When travelling one has to make do with whatever cooking equipment is available. Typical deficiencies I've encountered are: thin saucepans and frying pans that have lost any non-stick coating (maybe only one of each), a hob with just one or two rings, unreliable ovens, a toaster but no grill, blunt knives, limiting working space, ....   My original question was overly broad, and asked for cooking techniques (rather than recipes) that are reliable even with poor equipment. In this edit, I'll ask just one specific question that's troubling me at the moment. Please assume that I can buy all the usual spices etc, but not cheaply. I don't want to buy very many, because they will all be duplicates of better quality ingredients I have back home.     How, if at all, given the constraints above, can one make a reasonable vegetarian curry using only one saucepan, and a small frying pan that's lost its non-stick coating?   
An ulu knife  That looks like a variant on an ulu knife, a knife whose blade is below the handle.  