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This is one of the most addictive dishes that I know of. It also appears to be a miracle cure for the common cold and a great relief if you have the flu. It is, however, absolutely vital that you use good olive oil when you're cooking it; cheap oil or any oil other than olive oil will totally ruin the taste and/or upset your stomach. Serves two to three, as usual.

• ½ cup (125 ml) good olive oil
• 350 g boneless chicken breast, cut into cubes
• 300 g fresh okra
• 1 medium-sized onion, chopped
• 400 g tomatoes, skinned and chopped (or a can of polpa)
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt, pepper

Do not use canned okra. They have a very different taste and will disintegrate if used with this recipe.

Remove the tips and caps from the okra. If they are too large, cut them in half. Put in a bowl, add the lemon juice and fill the bowl with water until the okra are covered. Ideally, let the okra soak for about two to three hours. As a minimum, lert them soak for 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large wok or frying pan, but don't let it get too hot or it'll lose its taste. Add the chopped onion and chicken pieces and fry until meat and onions have a brownish tint. Add the chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper, stir well, then reduce heat, cover with a lid and let everything simmer over low heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove the chicken from the sauce and put it aside. Drain the okra and put them into the sauce. Cover and let simmer over low heat for about 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Then add in the chicken pieces, let boil very briefly just to make sure the chicken is warm; then serve immediately, preferably with rice.

The idea behind cooking chicken and okra separately is that the okra and tomatoes get a fruity, slightly lemony taste, whereas the chicken does not. This contrast is essential, and you should not spoil it by cooking okra and chicken together.

Update: At the request of a reader, here is some more information about okra: [1] [2] [3].

Chicken Phall is the hottest dish of the Indian restaurant cuisine. It is by no way authentic and was almost certainly invented in the UK, probably as some kind of revenge on drunken Brits who arrived at the Indian takeaways after the pubs closed. Still, I felt like I had to give this a try.

I took some clues from vague descriptions of a Phall that I found online and improvised this dish. It may need some adjustments, but the first try turned out tasty and very hot. Serves 2, or one very hungry person.

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 350g boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cloves garlic
• a 2.5" (6-7cm) piece of ginger
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp ground fennel seeds
• 2 fresh habanero chilies
• ½ bhut jolokia chili
• 8 very hot dried red chilies
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 can tomatoes and their juice
• salt
• ½ tsp extra hot chili powder
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp chopped green coriander leaves

Squeeze the garlic cloves through a garlic press and grate the ginger finely, then put both into a blender. Put on protective gloves. Chop the chilies and put into the blender. Add the turmeric, coriander, cumin, fennel and lemon juice. Add a little bit of water. Whizz. The resulting paste should be thick and just barely liquid. Add some more water if necessary. Whizz until very smooth.

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the chicken cubes. Stir fry until the meat is white on the outside. Open the windows and/or put the fume hood on full blast. Add the spice paste from the blender, keep stirring on high heat until the liquid has evaporated. Try not to inhale the chili fumes.

Put the can of tomatoes and their juice intio the blender and whizz until smooth. Add the tomatoes into the pan. The meat should be about covered. If not, add some water.

Salt to taste, then reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. You can now take off the gloves and turn down the fume hood.

Turn off the heat, add the chili powder, garam masala and coriander leaves. Stir, then cover with a lid and let stand for 3-5 minutes. Serve with lots of rice.

This is very hot, but I managed to eat a portion. If you find this insufficiently challenging, use a whole bhut jolokia chili. If you find it too hot, check out one of the milder curry recipes.

Lately, I've become somewhat addicted to potato goulash. I've loved the dish for a long time (had it a lot when I was a child), but my own attempts at cooking it never totally satisfied me. Then I had a look at the Plachutta/Wagner cookbook, and it prompted me to change three things about my recipe. The result turned out to be perfectly delicious.

