1. To prepare the curry blend, dry-roast the first 5 spices by tossing them for a couple of minutes in a hot, dry frying pan, then pound in a pestle and mortar or grind in a coffee or spice grinder. Mix with the ginger and turmeric.

2. Cut the goat into good-sized chunks (I prefer 2–3cm thick chunky slices to even cubes; think in terms of 3–4 pieces per person), trimming off only the really excessive fat.

3. In a large bowl (big enough to take the meat), combine 2 level tbsp of the freshly ground spice mix with the tomatoes, garlic, onions and chillies. Strip the thyme leaves off their stalks, bruise with a knife blade and add to the bowl. Finely chop the roots and stalks of the coriander (set aside the leaves for adding to the curry at the end) and add them, too.  Add the HP sauce if you like.

4. Add the meat to the marinade, rubbing the marinade in well with your fingers. You should spend a bit of time over this, working the spices into the meat and enjoying the smell that rises from the bowl. Cover and leave in the fridge for at least 6 hours, or overnight.

5. Remove the meat from the seasoning, knocking off any loose bits of onion or tomato (these will be fried separately later). In a large pan, fry the meat in the butter until it is nicely browned. You’ll need to do this in at least 2 batches.

6. Transfer to a large casserole (in the Caribbean they’d use a cast iron Dutch pot). Then fry the seasoning that you’ve just taken the meat out of – everything that’s left in the bowl – until the onions are softened. Add to the meat in the pot.

7. Deglaze the pan with a little water and add these juices, along with enough extra water just to cover the meat. Add a scant teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil, then turn it down to the gentlest possible simmer. Transfer to a very low oven (about 120°c/Gas Mark ½), if you like, or cook on the hob, until the meat is very tender.

8. It will need at least 2, more like 3, hours. Serve sprinkled with the chopped coriander leaves, accompanied by plain boiled rice and fried plantains, plus mango chutney or other Jamaican pickles.

This dish is worth cooking for the smell alone.  As soon as those fenugreek seeds hit the pan the whole house smells wonderful.  All in all the whole preparation took about an hour.  It a good dish if you have a few folk coming round as the marinade is best prepared the day before and left over night.

After about an hour of gentle simmering I was getting a bit concerned as it was tasting entirely too watery.  Have faith though.  By the end of hour two the meat was falling off the bone, the sauce had thickened and the flavours were just incredible.  Any bone sections that were still sporting meat were left in while the other sections were discarded prior to serving.  

Served up with Afghan bread, white rice, mango and lime chutney and lime pickle (I could eat this by itself anyway) it had a nice building heat that wasn't overwhelming.  The goat itself is spectacular for curry.  It's not as full flavoured as lamb but absorbs all the spices just as well as lamb does and is incredibly tender.  A couple of cold beers and some good chat with friends rounded things off nicely.  Sorry Mr Goat, but you just became a fixture on the menu.