I have always loved mbuzi (goat). It remains among my top five favorite meats to have! I love how Kenyans always have some during literally any celebration, and also during just-because moments. It takes up flavor so well and any chance I get to make some, I dive head first. On the day I made this, my soul was restless and the only thing it craved was some mbuzi. So I had to make it good good and honey it was worth my time!
This recipe is very simple. It brings out the full flavor of the mbuzi all the while allowing all the ingredients used therein to really shine! You will love this beaut so so much!
PREP TIME: 24hr COOK TIME: 45min SERVES: 3
Ingredients
To Marinate
700g of mbuzi (goat meat)
2 rosemary sprigs
5 thyme sprigs
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of minced ginger
½ cup of unsweetened mala
To Cook
1 red onion, chopped
½ a hoho, chopped
½ cup of dania stems
¼ teaspoon of chili flakes
½ tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of curry
1 fresh tomato, chopped
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
Dania leaves to garnish
Method
You can purchase your mbuzi form whichever butchery is closest to you. Any cut would be fine for the recipe, however on this day, I decided to go with goat shoulder.
Cube your mbuzi and place in a bowl. Add in the marination ingredients and give a mix. For the marination, I opted for simple flavors that not only bring out the best of characteristics of the meat but also don’t overshadow the flavor. I love my marinated heavy on the herbs so for this recipe, I went with garlic, ginger, thyme, rosemary and some mala.
Mala is fermented milk. It is slightly acidic and because of that, the meat protein are slightly broken down allowing for them to hence be tenderized. Be sure to use unsweetened mala for this so that the flavor of the meat is not compromised.
What can one use in the event they cannot access mala? You can use Amasi, Kefir, Plain Yoghurt or Buttermilk.
Once coated, cover and allow to marinate overnight. You can marinate for a shorter period of time however the longer one marinates, the deeper the flavors develop.
If your meat marinated for long periods, allow it to come up to room temparature before cooking. When mbuzi (and any meat really) is cooked while still cold, the meat further contracts and toughens up. We want a tender eating experience.
Now, let’s cook!
As I always say, a great dish always starts with a rich herby base upon which flavor can be built upon. In your sufuria that has some oil, some salt and a dash of pepper then add in the red onion, hoho (green bell pepper) and dania (cilantro) stems.
Sautee until fragrant and softened.
Once done, add in the tomato, tomato paste and the spices. Let these cook down until the tomatoes have completely broken down and all the flavors have come together. The sauce should be thick and silky.
Now there are two ways in which you can prepare the mbuzi:
First way is to boil the mbuzi straight after marination – and with all the marination contents- then proceed to cook. You will add it in at this stage
Second method is, adding the raw meat along with the marination process straight into the sufuria at this point and allow it to cook until done. This one will take a bit more time, however, the flavor blossoms better.
Either method is fine, however I opted for the second one.
Add in the marinated mbuzi, mix in, add about ½ – 1 cup of water/stock and allow this to simmer for about 1.5 hours; mixing from time to time as needed.
Remember this is a dry fry, so go easy on the amount of water/stock you add to facilitate the cooking. Add a little at a time and only increase if need for more arises.
Once done and the soup had dried down, garnish, mix and we are ready to serve.
I decided to serve this with some potato wedges and a bit of cucumber to keep it light. This was such a delight!
The mbuzi was melt-in-your-mouth tender! I attribute that to the mala that was used in the marination. The flavors of the herby marinate stood out! The ginger garlic thyme and the rosemary were melodic on the palate and went so so well with all the spices we used.
This was perfect with our potato wedges but would go exceptionally well with ugali or any other starch you like. I also thoroughly enjoyed this one with my ginger sweet corn fried rice! It was a match made in heaven.
Thank you so much for joining me for this recipe! Do watch the complimentary video to get a great visual walkthrough for this recipe.
Happy Wednesday!
-K
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Hey there! My name is Kaluhi and I love food! Through my blog, I am happy to share with you my self-taught recipes, steeped in nostalgia and the happiest of memories. I hope each recipe you try out is as addictive as the previous one and is shared on a table full of love and hearty laughs!
Thanks for the wonderful recipe.
http://www.fooddoz.com
Glad you enjoyed!!
I tried this recipe. My oh! My! Utamu is an understatement. Thanks Kaluhi😊
Thrilled to know you enjoyed!! It is a stellar recipe
I’ve always been so intimidated by this dish but your recipe and photos changed everything for me! The recipe is so easy to follow and the photos helped me make sure I was doing it right. I made this dish for dinner last night and my family absolutely loved it! They couldn’t believe I made it myself. Thanks for the recipe!!
Wow! Lovely to know that my recipe made it super easy for you to do! I agree, the right recipe makes it so easy for anything to be cooked at home!
The garlic and thyme flavor of this mbuzi was so out of the world! I loved how easy your instructions made the recipe, too.
The tenderness always sells it!! I am so so happy you loved it!
I’ve only had curried goat and was excited when I saw this garlic and thyme-infused version. It did not disappoint. The meat was tender and the broth was so flavorful. Thank Kaluhi for such a delicious recipe! love it. xx
Cheers!! Thrilled to know you really loved it!
Lamb is one of our households’ favorite meats, so I simply had to try this version. The flavor from marinade was simply incredible – the family approved!
Awesome!! Always love to see you guys enjoy!
This was my first time preparing goat at home and it came out perfect! The instructions were easy to follow and the flavors were out of this world. Can’t wait to make it again!
You will for sure love it time and time again!
The flavours of this dish were on point! I loved the addition of the curry and the cumin was the perfect amount to bring this dish alive! So delish!
Match made in heaven indeed!!! So happy you enjoyed this!
This was one of the best mbuzi recipes I ever made! The flavor was superb and your instructions made it so easy to follow. Thanks for this recipe!
You are most welcome and I am so so happy you loved it!
I went to our local African market for mala and it was worth the stop! The meat came out so beautifully tender. Will be making this dish again for dinner next week!
Power to that market! I am so happy you were able to find Mala and make this recipe exactly to the T!
Hi what curry powder do you use as there are so many and can taste very different.Thanks
the one by Tropical Heat or Simba Namba Mbili. I think curry powder tastes the same coz the ingredient is just dried curry leaves. Make sure you buy a curry poweder that is purely that and not blended with anything else so that you get the best outcome.
XX
This was such a delicious way to prepare our goat meat. It brought back so many memories of our family gatherings when I was young. Your step by step instructions were a huge help!
So so beautiful!! Plenty of the best memories are really tied to great food we share