Curried Goat Stew
This amazing curried goat stew is intriguing and spicy without being overly hot. It’s enjoyed in the Caribbean and Africa with rice and plantains.
Okay, I know that goat meat can be off-putting, and you may have some reservations about eating it. But please don’t be so quick to dismiss it. You’d be surprised that it’s a must-have at parties, birth celebrations, weddings, and huge gatherings in the Caribbean, Latin America, and throughout Africa.
In fact, did you know it is the most popular meat throughout the world, and, as a bonus, it’s healthier than the standard meat choices because it’s lean and has less saturated fat, calories, and cholesterol.
The Best Way to Cook Goat
There are many ways to prepare goat meat. However, low and slow is the best way to bring out its full flavor and tenderize it. Curry is my favorite way to cook it because there’s something about the spices that mellows the goaty flavor.
Be careful when shopping for goat meat, as the older the goat is, the gamier it will taste. Some people love that gamey taste, others not so much. That gamey taste can be attributed to the gender; females are less gamey, while males have a stronger flavor.
Organic, free-range goat is better if you can get it. And the younger the goat, the more it tastes like a cross between lamb and beef. So feel free to replace it with lamb shanks or beef brisket in this recipe.
How to Make Curried Goat Stew
- Cook the goat meat for 60-90 minutes, depending on how you like your goat cooked. A pressure cooker will shorten the process. Strain the meat and reserve the stock for later.
- Brown the goat for 5-10 minutes. (Photo 1)
- Add onions, ginger, and garlic to perfume the oil and meat, and continue frying for 1-2 minutes, being careful not to let the garlic burn. (Photo 2)
- Stir in the diced tomatoes, curry powder, white pepper, smoked paprika, hot pepper, thyme, and parsley. Continue stirring to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Add about 2 cups of the reserved stock, along with salt and bouillon to taste. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding water or stock as needed. (Photo 3)
- Serve – Finally, add the green onions. Adjust seasonings and sauce consistency with water or stock and salt. Serve warm with the desired side dishes. (Photo 4)
Recipe Tips and Notes
- How long it takes the goat to cook tender depends on your altitude and the age of the goat. Once it took 5 hours, so keep that in mind when calculating dinner time.
- You can cut the cooking time in half by using a pressure cooker, especially for the tougher cuts of meat.
Make-Ahead and Storage
This stew tastes even better the next day. So go ahead and make a double batch; one for now and one for the freezer for a stress-free weeknight dinner later. It will last 3-4 days in the fridge or 3-4 months in the freezer.
What Pairs With Curried Goat Stew
Enjoy this traditional stew with coconut rice, fried plantains, or a vegetable side of your choice (stewed spinach is terrific).
More Spicy African Recipes to Enjoy
By Imma
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”TBjk7cGw” upload-date=”Mon Aug 06 2018 19:57:54 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)” name=”Curried Goat Stew” description=”Curried Goat Stew — An amazing recipe for goat stew that is intriguing and spicy without being overly hot . A stew widely consumed in the Caribbean and Africa.”]
Curried Goat Stew
Ingredients
- 2½-3 pounds (1-2kg) goat meat, cut into small pieces
- salt and pepper to taste (see notes)
- 1 medium onion, chopped (half for cooking the goat and half for the stew)
- water, enough to cover the meat
- ¼ cup (60ml) cooking oil
- 1 teaspoon (4-5g) minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon (5g) minced garlic
- 4 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 3-4 teaspoons (7-10g) curry powder
- 1 teaspoon (2-3g) white pepper
- 1 teaspoon (3g) smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon (8-9g) chopped fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons (4g) parsley
- 2 green onions, sliced
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper (adjust to taste or replace with any hot pepper)
- 1 tablespoon (10g) Maggie bouillon (optional)
Instructions
- Boil goat meat with salt, pepper, half of the chopped onions, and water to cover in a stock pot until tender. It takes approximately 60-90 minutes or more, depending on how you like your goat cooked. I sometimes use the pressure cooker to shorten the process. Strain the meat and reserve the stock for later.
- Add ¼ cup of oil to the pan and brown the goat for 5-10 minutes.
