coconut milk or evaporated milk.