Vietnamese Goat Curry (Ca Ri De)

My dear friend A and I ventured out to Footscray during the long weekend, something we used to do quite a bit but that was when I still cooked regularly at home. Instead of our regular Vietnamese meal we opted for Ethiopian food for a change, it was a delightful meal but we both had way too much of the delicious injera. We left the African quarter feeling happy and satisfied (not to mention how full we were), a long stroll to the Vietnamese market followed, for some food shopping and to walk off those fast expanding injera in our stomachs. I picked up some fresh herbs, sauces and spices for the pantry and some very fresh goat meat from a halal butcher.

If you are a fan of Vietnamese chicken curry (ca ri ga) then you might want to give this goat version a try. The recipe and cooking method is exactly the same but do increase the amount of spices and curry powder when cooking this gamey meat, an advice given by a lovely Vietnamese lady who runs an Asian supermarket in my neighbourhood.

The result is a mild but extremely aromatic curry, the tender meat literally falls of the bones a result of the slow and long braising. We had it with some freshly baked baguettes from a Vietnamese bakery but it will go equally well with some hot steamed rice.

serves 6 to 8 as part of a Vietnamese meal

you'll need;

1 x 1.5 kg of goat pieces on the bone*

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 white/purple sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 onion, cut into wedges

8 tbs of Vietnamese curry powder

1 tbs of coriander powder

1 tbs of black pepper

4 tbs of roasted chili flakes

4 shallots, chopped 

6 garlic cloves, chopped 

2 lemongrass, cut into 3" lengths and bruised with a hard object

3" piece of ginger, sliced thickly

5 kaffir lime leaves or bay leaves

1.5 cups of chicken stock

300 ml of coconut milk

300 ml of coconut cream

3 tbs of sugar

4 tbs of fish sauce

salt to taste

spring onion, coriander leaves and Thai basil to serve

* Available at halal butcher

Mix goat pieces with 3 tbs of the curry powder, cumin powder, black pepper  and a pinch of salt. Leave it for 20 minutes.

Prepare the aromatics.

Brown goat pieces in batches and set aside.

Saute chopped garlic, shallot, the rest of the curry powder and chili flakes for 30 seconds. then add in the goat pieces. Continue to stir and cook for a few minutes on high heat.

Return the goat pieces to the pot and continue to stir and cook for a few minutes on high heat.

Add lemongrass, ginger, kaffir lime leaves, sugar, seasonings and stock. Mix well and simmer for 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and bring it back to a simmer, cover and cook until the goat is almost tender. (~2 hours)

Add sweet potato and onion wedges and simmer uncovered til sweet potato pieces are tender. Check for seasoning.

Garnish with fresh herbs and chopped chillies and serve with some freshly baked baguette or steamed rice.