Jamaican Curried Goat
Curry Goat is a dish prepared using goat meat. The dish was originated in Southeast Asia which was brought by the Indian diaspora into the region. The dish has spread throughout the Caribbean especially Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, & Suriname.
In Jamaica, most events will almost always have Curry Goat as part of the celebration. This includes weddings, funerals, parties, house warmings, you name it.
Some Jamaicans prefer to use our own local goat meat to prepare it which we also call mutton. Goat meat usually takes a long time to cook so most times it is recommended to use a pressure cooker if you have one to lessen the cooking time, otherwise it can take 2-3 hours or sometimes longer to become tender in a regular large pot.
Ingredients
- Goat or Mutton
- Curry Powder
- Scallion
- Garlic
- Thyme
- Pimento Berries
- Seasoned Salt
- Garlic Salt
- Salt
- Sugar
- Dark Soy Sauce
- Scotch Bonnet Pepper
- Water
- Potatoes
- Oil
- Onion
*This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclaimer here.
I must say, this or any curry dish you cook must be done with a good curry powder to get good results. I personally swear by a Jamaican brand called Betapak Curry. It is strong with a nice bright color and the perfect curry taste.
I have in the past tried other curry powders that I would say ruined my dish because it just wasn’t good. The best results is also achieved by using a pressure cooker which will cook much faster and be tender.
Curried Goat is usually spicy with scotch bonnet pepper, but if you don’t like a lot of spice like me, you can add enough to suit your taste or non at all especially when serving to kids.
The secret ingredient and finishing magic touch to my curry which I got from my Dad and I also notice not all Jamaicans do this, is to add some little cubed Irish potatoes to the dish in the last 10-15 minutes of cooking. So here is my recipe which I hope you will enjoy.
Preparing Your Curry Goat
- First you would wash off the meat, cut it into smaller pieces if desired and season with all ingredients except your potato, water, and oil.
- Cover in a large seasoning bowl and marinade in the fridge for a couple hours or overnight.
- I reccommend using a pressure cooker to cook this as a regular pot, which still may be used can take up to several hours to get your meat soft.
- Heat up your pressure cooker on high heat, add oil, add meat and water according to directions. Pressure for the stated time, check your meat, and pressure some more as needed.
- When your meat is soft enough, place in a regular pot and add your cubed potatoes to cook for a few minutes, then add your onions in the last couple minutes.
- Season to taste adding more of what you would like.
A good pot of Curried Goat, the meat will be soft, with just the right amount of curry, fresh seasonings and other spices and salt. After seasoning, marinade in an airtight seasoning bowl overnight or a few hours.
Jamaican Curried Goat
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 lbs. Goat Meat cut in medium-small pieces
- 3 Stalk Scallions cut up
- 4 sprigs Thyme Leaves preferrably fresh
- 5 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 tsp. Pimento Berries
- 2 tsp. Seasoned Salt
- 2 tsp. Garlic Salt
- 1 1/2 tsp Salt
- 3/4 tsp. Sugar
- 1/4 cup Curry Powder (a good strong one)
- 1/4 tsp Dark or Mushroom Soy Sauce
- 1/2 Scotch Bonnett Pepper (may adjust to suit your taste)
- 3 Tbsp. Oil
- 2 cups Water (about) if using pressure cooker, if not, may be around 4 cups to start.
- 1 small Onion cut horizontally
- 1 1/2 cups Potatoes cut in small-medium cubes
Instructions
-
Wash & cut up goat to desired pieces. Season with all ingredients up to the scotch bonnett pepper. Leave in a covered seasoning bowl or bag overnight or at least a couple hours.
-
Heat up your pressure cooker or a large deep pot on high heat. Add the oil. After about 1 minute when hot, add the goat to the pot , stirring a few minutes to brown slightly.
-
If using a pressure cooker, add about 2 cups of water, tighten your top lid, and timing from when the pressure cooker starts to hiss, cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, remove lid once cooled, and stir and check for tenderness. If needed, add a little more water and pressure an extra 15 minutes or more if needed from time hissing starts again. (you don't want to end up with too much water towards the end of cooking).
-
Check meat again, after cooled and can remove lid. If meat mostly tender, which can be checked easily with how a fork goes through it, pour it all into a big pot. continue simmering, add potatoes the last 15 minutes. Then add onions the last 5 minutes. Season to taste.
-
If cooking in a regular pot, add about 4 cups of water to cover meat and cook on high for 2-3 hours or more until meat mostly tender. you may need to continue adding water throughout cooking as it continues to evaporate. Close to when it's almost finished, you don't want to end up with too much water. Follow above instructions from when meat is added to a regular pot to finish off.
Recipe Notes
Curry Goat is best served with white rice, rice & peas and salad.