Here is the recipe:

• 750g floury potatoes
• 250g lightly smoked, dried sausage (Wiesbauer Bergsteiger or similar)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 300ml beef stock (or water + ½ beef stock cube)
• 20g sweet paprika powder
• 2 tbsp oil (rapeseed or a mild olive oil work best)
• 3-5 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp caraway seeds
• 2 tsp marjoram
• salt
• crushed black pepper
• optional: 1/4 tsp hot chili powder

Peel the potatoes and cut into quarters (or smaller, if potatoes are very big).
Heat the oil, then fry the onions over moderate heat until golden.
Reduce heat to minimum, then add paprika and mix thoroughly for a few seconds.
Add vinegar, mix for a few seconds more.
Add beef stock, stir well.
Add crushed garlic, potatoes, and all herbs and spices.
Cover pot, bring to boil, then reduce heat and let simmer over moderate heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the potatoes are simmering, cut the sausage into bite-sized cubes.
When potatoes are done, remove pot from heat and add the cut sausage.
Stir carefully to make sure potatoes don't break, let rest for about 5 minutes, then serve.

I guess the Korean dish Bibimbap must be one of the visually most frustrating foods in existence. Essentially, what you do is cook rice, sauté some vegetables, stir fry some meat and then arrange everything in a bowl. This is how you serve it.

Immediately after serving, however, you or your guests take a good look at it and enjoy the colourful appearance, after which you take a spoon and mix everything into a moderately undefinable mixture. "Bibimbap" apparently means "mixed meal".

Here is a simple Bibimbap recipe. The ingredients are per person.

• 1 cup rice
• 1 tablespoon dried seaweed
• 3 mushrooms, sliced
• 1-2 tablespoons beansprouts
• 1 small carrot
• 50g beef, cut in thin stripes
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean fermented hot pepper paste)
• 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• ½ tbsp sesame oil

Boil the rice.
Soak the seaweed in some water, (optionally) season with hoisin sauce and rice vinegar.
Cut the carrot into thin stripes (julienne).
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan or wok. Sauté the mushrooms. Remove from the pan.
Sauté the beansprouts. Remove from the pan.
Add some vegetable oil if necessary. Fry the egg. Remove from the pan.
Stir fry the beef briefly over high heat, (optionally) season with bean paste.

Put the rice in a bowl. Put the gochujang in the middle. Place the egg on the gochujang. Arrange the drained seaweed, mushrooms, beef, carrot stripes, beansprouts and pepper paste around the egg.

Season with sesame oil and serve immediately.
Look at it.
Take a big spoon and mix everything, then eat.

My recent trip to Belgium caused a strong craving for food based on potatoes, which I have been trying to deal with for the past week or so. Then I finally gave in today and cooked my first leek and carrot stoemp. It turned out quite delicious.

Here's what I cooked. The recipe serves two, possibly three if you add a third bratwurst and they're not too hungry.

• 500g potatoes, peeled & diced
• 1 large leek
• 3 carrots
• 3 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup chicken stock
• ½ cup milk
• salt
• pepper
• nutmeg
• 2 bratwursts (roast sausages, preferably of Belgian origin)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Boil the potatoes in plenty of salted water until they're soft.

While the potatoes are cooking, remove the hard outer leaves from the leek, rinse it well, then chop it. Grate the carrots.

Melt the butter in a pan, then add the leek and carrots. Simmer for about 5 minutes over low heat, make sure that they don't brown.

Add the chicken stock, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and roast the bratwursts.

Mash the potatoes or squeeze them through a potato press.
Drain the vegetables, but keep the liquid.
Put the liquid back in the pan, let boil over high heat until it has been reduced to about half.
Mix the potatoes and vegetables with a wooden spoon. Keep stirring and slowly add the liquid from the pan to give the stoemp a softer texture.

Per plate, use half of the stoemp and one bratwurst. First put the stoemp on the plate, then the bratwurst on top of it.

Veggie option: Eat the stoemp without the bratwurst.

At my favourite Indian restaurants in the UK, the Chicken Jalfrezi comes in a rather green sauce. One of them also advertises it as "low fat". However, pretty much everywhere else (including restaurants here in Vienna), it always comes in a red, rather fatty sauce. This recipe is my attempt at re-creating the green Chicken Jalfrezi as served by Khan's in London, where it's advertised as "cooked mainly with green chilies, herbs and spices". It comes extremely close to what I intended it to be.

