Goat? How often have you seen goat meat in the butchers? But believe it or not, goat is the most commonly eaten meat in the world. And yet we don’t eat much of it in the UK. Well maybe we should as it adds another dimension to the choices available to us. Not dissimilar to lamb or mutton, you could try phoning up your local butcher and seeing if he would order some. Or, if that doesn’t work, substitute stewing mutton or lamb. We occasionally get it for the restaurant but I wish we could get more. If you know of anybody that could supply us, let me know. However, if you can’t be bothered to cook, you can get a lovely mutton-based version of this to eat at home from Oldfields Pantry.

The recipe doesn’t specify how much curry powder to use. It depends on the type you have so you have to read the packet and use enough for four or maybe a little less.

Serves four

750g goat meat – cubed
Five onions – peeled
One head of garlic – separated and peeled
The juice and grated rind of one lime
One sprig of thyme
Hot Madras curry powder
One teaspoon of black mustard seeds
One carrot – peeled
One onion – peeled
One stick of celery
A little cooking oil
Plain yoghurt
A handful of chopped coriander

Place four of the onions, all the garlic cloves (keeping one back), the leaves off the thyme sprig and the lime juice and rind into a food processor or liquidiser and blend together. Place the meat in a bowl, add the blended mixture and mix well. Leave to marinate for at least one hour.

When marinated, heat a large heavy pan and, when hot, dry-fry the mustard seeds and curry powder until the seeds start to pop. Add a slug of cooking oil, stir and continue frying for a further minute. The add the meat with its marinade, a couple of pinches of salt and around a cup of water. Stir, bring to the boil and simmer gently, covered, for 1 to 1½ hours.

Towards the end of the cooking time, wash the lentils in a sieve and place in a large pan. Roughly chop the carrot, remaining onion and celery stick and add to the pan. Slice the remaining garlic clove lengthways, add to the pan and then cover the lentils and vegetables with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, watching the level of water doesn’t get too low. However, the aim is to end up with little or no water left at the end. If necessary, pour any excess away.

To serve, stir half of the chopped coriander into the curry, spoon into warm bowls along with the lentils and top with a spoonful of yoghurt and a sprinkling of the remaining coriander.