Halal-conscious recipe
Spotted dick with vegetable suet
A steamed British currant pudding with lemon and orange zest, made with vegetable suet in place of beef suet and served with custard.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Photo: Open Food Facts contributors · CC BY-SA 3.0
Why Halal checks matter here
Spotted dick is made with shredded suet, and the beef suet sold in UK shops is beef fat with no Halal mark, so it is Halal only from Halal-slaughtered cattle.
Spotted dick is a steamed suet pudding studded with currants, and the suet is the one ingredient to check. BBC Good Food's recipe asks only for "shredded suet". In UK shops that comes as beef suet, which is beef fat with no Halal mark on the Atora or Aldi packs, or vegetable suet, which is palm and sunflower oil (see suet).
This version uses vegetable suet, which goes in at the same weight and needs no other change. If you prefer beef suet, buy it from a Halal butcher. Everything else (flour, currants, sugar, citrus zest and milk) is the same as the original.
Wrap the roll loosely, because it swells as it steams, and keep the pan topped up with boiling water so it never boils dry.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Shredded suet Beef suet is beef fat. The Atora and Aldi beef suet pack records show no Halal mark, so it is Halal only from Halal-slaughtered cattle. Use vegetable suet, which is palm and sunflower oil, or beef suet from a Halal butcher. See Suet.
Safe substitutes
- Beef suet → The same weight of vegetable suet, or Halal beef suet
Allergens
gluten (flour, and the flour in shredded suet), milk
Ingredients
Pudding
- 250 g (2 cups) self-raising flour
- a pinch salt
- 125 g (4½ oz) shredded vegetable suet (or beef suet from a Halal butcher)
- 180 g (1¼ cups) currants
- 80 g (⅓ cup) caster sugar
- 1 lemon, zest finely grated
- 1 small orange, zest finely grated
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) whole milk, plus 2 to 3 tbsp if needed
To serve
- to serve custard
Method
- Mix the dry ingredients. Put the flour and salt in a bowl and add the suet, currants, sugar and the lemon and orange zest.
- Make the dough. Pour in the 150 ml of milk and mix to a firm but moist dough, adding the extra milk if it is dry.
- Shape and wrap. Shape the dough into a fat roll about 20 cm long and put it on a large rectangle of baking parchment. Wrap it loosely so the pudding has room to rise, and tie the ends with string like a Christmas cracker.
- Steam. Set a steamer over a large pan of boiling water, put the pudding in, cover and steam for 1½ hours, topping up the pan with boiling water from time to time.
- Serve. Lift the pudding out and let it cool slightly before unwrapping. Slice and serve with custard.
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Spotted dick' (self-raising flour, shredded suet, currants, caster sugar and lemon and orange zest mixed with milk, shaped into a 20 cm roll, wrapped loosely in baking parchment and steamed for 1½ hours). The recipe says only 'shredded suet'; we specified vegetable suet, or beef suet from a Halal butcher. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Technique and ingredient sources
-
Spotted dick — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
Serves 6: 250 g self-raising flour, a pinch of salt, 125 g shredded suet, 180 g currants, 80 g caster sugar, lemon and orange zest, 150 ml whole milk plus 2 to 3 tbsp; a 20 cm roll wrapped in parchment and steamed for 1½ hours. We specified vegetable or Halal beef suet.
-
Suet analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
Beef suet and vegetable suet from UK pack records.