Food, food, glorious food but not when boiled in the bag. The cry from Prince Harry, whose diet for weeks consisted of packaged food heated up in mess tins over a Hexamine cooking stove, provoked an anguished response from the military.

“Obviously rations are not the best meals in the business but when there isn’t a field kitchen available and fresh food to cook, this is the only alternative. But there are still choices to be had,” one defence source said.

The favourite among frontline soldiers fighting the Taleban is burgers and beans, but there is also chicken tikka masala with rice, corned beef hash and a meat stew. The ration pack also includes boil-in-the-bag rice pudding, biscuits with cheese and a meat spread and plenty of chocolate. It may not be Jamie Oliver, but after a hard day on patrol the carbohydrates and protein sort out the hunger pangs.

Responding to Prince Harry’s suggestion that Oliver might be able to improve the rations, a spokesman for the chef said: “It’s very nice of the Prince to think of Jamie first. It’s an honour, and if we do get a phone call from the Prince or anybody involved, we would do what we can.”

At least Prince Harry was able to supplement his diet with some of the Gurkhas’ food. He spent a significiant amount of time with them at forward operating base Delhi near Garmsir in southern Helmand, and developed a taste for their home-cooked curries, made from goats or roosters, bought locally and slaughtered with the Nepalese soldiers’ knives At Camp Bastion, the British military base in central Helmand province, the chefs cook a variety of meals and there is always a choice of about five or six items on the menu.

First catch your goat . . .

— In Nepal you would slaughter your goat and then separate the head from the body, putting the blood aside for later (it is illegal to kill the animal yourself in Britain)

— Detach the limbs with a large knife. Boil, then pluck out the hairs by hand. Chop the meat into small pieces, even the tail

— Marinate outside for three hours in homemade curry paste (tamarind, cumin seeds, cloves, curry leaves, bay leaves, javentry, coriander seed and oil)

— Fry chopped onion, garlic and ginger in oil in a big cooking pot until brown, then add the meat

— Keep stirring for 30 minutes, then add chillis and water to cover. Put on a slow heat for 40 minutes or until the meat is really tender

— Add yoghurt and chopped tomatoes and cook for ten more minutes. Serve with rice

— You can eat it with traditional patties made by frying the goat blood with onion, curry paste and ginger. An average-sized goat will feed 40 people

Courtesy of Gurkha Cottage restaurant, Crystal Palace

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