Shalini’s South Indian goat fry

‘My husband and I moved to Australia from Southern India two years ago. We tried lots of butchers but we couldn’t find good goat meat until we came across Feather and Bone — it’s the best thing we’ve found in Sydney. Our family and friends love it and we think the secret is the organic way it’s grown and the fact that all the delicious fat is left on the meat. My husband is a strong believer of the traditional saying “health is wealth”, and I agree with him. I don’t want us to be running to the doctor for medicine so we cook all our own food with selected, mostly organic ingredients. We cook goat meat in several ways — we make goat curry, goat pepper fry, goat green chilli fry and goat dry roast. We prefer spicy food and this recipe is my husband’s favourite. It’s cooked slowly, step by step, and ends up being very juicy and tender, holding in all the aromatic flavours.’

Shalini Shiva, retail customer

Feeds: 4 | Preparation time: 10 minutes | Cooking time: 50 minutes

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) goat rump and/or leg (known as ‘mutton’ in parts of Asia), diced

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ cinnamon stick

4 cloves

1 cardamom pod

2 teaspoons ghee, plus extra as needed

3–4 curry leaf sprigs, leaves picked

4 long green chillies, chopped

1 brown onion, sliced

1 teaspoon ginger paste

1 teaspoon garlic paste

2 teaspoons ground chilli

1 teaspoon ground coriander (cilantro)

½ teaspoon garam masala

Coriander (cilantro) leaves, to serve

Steamed rice and lime wedges, to serve

Place the goat in a colander and rinse under cold water. Sprinkle with half the turmeric, toss to coat, and rinse it off with water.

Add goat to a large saucepan with cinnamon, cloves and cardamom, cover with water and bring to the boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 30 minutes until cooked through. Drain, reserving cooking liquid.

Heat ghee in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add curry leaves and chilli. Cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes until softened, then add onion and fry, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until transparent. Add ginger and garlic, and cook, stirring for 2 minutes, then add ground chilli, coriander, garam masala, remaining turmeric and 2 teaspoons salt and stir to combine.

Increase heat to medium–high, add goat and fry, stirring occasionally and adding more ghee if necessary, for 5 minutes or until browned. Add 3 tablespoons reserved cooking liquid and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until the stock is evaporated. Stir in coriander leaves and serve with rice and lime wedges.