Swahili Pilau

Cut the beef chuck into 3 cm cubes, crush the garlic and grate the ginger. Simmer the beef, covered, in the water with 1 tsp of the salt and half the garlic and ginger for 1 to 1¼ hours until tender. Keep the broth.

Meanwhile, rinse the basmati rice until it runs clear, soak it in fresh cold water for 20 minutes and drain.

Lightly toast the cumin seeds, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and black peppercorns in a dry pan, then grind them coarsely.

Thinly slice the onions. In a heavy pot, fry them in the oil over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring, until deep brown. This is where the colour comes from.

Add the rest of the garlic and ginger and the ground cumin seeds, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns and fry for 1 minute.

If using, peel the potatoes and cut them into 3 cm cubes. Add the beef and the potatoes, then the drained rice, and stir to coat.

Pour in 850 ml of the hot broth, season with all but a pinch of the remaining salt, bring to the boil, then cover tightly and cook on the lowest heat for 20 minutes.

For the kachumbari, finely chop the tomatoes, red onion and green chilli and dress them with the juice of the lime and a pinch of the salt. Rest the pilau for 10 minutes, fluff with a fork, and serve with the kachumbari.