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Spiced goat

6/6/2025

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Arabian spices combine with an African barbecue in this delectable one pot dish.
By Liane Arno
 
WE volunteered in Kenya for 12 months some time ago.  I know when you think about Kenya you will immediately envisage tall and lean Maasai jumping high in the air while ram rod straight.  This dance was performed by warriors to demonstrate their prowess in hunting and protecting their tribe. 
 
As herdsmen their cuisine is quite limited to meat, fat, blood, milk, honey and tree bark.  And more meat.  Nyama Choma means grilled or barbecued meat and you will find plenty of places to eat choma either as street food or in restaurants.  The most famous choma place is called Carnivore and in its early days it used to serve meat from giraffe, wildebeest, ostrich and crocodile. 
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When Kenya introduced a ban on using game for meat they replaced the giraffe and wildebeest with pork, beef and chicken but still serve ostrich and crocodile.  The meat is skewered on Maasai swords, cooked on coals, and served on cast-iron plates. It is an experience – but frankly the meat is tough and is definitely not a place to visit for either vegetarians or those who wear dentures! 
 
But the cuisine in Kenya can be quite exquisite with the influences of the Arab world.  Over a thousand years ago Arab traders made their way down the east coast of Africa.  They settled and brought with them their culture, their Islamic religion and their love of spices.  Wherever they stopped mosques were built and spice farms were established. 
 
With their prohibition on pork, goat meat is a staple.  Matt found a wonderful traditional cooking pot that he would put some cuts of goat into along with some spices and simmer away on the cook top.  When I got home there would be a wonderful aroma filling the air and we would sit on our balcony and tuck into goat meat that just falls off the bone.  Of course you can always pop the goat into a crockpot to make life easier.
 
We travel to Melbourne quite a bit and we have a favourite butcher that we stop off at in Dandenong which sells goat, so yes you can find goat meat close by.  Why not give it a try?

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In a frypan sear:
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 finely diced onion
  • 2 garlic cloves – crushed
  • 750 g goat shoulder chopped in leaving in the bone
  • 1 can chopped tomato
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp chili
 
When browned put into a pot with
  • 2 sticks of cassia bark (or cinnamon quills)
  • Pinch of saffron
  • Enough water to cover
 
Bring to the boil and simmer for an hour and a half.  When cooked mix in:
  • 4 tbsp coriander chopped
  • zest and juice half lemon
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp harissa
  • Handful of dried apricots
 
Spoon it over some creamy mash, bones and all, because Kenyans will not believe it is goat unless there are bones in it as they love to suck on the marrow.

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