As mentioned a couple of months ago we went to London’s SMITHFIELD market on Christmas Eve.We were rather late in going ( the aftermath of his broken ankle) but nonetheless we were successful in buying 2 lots of beef vacuumed packed and weighing about 8 kilos each. One we donated to our son, who promptly butched it, packed and froze, and we did the same once home.

I packed mine in packs of 500 grams and labeled them either Fajitas or chunks. The Fajitas has yet to be tried but the chunks are being used.

Many years ago we spent a fare amount of time in India. Our eldest daughter who lived in Delhi with her family and co-incidentally is a travel journalist, hence we were able to experience things which maybe the average tourist does not. We went to Udaipor, the city on the lake, Jodhpur, the capital of Rajasthan, with its Mehrangarh fort, the home of a huge music festival, Jaipur the pink city with its Amber Fort, all wonderful sites and wonderful food. The dish which himself really liked was Laal Maas. This is a fairly spicy lamb dish , but is the celebrated dish from Rajasthan, and where it’s red colour comes from the use of lots of red chillies, of course one can always cut down on the amount of chillies used.

Traditionally it is made with Lamb as in the Indian culture cows are sacred, but Goat, lamb, mutton and wild boar can all be used to make this dish. Here Himself loves Laal Maas, and this time around I have made it with my chunks of beef. Slow cooking is useful here as cheaper cuts can be used. It is also worth making more than one meal at a time, it freezes well.

• 500 grams meat , lamb or beef
• 250 grms Ghee ( or unsalted butter )
• About 6 cardamom pods
• Tsp crushed cloves
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 4 onions sliced
• 1tablespoon ginger paste
• 1tablespoon garlic paste, or several cloves of garlic crushed
• 1tablespoon Kashmiri chilli powder ( other chilli powder can be used)
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 400 grams Greek full fat yoghurt
• Salt and pepper to taste ( only add at the end after tasting)
• Bunch of coriander chopped as garnish

Heat the ghee in a heavy saucepan, add the spices and then the sliced onions, cook and stir until the onions are brown . Add the meat along with the ginger paste and garlic paste ( if using).

Now add the yoghurt stir to mix well and cook over a low heat for an hour or more until the meat is tender. Add some water if the sauce is getting too dry.

Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve on a bed of rice with coriander as a garnish.