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CURRY GOAT

Caribbean Food Made Easy
by Levi Roots

I couldn't write this book without including this Jamaican classic. It can be difficult to get goat, but lamb and mutton are delicious too. Do try to get goat, though - you'll wonder why you haven't tried it before. This has an unusual cooking technique that we use a lot in the Caribbean: steaming and frying at the same time.
Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 1kg (2 lb 4 oz) lean goat meat
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 2 tbsp mild curry powder
• 2 tbsp all-purpose seasoning
• 6 tbsp sunflower or groundnut oil
• 3/4 pint vegetable stock
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 3/4 inch piece of root ginger, finely chopped
• 1 hot red chilli (ideally Scotch bonnet), seeds left in, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 10 allspice berries
• 1/2 red pepper, deseeded and cubed
• 1/2 green pepper, deseeded and cubed
• 2 spring onions, green part only, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
• salt and pepper
• 2 waxy potatoes, cut into chunks
• boiled rice, to serve

DIRECTIONS

1. Wash the meat and pat it dry with kitchen paper - it's fine if there are some small bones in it as they're good for the flavour. Cut it into large chunks, then put it in a large bowl with the lime juice, curry powder and all-purpose seasoning. Turn it over with your hands to get it well coated. Leave to marinate for 4 hours in the fridge.

2. Heat a large non-stick casserole or heavy-based saucepan until it is very hot, then add the oil. When the oil is very hot, put the goat in and turn the chunks over with a wooden spoon to coat the meat in oil. Cover with a lid, turn the heat right down to very low and leave it to just simmer for 45 minutes. The goat will sweat in its own gravy, locking in all the juices with none of the usual browning or boiling - this is the way it's done! Keep checking the pot to make sure the meat isn't getting scorched on the bottom.

3. After 45 minutes, add 1/4 pint of the stock, bring to the boil, turn the heat right down, cover and leave again to just simmer. After another 45 minutes, repeat this with another 1/4 pint of stock and cook for another 45 minutes.

4. Add the onion, ginger, chilli, garlic and allspice and stir gently. Add the rest of the ingredients - except the potato and rice, but including the rest of the stock - and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down again, cover and cook for another 2 hours, stirring from time to time. Keep an eye on it and add more stock if it seems dry. Twenty minutes before the end of cooking time, add the potatoes and gently stir them in. Once the potatoes are soft, check the curry for seasoning and serve with boiled rice.