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It’s Dashain time, so here we goat

Before you chop that whole thing willy nilly and stir it in a giant pot, consider and pause—try these recipes from our resident goat expert. It’s Dashain time, so here we goat

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Goat

Published at : September 26, 2019

Updated at : September 26, 2019 19:20

It’s soon to be Dashain, so mutton-lust is at an all-time high. Tens of thousands of goats are coming to the Valley in time for all the Nepalis that will flock outside their local butchers in preparation for their annual celebration.

While many will fall back on old family recipes or opt for off-the-shelf spice mixes, here are some suggestions for how to do the goats justice post-mortem. Don’t just use generic meat masalas, or throw all the offal in at once, roast and blend your own spices and savour the merits of different cuts—go the extra mile, for miles more flavour.

Whether it's whole-roasting an entire leg, extracting the liver for frying, or processing chops to execute a complex Kashmiri dish, this is the most wonderful time of the year for Nepal’s carnivorous folk.

Roasted Goat Leg

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Roasting a leg of goat (or lamb) is quite easy, and most importantly, it’s an exciting project that ends up with something ridiculously delicious.

Getting a fine goat leg is important. If you have a preferred butcher, ask them to give you a fresh leg from the youngest goat possible (generally weighs around 2kg). Here's the full recipe.

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Fried Goat Liver

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Fried mutton liver, commonly known as “liver fry,” is both popular here in Nepal and in parts of southern India. In addition to being super nutritious—liver is a good source of protein, folic acid and iron—fried liver goes really well with just about anything. Serve it with rice or bread, or instead of bacon or sausage to go with eggs and some greens for brunch. Here's the full recipe.

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Goat Kabargah

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Kabargah is fried mutton ribs—or chops if your butcher doesn’t cooperate—that features as a dish during celebrations in Kashmir. It takes a lot of labour and ingredients to get this right, but once you've made them, you’ll be thankful because the dish is a piece of art in itself. There are various interpretations, so the combinations and kinds of spices people use in this dish varies—some use star anise and rosemary. I decided to go with saffron in mine. Here's the full recipe.

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Goat Curry

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For most people in the country, or any place familiar with goat meat and spices, this is not an entirely new idea. But like with most things in life, this goat curry requires patience. If you don’t have it, drinking a beer before cooking really helps. But before you turn on the stove, you’ll want to consider spending some time on preparation.

The first step: pack up the pressure cooker and put it away in storage. Bring out a wide pot, preferably a brass kasaudi or an iron karahi. If you have a Dutch oven, that’ll work quite well, too. Here's the full recipe.

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Blackened Goat

Goat kawaf, also widely known as pakku, is a more elaborate dish than the popular kebab. It’s a simple idea really: stirring diced goat in a giant pot for hours until it blackens—hence it’s called Kalo Masu—and then mixed with about a dozen spices and a whole lot of ghiu.

For connoisseurs, the most rewarding feeling from Kalo Masu won’t be immediate—it would be a couple of days after the cooking is done, as you pull a tub of leftover kawaf out of the fridge, separate the pieces covered with a layer of fat and ghee, heat it in a shallow pan, and go at it. Here's the full recipe.

Goat
Goat is the Post’s resident expert on all things cabrito—both alive and the ones slow-cooking in a pot. Goat occasionally writes about the art of (and recipes for) cooking, um, goats.