Jamaican Curry Goat or Lamb (includes Thermomix and Instant Pot instructions)

If you've never tried curry goat, and you love curry, then you really, really should - it's delicious! And if the thought of goat curry scares you, then try it with mutton or lamb instead, and go from there...

I do love a good curry goat, and always have to sample some when we go to the Caribbean carnivals. Traditionally it's made with cubes of meat on the bone, but if you don't like the idea of trying to pick meat from small chopped up bones, then you can use boneless shoulder meat (and if you like, optionally add a few bones to the curry whilst cooking for flavour).

Because this curry is so full of flavour, and cooked low and slow, it's also a great contender for a skinny version too, as goat meat is naturally quite lean - so if you want to cut the calories right down and use some lean meat (e.g. lean goat meat or extra lean diced lamb meat) the long and gentle cooking will tenderise it nicely.

Either way, I've given you the recipe below, with a couple of options to suit, and I hope you enjoy it! If you don't want to make your own Jamaican curry powder, then you can just use a generic ready-made *mild* curry powder if you like and add a pinch of ground allspice. Requires marinating for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight, and approximately 3 hours total cooking. Delicious (albeit decadent!) served with Jamaican 'rice and peas' - my recipe is here.

Serves six (or more with other dishes), 286 calories per serving with lean goat meat, or 368 calories per serving with extra lean diced lamb meat. [Calories in square brackets, if you're counting]

Love Jamaican food? Why not try my Jamaican jerk chicken, or fresh twist on saltfish and ackee?

Ingredients

The meat

• 900g boneless cubed goat or mutton shoulder, or extra lean diced lamb [1,292 calories for lean goat meat, 1,782 calories for extra lean diced lamb]

OR

• 1350g bone-in cubed goat (or mutton) shoulder

If using boneless meat, you could throw in a few bones for flavour and remove before serving, if you like.

Marinade

• 3-4 tbsp Jamaican curry powder (see here to make your own, and below for ingredients, or use bought mild curry powder - Jamaican or West Indian if possible, although any mild will do) [80]
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 1 scotch bonnet chilli, finely chopped (or other hot chilli - use gloves!) [5]
• Juice 1 lime (about 30ml) [9]
• 1 tbsp vinegar [3]

For the curry

• 1 large onion, peeled [50]
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled [24]
• 2 inches ginger root, peeled [7]
• 1 x 15ml tbsp fresh thyme leaves (or 1 tsp dried) [2]
• 1 x 15ml tbsp oil (or feel free to use more if you're not counting calories) [124]
• 450ml stock (e.g. lamb, or vegetable) [20]
• 4 large vine or plum tomatoes, skinned and chopped (or 1 x 400g tin) [100]
• 1 scotch bonnet chilli, whole
• Salt

Optional

• 2 large waxy potatoes cut into bite-size chunks (or equivalent of small/baby waxy potatoes, halved) - add 20-25 minutes before the end of cooking, and cook until tender (sometimes added to bulk out the curry, not necessary)

Jamaican curry powder ingredients 
(if making own curry powder)

• 4 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
• 4 whole star anise
• 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 tbsp allspice berries
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1/2 nutmeg
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 5 tbsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp ground ginger

 Method

(Thermomix and Instant Pot instructions in italics)

1) Firstly, make the curry powder, if you're making it yourself. Essentially you need to dry roast / toast the first seven ingredients (all the way down to cloves) until fragrant, cool, then grind with everything else into a powder. Full instructions (including Thermomix instructions) are here.

2) Mix the cubed meat thoroughly with all of the marinade ingredients (use food safe gloves to chop the scotch bonnet chilli!). Leave to marinate for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Up to two days is fine.

3) Time to cook. Prepare your ingredients by chopping the onion relatively finely and finely chopping or grating the garlic and ginger. Peel and chop the tomatoes. (Thermomix: cut onion into quarters, then chop 3 seconds / Speed 5 and reserve, then slice the ginger into coins, and drop the ginger and garlic and fresh thyme onto running blades / Speed 8).

4) Pre-heat a large pot or flameproof casserole dish on the hob, or slow-cooker if you can brown things in it. Add the oil, then brown the meat (and bay leaves) in batches and set aside. Add the onions, and cook, stiring until softened for 4 or 5 minutes, and then add the garlic, ginger and thyme and cook through for another 2 or 3 minutes (Instant Pot: turn on, select 'Sautee', press 'adjust' once so it goes to 'more' and give a couple of minutes to warm up, then cook ingredients as instructed).

5) Add the meat back to the pan together with the tomatoes, stock and whole chilli, bring to a simmer, then cover and leave to cook gently for about two hours, until the meat is tender, giving a very occasional stir. (Instant Pot: while it is still on the 'Sautee' setting from stage 4, add the meat back to the pan, plus the tomatoes, stock and chilli and bring to a simmer, then press 'Keep Warm / Cancel'. Put the lid on - I use a loose glass lid for this that fits inside the pot - and then press 'Slow Cook', and press the '-' button four times to reduce the time to 2:00 hours. Stir gently a couple of times during cooking.)

6) Remove the lid from the pot, and if using potatoes, add at this point. Turn the heat up and simmer the curry for around 25-30 minutes stirring occasionally, or until the sauce has reduced and thickened, and the potatoes are tender. Taste a little of the sauce, and add salt as required (plus a squeeze of lime or lemon juice if you want more of a tang) and serve with rice and peas and a green salad. (Instant Pot: Once the two hours is up, remove the lid, check the meat is just tender, add potatoes if using, then press 'Keep Warm / Cancel', then press 'Sautee', then press 'adjust' twice to take it down to 'less', and cook for around 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking or burning, until the sauce has reduced to a thick gravy and the potatoes are tender. Taste a little of the sauce, and add salt as required (plus a squeeze of lime or lemon juice if you want more of a tang) and serve with rice and peas and a green salad.). Enjoy!