Required: Two pounds of shin of beef (without bone) or neck of beef. Two tablespoonfuls of vinegar. One large onion.

Bunch of herbs (parsley, thyme, bay-leaf). One and a half pints of water or stock. One and a half ounces of dripping. Half an ounce each of flour and curry powder. One teaspoonful of curry paste. Two teaspoonfuls of lemon-juice. Three ounces of rice. Seasoning. (Sufficient for five persons.)

Wash the meat, dry and cut it into large cubes. Lay these in a fireproof dish, pour the vinegar over, and let them soak for one hour, turning them several times. Then put the meat and vinegar into a stewing-jar or casserole, add the vegetables, cut into large pieces, the herbs and stock, also a little salt. Cover the vessel tightly and stand it in a moderately hot oven, or a cool part of the stove, to simmer gently for three hours, or until the meat is tender.

In the meantime, prepare the boiled rice. To do this, wash the rice - Patna rice is best - until the water runs from it looking quite clear, not milky. Have ready a pan with plenty of boiling salted water. Add the rice, stir it, and boil it quickly until the grains are tender, but not in a mash. If a grain is divided, there should be no hard white speck in the middle. Then strain off the rice through a fine colander or strainer, rinse it well with plenty of boiling water, drain well, and serve. Each grain should be separate. If it has to be kept waiting, lay the rice on a clean cloth in a colander, covering it with a portion of the cloth. Keep the colander over a pan of boiling water.

Next prepare the curry sauce. Melt the dripping in a stewpan, add the flour, curry powder and paste, and stir these round in the dripping for about five minutes. Strain off a pint of the gravy from the beef, add it slowly to the curry powder, etc., stirring all the time. Add the lemon-juice and seasoning, and take the meat from the stew.

Allow it to stand by the side of the fire for twenty minutes, to become well flavoured with the curry sauce, then serve the meat and sauce neatly in the centre of a border of the rice, or the rice may be served separately. Any gravy left from the beef and the vegetables must be saved for soup. Any bones sent with the beef must be added to the stock-pot.

Cost, about Is. 4d.