- Then, add the rest of the chopped onions, ginger, and garlic to perfume the oil and meat, and continue frying the meat for 1-2 minutes, being careful not to let the garlic burn.
- Next, add diced tomatoes, curry powder, white pepper, smoked paprika, hot pepper, thyme, and parsley. Stir the pot frequently to prevent the sauce from sticking.
- Add about 2 cups of the reserved stock, along with salt and bouillon to taste. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Stir occasionally, adding water or stock as needed.
- Finally, add the green onions. Adjust seasonings and sauce consistency with water or stock and salt.
- Serve warm with the desired side dishes.
Tips & Notes:
- Be careful when shopping for goat meat; the older the goat is, the gamier it will taste.
- Feel free to replace goat meat with lamb shanks or beef brisket.
- A good average for salt to taste is ¾-1 teaspoon or 4-6 grams of salt per pound. If you start with ½ a teaspoon per pound, you can always add more later.
- The goat meat is slow-cooked for 1-2 hours, but you can cut the cooking time in half by using a pressure cooker. Tougher cuts of meat take about 35 minutes, with a 10-minute natural release to finish the job.
- You can thin the sauce by adding more stock or water.
- Please remember that the nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary significantly based on the products used in the recipe.
Thumbs up!
Thanks!
The recipe calls parsley but you left out when to add it in the recipe directions.
My bad!I use it for garnish. You may leave out if desired . Will update recipe . Thanks
Making this tonight for my boyfriend and I. I’m nigerian but I lost my parents early and have had to teach myself the culture and cuisine. Thank you for spreading your cooking knowledge.
Hi Atarhe! Glad to hear my recipes are working out well for you . Africa is has a rich cuisine that we all need to embrace. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with me
I made this dish yesterday, and it was sooo tasty! i then wrapped this in tortilla for hubby to take to work, and he said it taste better the next day! What I did first, is put oil in the pot, browned the meat added 2 tblspn sugar, threw in garlic, and ginger, salt and black pepper. Then I added water and filled just to the tip of the goat meat. I let it cook on super slow heat for 3 hours, or until the meat falls off the bones. Then, in a separate pan, I added 2 cans tomato paste, and cooked that then added the goat meat, a cup of the juice from the pot, ginger, garlic then mixed and let it sit for 2 hours. I tasted the curry, and it was soooo good. That’s how I knew the dish was ready.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! we ate till there was nothing left!
That’s what am talking about Shanon!! No left overs. That’s the way to do it. Thank you so much for sharing such detailed feedback with us. Definitely going to have some tortilla ready when I make this next.
OMG! tried this for my wife during the mothers day and. …..my wife couldn’t stop praising me. She entered the kitchen tasted it and before I could see she was clapping her hands for me saying this is so perfect! . 10/10 rating.
Ate it with boiled Ghanaian yam. Yummy!
Chai! The aroma alone was just unbeatable! Thanks Imma . This week I am doing carribian curry goat with potatoes. Already salivating. Thank you.
VIrtual High Five Fredrick !!! YESS! So glad to hear wiffy was pleased! Love Ghanaian yams, and yes , to the Jamaican curry goat. You are going to love it too!! Happy Cooking !!!
I made this for a friend’s birthday party in Germany and it was a hit. Everyone loved it and most asked for more but it wasn’t enough. I even mistakenly left one of the habaneros I normally add fully to my foods and it broke and some of the guests had a hard time because they ate they part that was too spicy but when they recovered, they still wanted more. Great stew, absolutely delicious!
Hahaha! So happy to hear this! Thanks for taking the time to share this with us .
Hello! What type of bouillon flavor do you recommend? And when you say “cooking oil” are you referring to Palm oil? Thanks and I can’t wait to try this recipe!
I usually use chicken or beef . Cooking oil refers to the oil you use for cooking stews, I use canola or vegetable oil.
This was delicious!! I added some potato and carrots but otherwise made exactly as you wrote- YUM!!
Thanks for sharing!
My Pleasure!!! Glad you liked it.
Made it for my boyfriend (who is Zim) and he loved it. Thank you for such an easy, delicious recipe!
