Ultimate Slow-Cooker (Crock-Pot) Curry Goat

By Chris De La Rosa
Culinary Specialist

With such busy lifestyles we tend to live today, it’s always nice to have a comforting home-cooked meal waiting for us when we get home.

With that in mind, I decided to start exploring ways to tailor some classic Caribbean dishes for being prepared in a slow-cooker (or crock pot).

With this slow-cooker Curry Goat, you’ll get that lovely Caribbean ‘curry’ with fall-off-the-bones tenderness, mommy raised us on. I highly encourage you to give this method of cooking curry goat a try.

You’ll Need…

3 lbs goat
4 large potatos (cut in 1/quarters)
1 scotch bonnet pepper (cut or leave whole to control the heat)
2 tablespoons Caribbean Green Seasoning
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 large onion (diced)
5 sprigs thyme
4-6 cloves garlic (smashed)
3-5 thin slices of ginger
8 pimento berries (aka allspice berries)
1 large tomato (diced)
3/4 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 scallions (chopped)
2 tablespoons water

Important! If doing this recipe gluten-free, please go through the entire list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten-free dietary requirements — especially the curry powder you use, as some may contain flour as a filler.

I used goat meat with bones, as I find the flavor of the finished dish is much better when bones are used, as compared to using boneless goat. This recipe will work great with lamb as well. Please get your butcher to cut the goat for you, as the bones are very tough and will do damage to your kitchen knives. Wash and dry the goat and get ready to start. By the way, remove any big pieces of fat from the goat and discard.

Basically, you’re adding all the ingredients to the goat (in the slow cooker) and give it all a good mix. I used potato in this curry goat, as it’s a great way to stretch the dish for more people. Cut the potato into quarters as they will want to fall apart during the lengthy cooking process.

The curry powder I used was my own blend, but I highly recommend Caribbean curry powders, especially the Madras-like blends. Or use your favourite. I did slice the scotch bonnet pepper as I love my curry goat with a little ‘kick’. If you wanted you could add the scotch bonnet pepper whole, but try not to break it while cooking and stirring or you’ll release the beast (heat).

Remember to wash your hands with soap and water after handing such hot peppers like Scotch Bonnets. The tomato may seem out of place (for some people), but I assure you that it will add an acidic balance to the richness of the curry. There’s no need to allow this to marinate if you’re in a rush, as it will cook slowly for five hours and infuse the goat with that classic curry flavor.

With 20 minutes to go, I opened the slow-cooker and did a few things (cooked for 5 hrs as mentioned above): tasted for salt and adjusted; but before that, you’ll notice a ton of fat at the surface (goat is very fatty), try your best to skim that off and discard (you can use a paper towel to skim that off easily). Do not pour this down your sink or it will clog your plumbing. Remove the scotch bonnet pepper if you had it in there whole. If the gravy is a bit runny you can cook uncovered for a further 30 minutes, but do bear in mind you can always crush a couple pieces of the potato to thicken things up…..also it will thicken naturally as the curry goat cools. Top with some finely chopped Cilantro — about 1 tablespoon – not mentioned in the ingredient list — and enjoy.

This recipe is courtesy of Gourmand Award winning cookbook author and founder of CaribbeanPot.com, Chris De La Rosa. With over 450 printable recipes with step by step cooking instructions and demo videos, PLUS over 1 million social/fan connections globally every month, CaribbeanPot.com is the world’s #1 resource of Caribbean Culinary Culture. Connect with Chis on Instagram: www.instagram.com/caribbeanpot/.