Keralan Goat Curry with Chapatis

I’m lucky to live in a part of London which, culturally, is vastly diverse. It’s the reason that buying goat for curry is no more unusual than buying chicken, lamb or beef. You might not be able to find it in your local supermarket, but if you go to a butcher’s shop (especially Halal or Asian butcher’s) you’re more than likely to be able to pick some up. I choose it as it is much cheaper than lamb (around £5/kg) but has a similar taste. My butcher advertises Curry Goat– it comes as bite sized pieces of goat, some on the bone, some not. As the name suggests, it’s perfect cooked slowly in a rich, spicy curry sauce.

I served it with chapatis – a soft, thin bread. Simple and delicious.

Here’s what you’ll need to serve 4:

(P.s. The pasta sauce jars don’t actually contain pasta sauce – they’re home to vast quantities of spices. The nutella jar doesn’t actually contain nutella – that’s for my boyfriend’s father’s homemade garam masala. The salt vat doesn’t actually contain salt – that’s filled with black mustard seeds!)

For the curry:

1kg goat / 1 large onion / 3 cloves garlic / 1 tin plum tomatoes

1/2 tbsp mustard seeds / 1 tbsp coriander powder / 1/2 tbsp chilli powder / 1 tbsp masala powder / 1/4 tbsp turmeric / salt to taste

For the chapatis:

2 cups flour + extra to dust / 1 cup water

First, prepare the curry. This takes around 20 minutes to prepare and 90 minutes to cook, so make sure you set aside enough time!

1. Prepare the goat by removing any excess fat. Leave the meat on the bones – it adds a real depth of flavour to the sauce and picking it off the bones with your fingers at the end is all part of the fun!
2. Finely chop the onions, ginger and garlic
3. Heat oil in a large sauce pan. Add the mustard seeds and place the lid on the pan. The seeds will begin to crack and pop – when the popping finishes, the oil is ready.
4. Add the onions and sweat for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic and ginger. This needs to be done on a high heat, so stir constantly to ensure there is no burning!
5. After about 5 minutes, add the spices. Different sources will tell you different things about how and when to add the spices (some recommend making a paste with water, for example). My boyfriend and his family adds all the spices to the hot pan in one go, then stir vigorously so that the onions are covered in a thick coating of spices
6. Continue stirring for 30 seconds to a minute to allow the spices to cook – the mixture will easily catch on the bottom of the pan so stir constantly! Next, add the chopped tomatoes.
7. Bring the mixture up to the boil and add the goat.
8. Turn the heat right down, and leave to simmer very gently with the lid on for 45 minutes, and then remove the lid and continue to cook for 45 minutes.

Whilst the curry is simmering away, you can begin to make the dough for the chapatis. Honestly,these breads are almost fool proof.

1. Place 2 cups of flour into a large mixing bowl
2. Measure out 1 cup of tepid water, and add it very slowly to the mixture
3. Knead the dough on a floured work surface – the longer the dough is needed for, the more elastic it will become, and the softer your chapatis will be
4. Once satisfied that the dough is soft, leave in a covered bowl until 10 minutes before your curry is ready!
5. Divide the dough into 8. Roll each into a ball and flatten it a little, then coat it in flour. Roll it out on a clean work surface until as thin as possible
6. Place the chapati on a hot and dry shallow frying pan. After about 30 seconds, the dough will begin to puff up and blackened spots will appear. Flip the bread over, and cook for a 30 seconds on the other side, and it is done! Repeat for the further chapatis.

Okay, so we got hungry and in our haste I forgot to take a photo of the finished product. But I promise you it looked delicious. The meat was so tender it fell of the bone, and the breads were made even more amazing by being dipped in the rich gravy. And the smell was something else!…Mmmmm.