Curry of goat and vegetables

You could, of course, use lamb for this recipe. But so long as you have access to goat--available at any butcher that seriously caters to folks of South Asian, East African or Caribbean descent--you should try it. It's a lovely meat, similar in flavour to lamb. You could use mutton too, I suppose. Whatever you end up using for the meat, buy on-the-bone. Meat-on-the-bone tastes better and is more fun to eat. What's that? It's hard to eat with a fork? Well, curry wasn't meant to be eaten with a fork!

Ingredients:
500 g diced goat, on-the-bone
1/2 cup plain yoghurt
4 cloves garlic, peeled
4 green cardamon pods
2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
1 aubergine/eggplant, roughly chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 onion, cut into chunks
1 tbs chilli powder
1 bunch fresh coriander/cilantro
1 tbs coriander seeds
1 tbs cumin seeds
1 tbs fennel seeds
1 tbs nigella/black cumin
1 tbs turmeric powder
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sweet paprika
oil
apple cider vinegar, as necessary
steamed rice, to serve

Coarsely the cardamom pods, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds with a mortar and pestle. Pour into the food processor, along with the onion, garlic and a couple of tablespoons worth of coriander stalks (retain the leaves for later). Blitz, gradually adding apple cider vinegar until a paste forms. How much apple cider vinegar you'll need depends on the size of the onion, the size of the garlic, the direction of the wind, the thickness of your nostril hairs, the position of Saturn in relation to the patch of grass your goat last grazed on and various other factors.

Over a low flame, heat a generous splash of oil in a large saucepan. When oil is hot, add the curry paste and fry for 5 minutes or until it noticeably darkens. Add the pieces of goat and stir so they get covered in the paste. Fry for 5 minutes, ensuring that you keep moving everything around. Otherwise you'll end up with burnt curry paste. Add 3 cups of water, cover the saucepan and cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. At this point, add the aubergine/eggplant, carrot and celery and cook for a further 30 minutes. Remove lid, take off heat and slowly stir in the yoghurt. Garnish with the coriander leaves.

Serve with steamed rice.