# General > Recipes >  some help.

## fudge100

Hi.does anyone have a recipe for a clootie dumpling,and also a recipe for chilli con carnie. Thanks.

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## starfish

*Clootie Dumpling Recipe*Ingredients: 

125g suet 
250g plain flour 
125g oatmeal 
250g mixed sultanas and currants 
1 tablespoon of golden syrup 
75g sugar 
2 lightly beaten eggs 
1 teaspoon of ginger 
1 teaspoon of baking powder 
1 teaspoon of cinnamon 
4 tablespoons of milk 
1 tablespoon of flour for the cloth 





*How To Make Clootie Dumpling*1. Rub the suet into the flour and add oatmeal, baking powder, sugar, sultanas and currants and the ginger and cinnamon. Blend together and add the eggs and syrup. Stir well and add just enough milk to firm. 






2. If you are using a cloth (cloot), put it into boiling water first then spread onto your table and sprinkle a liberal amount of flour over the inside. Put the mixture into the middle and tie up, leaving a wee bit of space for the mixture to expand. 


Taste Ye Back: Great Scots and the Food That Made Them describes how the traditional skin is formed by the sprinkling of flour and sugar into the cloot cloth before it is filled with the mixture. The clootie dumpling skin would have traditionally been dried in front of the open fireplace though modern cooks may now do the drying of the skin in the oven. Though the actor and entertainer John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness in Torchwood) describes his mum's way of forming the skin on their clootie dumpling as each family member taking a turn to slap the dumplings bum prior to it going into the pot of boiling water! 


Traditionally silver pennies would be added to the Cootie Dumpling mixture. Sue Lawrence in her book Scots Cooking: The Best Traditional and Contemporary Scottish Recipes suggests wrapping 5p pieces or charms in waxed or greaseproof paper and adding these to the mixture which Sue spells as Cloutie Dumpling. 


The book Nick Nairn's New Scottish Cookery suggests using an old pillowcase or a square of muslin as an alternative for the cloot. 


3. Place an upside-down saucer at the bottom of a deep pan and put the tied cloot in and cover with boiling water and simmer for about 3 hours. 

4. If you'd rather use a bowl it will need to be greased before adding the mixture. Leave an inch space at the top for the pudding to expand. Cover with greaseproof paper and tie.

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## starfish

*Ingredients*1 tbsp oil1 large onion1 red pepper2 garlic cloves, peeled1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder (or 1 level tbsp if you only have mild)1 tsp paprika1 tsp ground cumin500g lean minced beef1 beef stock cube400g can chopped tomatoes½ tsp dried marjoram1 tsp sugar2 tbsp tomato purée410g can red kidney beansplain boiled long grain rice_1/2_






*Method*_Prepare your vegetables. Chop 1 large onion into small dice, about 5mm square. The easiest way to do this is to cut the onion in half from root to tip, peel it and slice each half into thick matchsticks lengthways, not quite cutting all the way to the root end so they are still held together. Slice across the matchsticks into neat dice. Cut 1 red pepper in half lengthways, remove stalk and wash the seeds away, then chop. Peel and finely chop 2 garlic cloves.__Start cooking. Put your pan on the hob over a medium heat. Add the oil and leave it for 1-2 minutes until hot (a little longer for an electric hob). Add the onions and cook, stirring fairly frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft, squidgy and slightly translucent. Tip in the garlic, red pepper, 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder or 1 level tbsp mild chilli powder, 1 tsp paprika and 1 tsp ground cumin. Give it a good stir, then leave it to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.__Brown the 500g lean minced beef. Turn the heat up a bit, add the meat to the pan and break it up with your spoon or spatula. The mix should sizzle a bit when you add the mince. Keep stirring and prodding for at least 5 minutes, until all the mince is in uniform, mince-sized lumps and there are no more pink bits. Make sure you keep the heat hot enough for the meat to fry and become brown, rather than just stew.__Making the sauce. Crumble 1 beef stock cube into 300ml hot water. Pour this into the pan with the mince mixture. Open 1 can of chopped tomatoes (400g can) and add these as well. Tip in ½ tsp dried marjoram and 1 tsp sugar, if using (see tip at the bottom), and add a good shake of salt and pepper. Squirt in about 2 tbsp tomato purée and stir the sauce well.__Simmer it gently. Bring the whole thing to the boil, give it a good stir and put a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat until it is gently bubbling and leave it for 20 minutes. You should check on the pan occasionally to stir it and make sure the sauce doesnt catch on the bottom of the pan or isnt drying out. If it is, add a couple of tablespoons of water and make sure that the heat really is low enough. After simmering gently, the saucy mince mixture should look thick, moist and juicy.__Bring on the beans. Drain and rinse 1 can of red kidney beans (410g can) in a sieve and stir them into the chilli pot. Bring to the boil again, and gently bubble without the lid for another 10 minutes, adding a little more water if it looks too dry. Taste a bit of the chilli and season. It will probably take a lot more seasoning than you think. Now replace the lid, turn off the heat and leave your chilli to stand for 10 minutes before serving, and relax. Leaving your chilli to stand is really important as it allows the flavours to mingle and the meat.__Serve with soured cream and plain boiled long grain rice._

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## Dadie

The clootie dumpling would have a elaborate folded top of greaseproof paper over the pudding basin used...to allow for extra expansion if needed.
And done in the soup.
And the coins wouldnt have the paper wrapping ....
Your recipe looks about right starfish but I use pounds n ounces and shuggles for amounts!

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## fudge100

Hi, thanks for the recipes,i will give them a go.I will just have try and convert it to pounds and ounces.Thanks once again.

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