Awesome!! Glad he liked it .
Thanks for the recipe. I am going to try and cook this for our family priest friend from Kenya. He loves goat so I will try and surprise him. I’ll let you know how he likes it! 🙂
Thanks for giving it a try. Am sure he will approve . Happy Cooking!!!
I tried this recipe and it is quite tasty. Reminds me more of a goat stew I have had in Senegalese and nigerian restaurants than anything I have ever seen, cooked or eaten in Jamaica. Jamaicans dont put tomato in it; that how I distinguish between how continental africans and new world africans cook goat.
Agree. This is Curried Goat Stew,as suggested in the title, my humble version, not specific to any country or region. If you are looking for Jamaican Curry Goat then check this out here http://africanbites.com/jamaican-curry-goat/. Thanks for sharing!!!!
I made this dish for my husband for thanksgiving and he LOVES IT! I’m from the U.S. and he’s from Nigeria. He liked it so much he begged me to made it again only two days later!!I followed the directions to the “T” the only thing I did differently was add spinach towards the end and let it simmer with the other flavors. Thank you so much for sharing a easy to follow recipe for me and my family.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us. Now am going to have to share it with spinach.
how much stock do I use at start of this recipe????, debra–(re, boil for 60 minutes etc)
About 2 cups or more depending on how thick you want your stew. It wouldn’t hurt if you use more , you can always let it reduce to desired consistency.
Recipe was deelish. I’m Trini and my husband is Vincincian so we both cook a wide variety of carib food. We both loved the recipe. I added a bit of lemon juice and orange zest, served it over rice with yam and Cabbage.
Glad to hear it was delish! Thanks for sharing your substitutions
Hey there, I’m going out 2morrow and get me 3 to 4 lbs of goat and get this stew going I can’t wait to try it. I will get back to u soon and let you know how it turned out”OK””
Marc, you are so going to like it – let me know how it works for you.
Yes it is!! in north of Mexico, the contribution of Jewish, Spanish and pre Hispanic cultures is still present in a cuisine in Monterrey Mexico. the grilled goat is one of our traditional dish….Mexico has a variety of traditional dishes. I am from Monterrey Mexico, it is a Industrial city located in the north, so our traditional dishes are flour tortilla, grilled goat, grilled chuck ( Agujas a las brazes), meat and Archera, grilled meat and chicken, driedmeat….best known as Machacado con huevo….in English..would be as a dried meat cooked with eggs and hot salsa…acompanied with flour tortilla…it is very delicious. Also, we have a delicious bread…sweet and salty….candies made by goat milk…like dulce de leche. But the dish that represents this beautiful city in Mexico and all over the world as the famous cabrito o baby goat. This delicious dish consist on a very young goat seasoned with lemon juice mixed with onion, pepper garlic and sugar and grilled over firewood . It can be also marinated in wine or beer depending on the taste of the guest. Mexico is o only about tacos, enchiladas….Mexico has a wide variety of dishes. Some people just know the TEXMEX food, that is not real Mexican food…..the best way too know our food, is to go to Mexico and I assure you that you are going to be surprised and very delighted.
I tried this recipe and served it over millet. It was a big hit! It’s funny someone mentioned Mexican food. I made it for my boyfriend’s family, who are Mexican, and they loved it-kids and adults alike. His mom asked me for the recipe so she can make it! Thanks for the tasty idea.
My husband loved it. He says it’s one of the best stews he has ever eaten . Thanks, it was delicious.
Aww , thanks.Tell your husband is AWESOME!
I had goat when I went to Jamaica, but I completely forgot about it since then! This recipe makes me want to run down to the Halal grocer and get me some goat.
Gina, you should do that! Thanks for stopping by!
Yummy Yumers! Had Goat recently for the first time @ an authentic Mexican restaurant cooked in an absolutely delicious Mole Sauce. (Basically a Mexican Style Curry) I can only imagine how delicious your curry here is, I’m giving you 4 stars for making my mouth salivate. lol
Aww, thanks for the 4 stars, however, I need for you to try this recipe and let me know how this compares to the Mexican curry goat. I do appreciate the comment!