Grow­ing up, Sun­days were reserved for homey meals — soul food, com­fort food, fam­ily food. I like to the con­tinue this tra­di­tion with my wife and kid. So every Sun­day I try to make some­thing a lit­tle extra spe­cial. Sun­days are my day to use [uhmmm..] but­ter, oil or coconut milk. It’s my day not to count calo­ries, but just to go for it. Cur­ries are one of those foods. Good cur­ries require oil and coconut milk. Low fat cur­ries, while they can be excel­lent, always seem to lack that lit­tle some­thing. While it helps tremen­dously, mak­ing a low-fat curry very spicy does not make up for the lack of fat.

This past Sun­day, was our day to eat goat curry. Goat meat is regain­ing pop­u­lar­ity in Amer­i­can espe­cially Texas with its large Latino and Caribbean pop­u­la­tions. I like to turn on a lit­tle reg­gae and make a hot pot of goat curry. I start prepar­ing the goat early since the curry has to cook for 3 hours.

Recipe for Jamaican Goat Curry

Inter­est­ingly, curry goat was intro­duced to Jamaica by Indian immi­grants to the island. If you hear “curry goat” it’s Caribbean. “Goat curry” would be Indian. You will need

2lbs. lean goat meat. Depend­ing on where you live obtain­ing goat meat can be easy or not so. In Hous­ton, many large super­mar­kets carry it as “goat meat” or “cabrito”. Check­out your local African, Mid­dle East­ern, Indian, Pak­istani, or Halal gro­cer. Or order some online http://www.goatmeats.com/

• 2 lbs cut up lean goat meat includ­ing bones divided into 4 batches. Trim fat away fat and any skin that has no meat on it
• 1 medium yel­low onion (large dice)
• 3 cloves gar­lic (minced)
• 4 cups goat or beef broth. Goat broth can be made by boil­ing your goat trim­mings and bones in 6 cups of water for 30 minutes
• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 3/4 cup light coconut milk or 1/2 cup full cream coconut milk + 1/4 cup water
• 1 or 2 habaneros, depend­ing on how spicy you like it. For the habanero taste with­out the spici­ness, split the habanero and care­fully remove  the seeds.
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp veg­etable oil, plus 1 tbsp for later.
• 2 tsp flour for later.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pot on medium high for 1 minute, then fry onions and gar­lic for 2 min­utes. Then braise the goat so that it will be remain ten­der when it cooked, but not fall part or get mushy. Add the goat to the pot, such that it is not not over­crowded. Cook each batch of the goat,1 at a time until lightly browned. Remove each batch, then add the next. After all batches are cooked return all the goat to the pot.

Add the broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Add thyme, black pep­per, and curry pow­der. Stir in, then bring heat down to a sim­mer. Set timer to 3 hours and cover the pot. Go watch a movie.

After the timer goes off, drain off 1/2 cup of the curry liq­uid into a sep­a­rate bowl and set aside. Heat 1 tbsp veg­etable oil in saucepan on medium, add 2 tsp flour and stir in to make a roux (lightly browned flour). Add the curry liq­uid that was set aside, then stir in vigourously to pre­vent clump­ing. Then re-add the liq­uid to curry pot with the goat. Turn up heat to medium. Add coconut milk and stir in. Add habaneros. Then cook for 5 min­utes. Remove from heat and serve with fresh steamed rice.

Another great curry idea using fish