Goat is now increasingly available: it is sold at halal butchers, at West Indian butchers, and at specialty butchers. What you need are some pieces of meat with bone and some without bone. Ideally, the pieces should come from different parts of the animal—some from the shoulder, some from the upper leg, some from the shank, and a few from the neck—and should be cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Bone pieces could be larger. I always like to include at least one marrowbone. You can make the same dish with lamb from the shoulder with some bone. Good lamb generally takes about 50–80 minutes to cook, less time than goat. At home, we always ate this everyday dish with chapatis. There was always a dal, such as My Everyday Moong Dal, a couple of vegetables, and some relishes and chutneys. You may, of course, serve a simple rice dish instead of the bread.

Ingredients

　　4 tablespoons olive oil, canola oil, or ghee

　　Two 2-inch cinnamon sticks

　　8 cardamom pods

　　1 large red onion, cut into very fine half rings

　　3 cloves garlic, crushed

　　1 tablespoon very finely chopped peeled fresh ginger

　　3 pounds goat meat for curries; see above

　　1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

　　1 tablespoon ground coriander

　　1/4–1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

　　6 egg-sized potatoes, about 1 pound total, peeled and left whole

　　2 teaspoons salt

　　1 teaspoon garam masala (preferably the homemade kind, page 285)

　　Pour the oil into a large, wide, heavy pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the cinnamon, cardamom, and onions. Stir and fry 5–6 minutes or until the onions turn a light brown. Add the garlic and ginger. Stir for a minute. Add the goat, turmeric, coriander, and cayenne. Stir for 2–3 minutes. Add 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on medium heat about 10 minutes or until all the liquid has disappeared. Remove cover and stir 3–4 minutes to brown the meat slightly. Now add 4 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low, and cook gently for 1 hour. Add the potatoes and salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low, and cook gently for another 30 minutes or until the meat is very tender. Sprinkle the garam masala over the top and mix in. Turn off the heat and serve.

　　Excerpted from At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka by Madhur Jaffrey. Copyright © 2010 by Random House. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.Buy the full book from Amazon.