Curry goat is one of my all time favourite dishes and what differentiates a Caribbean curry goat to any other, is the use of scotch bonnet peppers. This amazingly hot pepper has a great distinctive flavour, which delivers a deliciously fruity note. However, the pepper must be treated with respect.
The most important part of the curry cooking process is to make sure that this pepper doesn’t burst, or else game-over if you can’t take the chilli heat! But it’s worth the risk, as you can’t make a good Caribbean curry goat without it. The trick is to keep the pepper in the curry for most of the cooking time, say 2-hours. Then carefully fish it out with a spoon, scrape off the seeds then put bits of the pepper back in the pot tasting as you go until you reach your preferred heat level. But, if maximum heat is what you like, don’t bother to remove it and the pepper will just mash out into the curry. This recipe works well with mutton too and see here for a chicken version.
Ingredients
Goat Shoulder
Curry Goat
A Taste of Jamaica
Ingredients
- 3lb goat shoulder 2 medium onions
- 3 cloves crushed garlic
- 1 chopped carrot
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 tablespoon Betapac curry powder
- 1 tablespoon Bolst's curry powder (or curry powder of your choice)
- 2 sprigs of thyme
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 heaped teaspoon pimento seeds
Directions
- Step 1 Place meat in a mixing bowl, slice one of the onions and then add both the curry powders. Mix thoroughly and cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate for 12 hours, or overnight.
- Step 2 Take meat out of fridge and rest for 30 minutes before cooking. Scrap the onions off of the meat and set aside.
- Step 3 In a large pan add oil and heat to a high temperature, then add the meat and onions. Fry vigorously until all the meat is brown, then reduce heat to a very low temperature and cover with a lid to slowly simmer. The meat will steam and create its own juices.
- Step 4 After 30 minutes of cooking add the garlic, carrot, whole scotch bonnet pepper (do not chop it up), the reserved onions and the rest of the other onion, thyme, pimento seeds and salt and pepper to taste.
- Step 5 Cook for 3 to 4 hours or until the meat is tender. After 2 hours of cooking, fish out the pepper, or if you like your curry really hot, leave it in. If the sauce starts to dry out at any point, just top it up it with water, but not too much as you don’t want to dilute the flavours.
- Step 6 Serve with white basmati rice.
I’ve wanted to try goat for so long – ever since I did a bit of graphic design for a goat stew seasoning sachet. How does it compare to mutton? (Also, I love anything hot and spicy, so this sounds like a winner!)
Hi there,
Go for it! Goat is stronger tasting with a gamier flavour.