"I'm a goat-lover; my pot and seasonings are always ready to bring out the best in them."

Growing up, the G.O.A.T of festive meals was the Jamaican Curry Goat, which continues to be a ChristMUST favourite.
However, when living overseas, I only prepare it occasionally, as goat meat is not always readily available. So, I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into a butcher's in the most unexpected place, where I purchased 2 kg of ready-cut and packaged goat. I was smiling ear-to-ear when the butcher said, "Yes, I have a goat; how much do you need?"

One of 5 packets of meat, which totaled £25 — a fairly pricy treat that includes a long list of ingredients for a spicy meal with a rich aroma..

The curried goat is slow-cooked till tender and falling off the bone, so it's always a great idea to prep and season the meat a day before, leaving it to marinate overnight..

INGREDIENTS:

SPICES

Curry Powder (any that's available from the supermarket)
salt and black pepper
scotch bonnet pepper
dried Thyme
whole cloves or pimento berries

FRESH HERBS and VEGGIES

one whole garlic
2 whole white onions
1 small piece of ginger (optional)
4 carrots (diced)
2 Irish potatoes (diced)

OTHER

Cooking oil (I use extra virgin Olive Oil)
Vinegar
2 kg Goat meat, cut into bite-size pieces on the bone
Served with Jamaica Rice and Peas (actually red kidney beans)

METHOD

Here's a raw video of me prepping the day before. This takes me some time, because I do a combo for my rice and peas recipe at the same time, and then divide up the ingredients.

This is to save time, as the goat takes about 2 hours to cook until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.

Then I start by washing the goat with some vinegar to enhance the smell (mainly).

In a small bowl, I mix 1/4 cup vinegar with 1 cup tap water.
Add seasonings to meat: 6 tbsp of curry powder, salt and pepper, cloves/pimento berries, minced garlic, chopped onions, and chopped scotch bonnet pepper.

Place the meat in a container massage all spices into the meat, and cover the container.
Leave meat covered in the refrigerator overnight for the meat to marinade.
Uncover meat, and it should look like this on the next day. (I only had one pot on this occasion)

However, heat 3 tbsp of cooking oil on med-high heat, and sear each piece of meat in batches, to seal in the juice.
Add enough ambient water to cover the meat, as seen here.
On high heat, bring water to boil
Place fresh herbs if available such as thyme or rosemary (Optional)

Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low.

Simmer for 1 hr, stirring occasionally as seen in the video, to avoid meat sticking to the bottom of the pot, or drying out (as seen in video).

add potatoes and carrots
add a dash of ketchup/tomato sauce to help round the flavour. (optional)
cook for an additional hour, adding water to avoid meat burning.
Meat should look something like this, as there should be adequate sauce at the end of cooking.