Here's the recipe. If you want to cook it, BEWARE: this is by definition a very hot dish: most of the taste and aroma comes from the green chilies; so if you use fewer chilies in an attempt to make a milder dish, most of the taste goes missing - you need all those chilies for the taste. This recipe serves 2-3. Here we go:

• 750 grams of chicken breast, cut into 2 inch cubes
• 1 medium-sized onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 piece of ginger (slightly less than 1 inch), chopped
• 1 green capsicum (bell pepper), deseeded and cut into biggish pieces
• 15 (sic!) green chilies, coarsely chopped
• 2-3 tablespoons green coriander, chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried methi (fenugreek) leaves
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• a few (max. ½ teaspoon) cardamom seeds
• salt

Chop one of the garlic cloves. In a large pan or wok, fry the onions in 2 tablespoons of oil until they become yellowish. Add the chopped ginger and the chopped garlic clove and fry 1 minute more.

Put the fried onions, ginger and garlic plus the green chilies, green coriander, methi leaves and ½ cup (125ml) of water in a blender and whizz until very smooth.

Put the chicken pieces and capsicum pieces into the frying pan (you may want to add a little bit of oil) and fry until the meat has turned white on the outside. Add the mixture from the blender, the cardamom seeds, the turmeric powder and some salt, then add some water until the meat is covered. Bring to boil.

After a while, squeeze in the remaining garlic clove with a garlic press and add the coriander powder. Cook until the meat is well done and at least half the water has evaporated from the sauce. Serve with lots of rice.

If you want a milder taste, the correct way is not to use fewer chilies - as I said, this will affect the taste - but you can try to let it cook a bit longer, as the chilies become "milder" the longer they cook. You may have to add some more water in that case. However, there's no way of turning this into a "mild" or "medium" dish. At its mildest, it'll still be "fairly hot".

I keep trying to simplify my Chicken Madras recipes. This is the latest variation:

• 350g boneless chicken breast, cut in cubes
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 small piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 4 fresh green chilies, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• ½ teaspoon hot red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon tandoori masala
• 1 can tomatoes, with juice
• 200ml water
• salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh green coriander, finely chopped

Heat 2 tablespooons oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken cubes until brown.

In another pan, heat another 2 tablespoons oil and frythe onions until transparent, then add the ginger, chilies and garlic and fry briefly.

Add the turmeric, coriander, cumin, chili powder and tandoori masala. Stir well and fry very briefly.

Put the mixture in a blender, along with the tomatoes and whizz until very smooth.

Put the chicken cubes, the mixture from the blender, the water and the salt back into the pan and let cook with the lid on for about 15 minutes. Add the coriander, stir well and let cook for a little while longer. Then serve with rice or chapatis.

This Greek dish requires very little preparation and is a remarkable example of simplicity. Be sure to use good olive oil for this, it is the major condiment in this dish. Cooking time approx. 50 minutes, serves 3-4.

• 6-8 potatoes
• ½ cup (125ml) olive oil
• 4 chicken legs
• salt
• juice of 1 large lemon
• pepper
• 2 teaspoons origano

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Cook the potatoes in boiling water until they are almost, but not quite done. Then peel them and cut them into thick slices.

Salt the chicken legs. While the potatoes are cooking, heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the chicken legs until they are brown on both sides. Then put the chicken and the oil into an oven pan (the pan should be big enough so that it can accommodate the chicken and the potatoes). Pour the lemon juice over the chicken as well. If the bottom of the pan is not completely covered with oil or juice, add some more olive oil.

Sprinkle pepper and origano over the chicken. Put in the oven for 25 minutes. From time to time, open the oven and pour the sauce over the chicken pieces with a spoon.

After 25 minutes, add the boiled potatoes to the chicken, put back into the oven and cook for another 20 minutes. Again, pour the sauce over the chicken from time to time.

Remove pan from the oven and serve.

