Curry goat
Photo: Leon Brocard from London, UK · CC BY 2.0

History

Curry goat travelled to the Caribbean with indentured Indian workers in the 1800s, and Jamaica made it a celebration dish. In Bristol it arrived with the Windrush generation and became Sunday and function food in St Pauls, the dish cooked longest and argued over hardest. Ms Cat's family recipes at Caribbean Croft carry that lineage on Stokes Croft, and the market stalls sell it by the takeaway box.

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Make it at home

Yield Serves 6Hands-on 40 minTotal 15 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 1.5kg goat shoulder, bone in, cut into chunks
  • 4 tablespoons Jamaican curry powder
  • 1 scotch bonnet chilli, left whole
  • 2 onions, sliced
  • 6 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 thumb of ginger, grated
  • 4 spring onions, chopped
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 400ml chicken stock
  • 2 potatoes, cubed
  • 2 tablespoons oil

Method

  1. Rub the goat with half the curry powder, the garlic, ginger and thyme, and marinate overnight.
  2. Brown the meat in oil in a heavy pot, then add the onions, spring onions and remaining curry powder and cook until fragrant.
  3. Add stock and the whole scotch bonnet, cover and simmer very gently for 2.5 to 3 hours until the meat gives way.
  4. Add the potatoes for the final 30 minutes so they thicken the gravy as they soften.
  5. Fish out the scotch bonnet before it bursts, season, and serve over rice and peas.

Tip from the editors. Goat needs time, not temperature; if the meat is not falling off the bone, the answer is another 30 gentle minutes, never a harder boil.

Where to eat curry goat

Curry goat in Bristol

Caribbean Croft ★ 4.1

££ CaribbeanStokes Croft

Caribbean Croft cooks Ms Cat's family recipes on Stokes Croft in Bristol, matching jerk and curry goat with one of the city's longest rum lists.

OrderCurry goat with rice and peas, and a rum punch from the long list.

TipThe kitchen closes well before the bar every night, so order food early and stay on for the rum.

Directions

Caribbean Wrap ★ 4.0

£ CaribbeanOld City

Caribbean Wrap rolls jerk chicken and curry goat into lunch at St Nicholas Market, Bristol's quick daytime fix of the city's Caribbean kitchens.

TryJerk chicken wrap

TipAsk for extra scotch bonnet sauce only if you mean it; curried goat with rice beats the wrap on cold days.

Directions

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