Sandra Folkes-Joseph’s Curry Goat

On Wednesday, we introduced you to the remarkable Sandra Folkes-Joseph. Having spent some time in Antigua tracking it down, I was blown away by her signature dish of curry goat. Tongue in cheek, I offered my services in her kitchen free in exchange for the the recipe. With astonishing generosity she sent it to me  the following day.

The first thing to note is the name. It's not Goat Curry and it's not Curried Goat. Curry Goat: remember that. You may think you haven't eaten goat before but if you've been in the Indian sub-continent you probably have. That which is described as mutton is almost certainly goat. Go online and it's not hard to find, though getting bone in meat, as Sandra uses, is trickier. It benefits from a long slow cook. Sandra's version was less hot than I expected, but quite delicious. I haven't tried cooking it as yet, and reproduce the recipe exactly as she sent it to me. It's quite a dry dish. You need to add a little water, but no more than required to stop it from sticking.

I have discovered that the Antiguan holy trinity, analogous to mirepoix or soffritto is spring onion, garlic and thyme. Sandra also says that you can add any other seasoning which you would use with lamb.

Curry Goat

5 lbs (about 2.2kg) diced goat meat; 2 tsp mixed masala powder; 1 cup Madras curry powder; 1 medium onion, diced; 4 sprigs of spring onions, chopped; 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated; 5 sprigs fresh thyme; 10 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed; 1 tbsp ground turmeric; 1 tbsp fresh cracked black pepper; salt to taste; water.

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Wash the meat, and mix well with all the seasoning. Leave for at least an hour. On a slow heat bring the mixture to the boil, then simmer on a low heat, stirring every 30 minutes or so until the meat is tender. The traditional accompaniment is rice and peas. Today's quiz is, what are the two principal ingredients of the latter dish?