This Greek dish serves 4.

• 800g small onions or shallots, peeled, but left whole
• 50ml olive oil
• 1kg beef, cut in 1" cubes
• 125ml red wine
• 375ml water
• 2 tablespoons concentrated tomato paste
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled, but left whole
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cloves
• 1 piece cinnamon bark
• pepper
• salt

Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the whole onions for about 5 minutes until brown, then remove with a slotted spoon and put aside.

Add the beef cubes and fry for about 10 minutes until brown on all sides.

Add the wine, water, tomato paste, garlic, vinegar, bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Stir well and bring to boil. Then reduce heat, cover and let simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.

Add the onions and let simmer with the lid on for another 20-30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and cinnamon bark, then serve with bread.

A very hot and sour Indian chicken dish. Also works well with pork or lamb. Serves 2-3. This is a refined version of the two recipes published previously on this site, and I think I prefer it to the other two.

Step 1:

• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 teaspoons hot red chili powder
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds
• 4 cloves
• 6 ground black peppercorns
• 1 piece cassia bark
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon groud cumin seeds
• juice of 1 large lemon

Put all these ingredients in a blender and whizz until you have a thick paste.

Step 2:

• 350-400g boneless chicken breast, cut in cubes
• 4 potatoes, skinned and cut in thick slices
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee
• 2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
• 2 peeled tomatoes
• 450ml water
• salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add the meat and fry until lightly browned on all sides. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and put aside.

Put the mustard seeds in the oil. When they begin to pop, add the spice paste from the blender. Reduce the heat and fry briefly for a couple of minutes. Then add the water.

Whizz the tomatoes in the blender until very smooth and put them in the pan. Bring everything to boil. Add the potatoes and the chicken meat and cook with the lid on for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve with rice.

I have only ever cooked these yummy Indian meat balls with ready-made spice mixes, so I'm really not sure precisely what spices they contain. Look for a standard kabab masala *); if you can get it and don't mind spending more money, Shan's seekh kabab mix produces excellent results.

*) You can try to mix the following ground spices for a somewhat decent kabab masala, but the readymade mixes taste better: 1 teaspoon each of paprika, salt, coriander, ginger; half teaspoon each of red chili powder, allspice, black pepper, cumin, black cumin, mace, clove; 1 ground bay leaf.

For the sauce:

• 200g skinned tomatoes
• ½ teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala

For the meatballs:

• 400g fresh minced beef or lamb
• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger (requires a 2-inch piece)
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste from a garlic press (requires 4-6 cloves)
• 4 fresh green chilies, finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3-4 teaspoons kabab masala
• 1 tablespoon ghee

Whizz the tomatoes in a blender, put in a pot. Add the chili powder and garam masala. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Mix the meat, ginger, garlic, chilies, onion and kabab masala. If you have the time, let stand for 2-3 hours.

Add the ghee, mix well. Form little balls and fry them in a pan over moderate heat.

Arrange on a plate with the tomato sauce. Serve with rice.

A spicy Indian chicken curry with extra onions ("do" meaning "two" and "piaz" is "onion"). This is a variation that should more aptly be called "teen piazza" (three onions), because in addition to the onions in the sauce and the onion rings, it also contains whole shallots.

For the sauce:

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 4 fresh green chilies, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 125ml cold water
• 150g skinned tomatoes

For the main dish:

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee
• 1 medium onion, in rings
• 600g boneless chicken breast, cut in cubes
• 5-10 shallots (depending on the size), left whole, but peeled
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cloves
• 1 piece cassia bark (or cinnamon bark)
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• salt
• 1 tablespoon methi (fenugreek) leaves
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 tablespoons fresh green coriander, chopped

For the sauce, heat the oil or ghee, then add the onion and fry until golden-brownish. Add the ginger, garlic and chilies, stir for a minute or so, then add the spices. Reduce heat to very low and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Put the water in a blender, add the contents from the pan and the tomatoes, whizz until very smooth. Put the sauce back in a pot, cover, and let simmer for another 15-20 minutes.

Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan, add the onion rings and fry until brownish, then remove them with a slotted spoon and put them aside.

Fry the meat until it is white on all sides and the pores have closed, then add the sauce, shallots, bay leaves, cloves, cassia bark, chili powder, cumin, coriander and salt. Stir well, bring to boil, cover and cook over low to medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally

Add the fried onion rings, methi leaves and garam masala. Stir well, then let simmer for another 10 minutes. If necessary, add some water.

Turn off the heat, add the chopped green coriander, stir, cover and let stand for 3-5 minutes. Serve with chapatis or boiled rice.

This rather hot chicken curry was designed to taste like the one I ate in an Indian restaurant in Brussels. It tastes almost identical. Serves 4.

• 800g boneless chicken breast
• 3 teaspoons hot Madras curry powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 tablespoons ghee or oil
• 4 teaspoons mango chutney
• 1 teaspoon hot chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon coconut flakes
• 1 small bunch green coriander, chopped

For the sauce:

• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 can tomatoes (with juice)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom seeds
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 piece fresh ginger, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• ½ teaspoon ginger powder
• salt to taste
• 5 dried red chilies
• 1 cup water

Put some ghee in a wok, chop one of the onions and fry until brown. Then put the fried onion and all the other sauce ingredients in a blender and whizz until very smooth.

Cut the meat into cubes, mix with the curry powder until the meat is well covered with it.

Heat the ghee in a wok, then fry the meat with the bay leaf for a few minutes until slightly browned and all the pores have closed. Add the sauce from the blender and bring to boil.

Let simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Add the mango chutney and chili powder. Let simmer for another 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, add the green coriander, garam masala and coconut flakes. Stir well. Cover and let stand for five minutes, then serve with rice.

This is a quick very hot restaurant-style chicken curry, a further attempt to cook something like the Chicken Madras at my favourite restaurant. It tastes similar, but not quite like it, and it's not as hot as the original, but it is yummy.

• 500g boneless chicken bresats, cut in cubes
• 1 green bell pepper, cut in rings
• 1 medium-sized onion, cut in rings
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 6 fresh green chilies, chopped
• 1 tablespoon ground fresh ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, squeezed through a garlic press
• 1 can peeled tomatoes, whizzed in a blender
• 200ml water
• 3 teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 3 teaspoons extra hot chili powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-2 pieces cassia bark
• 3 cloves
• 4 black peppercorns
• salt
• 2 tablespoons ghee or 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Heat one tablespoon ghee in a large wok and fry the chicken cubes until light brown, then remove from the wok.

Add another tablespoon ghee; fry the onions and cumin seeds until light brownish, then add the bell pepper rings and fry until the onions are brown. Remove the bell peppers, then add the ginger, 4 fresh chilies, the bay leaf, 2 teaspoons coriander, turmeric, cumin and cardamom; fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the pureed tomatoes, water, garlic, paprika, 2 teaspoons chili powder, cloves, cassia bark, peppercorns, salt and chicken pieces. Cover and let simmer for at least 15 minutes.

Remove the lid, add the bell peppers, stir, and let simmer for another 5 minutes.

Add 2 more fresh chopped chilies, 1 additional teaspoon coriander and, if necessary, one additional teaspoon hot chili powder. Stir well, then remove from heat and cover for 5 minutes. Serve with rice and/or chapatis.

Upon popular request, here is a mild chicken curry. It's a very simple, straightforward recipe that produces a creamy, slightly sour chicken curry. Serves four.

• 2 large onions, cut in rings
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 5-6 tablespoons ghee or oil
• 800g boneless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 250ml yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon concentrated tomato purée
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• salt to taste

Heat the ghee in a large pan or wok, then add onions, garlic and ginger and fry until brown. Add chicken pieces, yoghurt, tomato purée, coriander, cumin, turmeric and salt. Stir well and let cook over medium heat until all the liquid has evaporated (this should take about 20 minutes).

Add 2 cups of water, stir well, bring to boil and let simmer until the meat is tender (another 30-40 minutes or so). Add more water if it evaporates too quickly. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately with rice or bread.

