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.

If that doesn’t work, you could substitute stewing mutton or lamb. At the restaurant we’ve a local supplier down towards Barnard Castle.

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

300g puy lentils

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 stick of celery

A little cooking oil

Plain yoghurt

A handful of chopped coriander

Method

Place four of the onions, all but one of the garlic cloves, 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. Then 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.

Oldfields Restaurants cookbook, Passion for Real Food, is available in good bookshops. For discounted copies, contact us at the restaurant on Claypath in Durham on 0191 370 9595 or go to www.oldfieldsrealfood.com