Gulyas with Galuska

A dilemma. It’s Twelfth Night (no more cakes and ale) but it’s cold. He’s getting fed up of all these veggie dishes. He’d tell you he needs meat if he wasn’t acutely aware of how wrong it would sound. This is proper Hungarian Goulash. Peppers have been turning up with alarming regularity in the Organic box so I’m taking that as a hint. I won a hotel dinner in Prague early last year. I decided to have Goulash (my dining companion went for something Thai). She was right, I was wrong, the goulash was terrible. Hopefully this is better.

3 tbsp oil

1 large onion chopped

1kg very good stewing beef, cubed

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp caraway seeds

2 tbsp sweet paprika

1.5 litres water

2 large tomatoes chopped

2 medium green peppers sliced in rounds

300g potatoes, cubed

Not a spoonful of sour cream in sight! Even though this cooks for ages, treat yourself to really good meat. Supermarket stewing beef is often very tough. If you don’t know a nice butcher or live miles away from the wonderful Ginger Pig, in London, do consider cooking for longer than an hour and topping up the liquid. A slow cooker would probably do wonders, provided you start everything off in a big pan. And provided your guy has the patience for slow cooker times. Probably best to get it going and then take him shopping for trainers in the sales. Not as easy as it sounds - he's got big feet and little patience. Make sure you plan in regular time-outs at coffee shops and the like and you'll both survive.

Sauté the onion, without browning. Add the meat and then the caraway and garlic.

Remove from the heat and stir in the paprika, trying to get as much of it coating the meat as possible. Apparently in Hungary, paprika is never added to direct heat as it becomes bitter if it burns. If anyone knows about paprika, it’s the Hungarians! Add the water and simmer for an hour. Check a small piece of meat to make sure it’s tender. If not, cook on, but if it is, add the tomatoes, peppers and potatoes . Add more water if needed - the end result should be quite soupy. Season with plenty of salt and pepper. Cook for a final 30 minutes or so.

You could have this with rice but since you’re going to all this effort, why not make Galuska – the tiny Hungarian dumplings that traditionally go with this:

2 eggs

1tsp salt

200ml water

300g plain flour

Melted butter to serve

These  Hungarian dumplings are both simple and good – and absolutely the thing to have with Goulash. Not that they came with the dreadful version I had in that Prague hotel. But Prague is not in Hungary. Anyway! Beat the eggs with salt and water, using a wooden spoon. Add the flour bit by bit until the dough is glossy and smooth and easily comes away from the side of the bowl. You may need to add more flour if it’s sticky.

Bring a pan of water to the boil. Hungarians often just coarsely grate the dough straight into the water but I prefer rolling into marble sized balls with my fingertips. No puns about fingering balls please! When the dumplings rise to the surface, they’re done. Drain and add the butter. Add them to the Gulyas. This should more than make up for the all the vegetables you have been “subjecting” him to you recently! He’ll attack this with gusto, eventually slowing down in contentment. You’ve just about redeemed yourself