Goat curry or Curried Goat – originating from the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asian region – is a curry dish that is prepared with goat meat. In most countries of the Indian subcontinent, goat meat is often referred to as mutton, and mutton-curry is mostly made from goat meat.
This dish is a staple in Southeast Asian cuisine, Caribbean cuisine, and cuisine of the Indian subcontinent. It is believed that this dish was brought by the Indian diaspora in the Southeast Asian region, and it subsequently influenced local cuisine. This dish has spread throughout the Caribbean region and also reached North America and Europe by the Indo-Caribbean.
A Popular Curry Goat Dish
This dish is considered a good meal to boost one’s energy. In Southeast Asian and Caribbean cuisine goat meat is used at various occasions. It is flavored with a spice mix that is typical of Indo-Jamaican cuisine. There are many variations on the dish that includes using mutton instead of goat meat or bulking it out with potatoes.
Goat meat is the red meat of choice in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal. Here, people like to cook goat curry dishes on many occasions; weddings, festivals, eids, indoor or outdoor parties, picnics, or for guests. It is also a popular party dish in Jamaica. It is among the main and delicious dishes at restaurants and hotels.
The dish is delicious when served with boiled basmati rice, salad, and raita. If you keep some gravy, it tastes great with freshly made chapatis.
Goat Curry Recipe
Goat curry is an easy, simple, yet very delicious meal. The recipe I’m sharing here is equally applicable to all; goat curry, lamb curry, and mutton curry. These are very similar types of curry dishes. The only difference is the type of meat i.e. goat, lamb, or mutton (the meat of a sheep over two years old is mutton), and the difference in their cooking time.
Goat Curry, cooked with a traditional methodology, is a yummy and fragrant dish. With this goat curry recipe, you can prepare a dish of a unique taste just by using fewer ingredients. You must try it to enjoy its unforgettable taste.
You can cook it easily at home without any extra hassle and input. Prepare this dish in a wok or in another cooking pot. Whatever you choose, simmering is the key to tender the goat meat or mutton and to cooking a delicious and flavorful goat curry.
Choice of Goat Meat; Bone-in or Boneless?
What should be the best choice for goat meat; bone-in or boneless? Bone-in meat adds additional flavor to the goat curry. You can use boneless if you like. Just make sure you are using meat from the more flavorful cuts, suitable for stewing like legs, hind shanks, and ribs. You can also use shoulder and fore shanks cuts for stewing.
Cooking Method
Goat curry is cooked by stewing technique. Stewing is suitable for the least tender cuts of meat that become tender and juicy at a relatively low temperature, also allowing flavors to mingle. Therefore, we do have to simmer the meat to prepare a flavorful dish.
It takes a little while to soften the meat and make it tender. You need at least 2 hours to get the meat tender. If you want to speed up the process, you can use a pressure cooker to cut the time to half, but to enjoy the real taste of goat curry, I prefer slow cooking.
How to Make Goat Curry
Preparation
Take the goat stew meat of your choice. Keep some extra outer fat intact as it will give a nice flavor. If you do not want to use the fat at all, you can remove it. Wash the meat with running water. Don’t soak it in the water. Gather the following goat curry ingredients;
- fresh green chilies
- garlic cloves
- korma masala or (Jamaican curry powder or regular curry powder)
- ginger
- tomato (optional)
- salt
- cooking oil
Slit the green chilies, chop the ginger into medium-sized pieces, and finely chop or puree the tomatoes If you want extra gravy. I prefer to cook without tomatoes to get a real and rich meat curry taste.
Cooking the Goat Curry
Step 1:
Turn on the flame and keep it low. Cook the goat curry on low flame. Pour cooking oil in a wok or karahi and let it heat up. When it is hot enough, put goat meat in it. Stir it for a while on low heat. Then cover the pot for 10 to 12 minutes to dry the water released by the meat and till the meat changes its color. This step will help eliminate the raw smell of the meat.