Greek restaurants often mistranslate this on their menus as "steak", and indeed, "bifteki" sounds close enough to "beefsteak" to warrant the misunderstanding. But while it is made of beef, it is more of a burger than a steak. "Yemistó" is Greek for "filled" or "stuffed". Leave away the feta cheese, and you have plain bifteki. It's the perfect meal for the last few warm summer evenings. Serves 2.

• 350g minced beef
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 thin slices feta cheese
• 2 thin slices from a fresh tomato (optional)
• 1 teaspoon origano
• ⅓ teaspoon cumin
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• lemon juice

In a bowl, mix the minced beef with the onions, origano, cumin, pepper and salt, then divide into 4 equal parts.

Using the four parts, form 4 burgers, which should be be slightly larger and thinner than your average burger. On two of these, place one slice feta cheese and (optional) one tomato slice. Then use the remaining two burgers as "lids", applying some pressure to make sure they stay on, and close the resulting two burgers on the sides to make sure the feta doesn't fall out.

Ideally, this should be grilled on a charcoal barbecue. Alternatively, pour some olive oil into a frying pan and fry over moderate heat for several minutes on both sides. While on the barbecue/in the pan, repeatedly sprinkle some of the lemon juice over it. Be careful when turning the bifteki over, as it has a tendency to fall apart.

Serve with French fries, roast potatoes or rice.

This is the latest installment in my attempts to create a Chicken Vindaloo (a very hot chicken curry). This turned out pretty decent. Serves two to three.

• 400g boneless chicken meat, cut in cubes
• 4 potatoes, skinned and cut in cubes
• 1 can skinned tomatoes
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons oil or ghee
• 1 piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 4 fresh green chilies, finely chopped
• 4 bunches fresh green coriander, leaves and stalks chopped separately
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 2 tablespoons methi (fenugreek) leaves
• ½ teaspoon cardamom seeds
• ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
• 1 teaspoon very hot chili powder
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 4 cloves
• 1 piece cassia bark
• ½ teaspoon garam masala
• 120ml lemon juice
• salt

Heat 2 tablespoons oil or ghee in a large pan or wok. Fry the cumin seeds and the onion until transparent, then add ginger and and green chilies and fry until the onion is brownish. Add 1 teaspoon coriander powder, the green coriander stalks, turmeric and cumin powder. Reduce heat and fry for three more minutes.

Put the mixture in a blender, together with the tomatoes and some water. Whizz until very smooth.

Put 1 tablespoon oil or ghee into the pan, add the chicken cubes and fry until they're white on all sides.

Remove the chicken pieces from the pan, pour in the sauce from the blender and let cook for 5 minutes. Then add the potatoes, chicken pieces, 1 teaspoon coriander powder, methi leaves, cardamom seeds, cardamom powder, chili powder, paprika, cassia bark, cloves, lemon juice and salt. For extra heat, add 2-4 crushed dried red chilies.

Cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Turn off the heat, add the coriander leaves and garam masala. Stir well, then cover and let stand for 5 minutes with the lid on. Then serve with rice or chapaties.

Goulash (spelt Gulasch in German), a spicy beef stew, is one of the Austrian staple dishes, which you can get pretty much everywhere. Like the Brits enjoy a hot curry when they've had too much to drink at a party, Austrians resort to goulash, which is often served at parties around midnight or in the early morning. Goulash originated in Hungary, where the dish is called pörkölt (the similar-sounding gulyas is a soup rather than a stew). A defining quality of Austrian goulash is that you take the same amount of onions as of meat.

• 500g beef for stew (called "goulash meat" hereabouts), cut in cubes
• 500g onions, chopped into biggish pieces
• 80g fat
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 rablespoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ground caraway seed
• some marjoram, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• 10g flour
• salt
• water

Heat the fat in a large pot and roast the onions until golden. Add the paprika and immediately pour in the vinegar and 4 tablespoons water. Add the beef cubes, salt, ground caraway seeds, marjoram and squeeze in the garlic with a garlic press. Let simmer for 2-3 hours, adding water from time to time, until the meat is tender. There should be little to no water left by then.

