Goat Fry Piece Mandi - Half Recipe

Prepare and marinate

Trim excess fat from the goat pieces and pat dry. In a large bowl combine yogurt, ginger-garlic paste, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, black pepper, red chili powder, salt, lemon juice and oil. Add goat pieces and rub marinade into meat until evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.

Bring marinated meat to room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.

Make spice stock

In a large heavy pot bring water or stock to a simmer. Add quartered onion, crushed garlic, peppercorns, cardamom, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon stick and dried lime or lemon slices. Add salt. Simmer gently 20 minutes to develop aroma.

Remove and discard onion and large solids or leave in for flavor. Keep the spiced stock simmering on very low heat while you brown the goat and cook rice.

Brown goat

Heat 2 tbs oil in a heavy, oven-safe Dutch oven or deep pot over medium-high heat. Remove goat from marinade, shaking off excess. Sear pieces in batches 4–6 minutes per batch until golden-brown on all sides. Transfer seared pieces back to the pot.

Braise in spiced stock

Pour the hot spiced stock over the browned goat so liquid comes about two-thirds up the meat. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cover tightly. Either: a) braise on low heat on the stovetop for 1 to 1¼ hours until meat is fork-tender; or b) transfer covered pot to a 170°C (340°F) oven and braise 1 to 1¼ hours. Check at 45 minutes; add a little more hot water if needed.

When done, remove goat pieces and keep warm. Strain braising liquid into a bowl and reserve 2 to 3 cups of the flavorful stock for the rice.

Par-cook rice

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add soaked, drained basmati rice and 1 tsp salt. Cook until rice is about 70% done (grains slightly tender but still firm), about 5–6 minutes. Drain rice in a fine sieve.

Finish rice with mandi flavors

In a wide saucepan or the same pot used for braising (cleaned), heat 2 tbs ghee or oil over medium. Add ground cumin and ground cardamom and briefly bloom for 20 seconds. Add the drained rice and gently toss to coat. Measure 2¼ cups of the reserved spiced braising stock (warm) and add to rice. Stir in 1 tsp salt if needed. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover tightly and cook on lowest heat 12–15 minutes until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Alternatively, steam rice over the braising meat for 20 minutes if your pot setup allows.

While rice rests 5–10 minutes covered, steep saffron in warm milk. Fluff rice with a fork and drizzle saffron milk over rice, then lightly mix for color.

Assemble mandi half portion

In a large serving platter layer half of the cooked rice, arrange the warm goat pieces on top, and cover with remaining rice to create a dome. Spoon a few tablespoons of reserved braising stock over rice to moisten and flavor.

Sprinkle crispy fried onions, toasted nuts, chopped cilantro and mint over the rice. Serve with lemon wedges on the side. Offer extra warm spiced stock if desired.