Step 2:
After 10 minutes check the meat, it will have been dried enough and have changed its color. At this stage, we will add all the other ingredients to be used in the goat curry. Include tomato puree (optional; If you like), ginger, garlic, salt, and korma masala or (Jamaican curry powder or simple curry powder) in the cooking pot. Stir 4 to 5 minutes to combine all the ingredients.
Step 3:
Pour one liter of warm water into the pot. This will tender the goat meat further. Stir to combine all the ingredients and keep the flame low. Cover the pot and let the meat simmer for 1 & ½ hours.
After 1 & ½ hours, stir in slitted fresh green chilies. Cover it to simmer for another 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you’ll see that the meat has become soft and tender. Now our dish is ready. Put it in the serving dish now.
Serve the goat curry with boiled rice, salad, and raita, or with salad, raita, and naan/roti.
Note: don’t dry the curry completely. Keep some gravy inside because this gravy has its own taste.
Goat Curry Recipe Tips
- Wash the meat just to clean it. Do not immerse the meat in water for a long time, otherwise the meat will become tasteless.
- The secret to great goat curry is slow-cooking (simmering) of the tougher meat cuts.
- I prefer to make this curry without tomatoes to have a rich and original taste of meat curry.
- Pour warm water in the cooking pot for stewing. Don’t use cold water.
- Stew meat from legs, hind shanks, and ribs are ideal meat cuts for a delicious goat curry.
- Like many other stews, this curry can be stored in the fridge for at least three to four days. Reheat over low heat on the stove and serve.
- I prefer cooking goat curry on wood fire rather than on electric or gas appliances. Wood fire, because of its slow-cooking nature, gives an awesome taste to our foods.
Goat Curry
Ingredients
- 1 kg goat meat
- ½ cup cooking oil
- ¾ tsp salt or to taste
- 1 inch ginger piece (chopped into medium-sized pieces)
- 2 tsp korma masala or curry powder
- 6-7 garlic cloves
- 2 fresh green chilies slitted
- 300 grams tomatoes (optional), finely chopped or pureed
Instructions
How to Cook Goat Curry: Preparation
- Take bone-in goat meat. Keep some extra outer fat intact, as it will give a nice flavor to our goat curry. If you do not want to use fat, you can remove it. Wash the meat in the running water. Don’t soak it in the water.
- Now gather the curry ingredients. Fresh green chilies, slit in half, peel off garlic cloves, korma masala, pieces of garlic, salt, cooking oil, and tomatoes (optional).
Cooking
- Turn the flame on and keep it low. Now pour cooking oil into a cooking pot and heat it.
- When it is hot enough, put the goat meat in it. Stir it for a while on low heat. Now cover the pot for 10 to 12 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, the meat will have been dried enough and have changed its color.
- Now add all the ingredients used in the goat curry. Include tomato puree (optional-If you like extra gravy), ginger, garlic, salt, and korma masala. Mix all the ingredients well and fry for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Pour one liter of warm water into the curry. This will tender the goat meat. Stir all the ingredients.
- Cover the cooking pot and let the meat simmer for 1 & ½ hours. Keep the flame low as indicated in the image.
- After 1 & ½ hours, add slitted fresh green chilies. Stir well all the ingredients.
- Now cover it for another 10 minutes. The goat curry will have been cooked by that time. Check the meat. It will be fully tender. Put it into the serving dish.Serve the goat curry with boiled rice, salad, and raita. If you keep some gravy, it tastes great with freshly made chapatis.
Video
Notes
I prepared this dish without tomatoes and onions. You can use tomatoes if you want extra gravy. I prefer to have this curry without tomatoes for original and rich meat curry taste.
I used korma masala for a rich and fragrant taste. You can use any spices of your choice (Jamaican curry powder or regular curry powder) as a substitute for korma masala.
Try this recipe at home and share your experience in the comments section below.