Add the flour, stir carefully, then add enough water so that you get a slightly creamy, but not thick sauce. Let simmer until the meat is well done.

Take care that the meat does not become too soft and that the sauce doesn't burn. Add some more paprika to get a nicer colour and to make it a bit spicier.

Usually, goulash is not served fresh out of the pot, but pre-cooked and kept warm or reheated for the meal. It is usually served with no special side dish, just a bread roll, although boiled potatoes are acceptable.

This is a quick variation of a Chicken Madras. Nothing particularly special, but you can't get a decent hot curry any faster than this (well, you can, but I wouldn't recommend it). Takes about 30 minutes total and serves up to 4.

• 2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 600g boneless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
• 1 capsicum (green bell pepper), deseeded and cut into ½" rings
• 5 fresh green chilies, chopped
• 1 small piece fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 can tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons tumeric
• 3 teaspoons coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon hot chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 large bunch green coriander, stalks and leaves chopped separately
• 1 ½ teaspoons garam masala
• salt

Heat 1 tablespoon ghee (or oil) in a large frying pan or wok and fry the chicken pieces until white all around (and slightly yellowish), then remove from the pan and put aside.

Add the second tablespoon ghee, put in the chopped onion and fry until brown. Then add the capsicum, ginger and chilies and fry briefly for about 1 minute.

Whizz the tomatoes in a blender, then pour the purée into the pan; add the tumeric, coriander powder, cumin, chili powder, paprika, salt and coriander stalks. Stir well and cook over high heat for a few minutes. Then add the reserved chicken pieces, reduce heat, cover and let simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Turn off the heat. Stir in the coriander leaves and garam masala. Let stand for a few minutes, then serve with rice and/or chapatis.

This is my first attempt at a Pork Vindaloo. It turned out quite well and pretty close to what I wanted it to be like, but I may give it a second try later.

And yes, the Vindaloo was apparently originally a pork dish, but if you don't like pork, it should work just as well with chicken meat, even though the sour, vinegary taste goes better with pork than with chicken.

Please beware: as is the case with Vindaloo dishes, this is VERY VERY hot, so try it only if you didn't have any problems with my Green Chicken Jalfrezi from a few days ago - this one is hotter. As usual, this serves two (or three, if you're not very hungry).

• 500-600 grams tender pork, cut into smallish cubes
• 6 smallish potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 2 medium-sized onions, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic
• 8-10 fresh red chilies (avoid dried chilies - they're hotter and have less aroma)
• 1 small (½ inch) piece of fresh ginger, chopped
• 300ml sieved tomatoes or passata
• 4 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground tumeric
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons very hot red chili powder
• 2 smallish pieces from a cinnamon bark
• 3 cloves
• a few whole black pepper seeds
• 4 whole cardamom seeds
• 1 teaspoon tandoori powder
• salt
• ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons oil or ghee

In a wok or big pan, fry the onions in 2 tablespoons oil until transparent, then add 2 chopped cloves garlic and the chopped ginger; fry some more until the onion becomes yellowish. Add the tumeric, cumin and 1 teaspoon coriander and fry some more for about 2 minutes.

Put the fried onions/garlic/ginger in a blender. Add the remaining cloves garlic, the red chilies, vinegar, lemon juice, some of the sieved tomatoes and some water. Whizz until you have a very smooth brownish-golden sauce.

Put the meat into the pan and fry until it has become white and the pores have closed. Add the mixture from the blender, the remaining tomatoes, the potatoes and enough water so that everything is covered. Add the chili powder, 1 teaspoon coriander powder, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper seeds, cardamom seeds, salt, ground black pepper; stir, then let cook over low heat with the lid on for about 20 minutes.

Add the tandoori powder; then add some more sieved tomatoes, coriander powder, salt, chili powder or black pepper if necessary. Let cook some more until the potatoes are well done.

Serve immediately with a lot of rice and a dry white wine (or, if you prefer, a hoppy beer).