Goat paya aka goat trotters curry, is essentially a runny, brothy curry that is infused with robust flavors and tons of nutrients.
Versatile and delicious, this curry is prepared using a simple blend of spices to let the hero ingredient- goat trotters shine.
The curry packs in amino acids, calcium, protein, and even collagen- almost everything you would find in a bone broth, if not more.
This curry is famous in many parts of India, and has some Pakistani origins too. Just like most Indian curries, this pairs wonderfully with some naan bread to mop up all that gravy.
What's best is the fact that this curry is rich in nutrients- the cooking process turns the lamb trotters into a delicious and flavorful curry that packs in all the benefits of a bone broth, if not more.
Goat or mutton trotters are pressure cooked with a slew of spices until you a get a soupy curry, offering an insatiable meal experience.
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What I Love About the Recipe
My favorite part about this goat Paya recipe is the fact that I'll be using something a bit different from goat meat.
Cooked goat trotters or Paya offers much more nutritional value than the meat of the goat, and the curry is the perfect, hearty curry recipe that you can put together and enjoy with your entire family on a cold, winter night.
Ingredients For the Goat Paya Curry Recipe
Apart from goat feet, you'll need some basic Indian spices and a few pantry staples to put this Paya curry together.
Trotters: I used goat trotters which you can easily find at a local butcher shop near you. You can use either goat or lamb for this recipe.
Onions: Sliced onions bring their nice umami and pungent flavors in the curry.
Tomatoes: Freshly chopped tomatoes, when teamed up with the onions, form the base of this goat trotters recipe.
Ginger garlic paste: A simple ginger garlic paste is another crucial ingredient when it comes to making this delicious mutton paya curry.
Turmeric powder: Turmeric powder adds a bit of color and some rustic flavors. It is an absolute essential- not just when you make Paya curry but for almost any other Indian curry too.
Chili powder: Red chilli powder adds a delicious spiciness to the Paya curry.
Whole spices: I used a few whole spices that I had at hand too. Blooming the spices in the oil makes the curry nice and fragrant.
Oil: This curry needs a generous amount of oil. You can use any kind of oil for this mutton Paya recipe.
Garam masala powder: This one's an allspice mix that adds lots of delicious, rustic and earthy flavor to the Paya curry.
Cilantro: Lots of fresh cilantro, added in towards the end, brings an amazing fresh flavor to this goat Paya dish.
Lemon: A generous squeeze of lemon juice is also essential to balance out all the different flavors in this recipe.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make the Goat Paya Curry
Into a pressure cooker, add the goat trotters or mutton paya along with the whole spices, salt, turmeric, 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste with some green chili paste and let it cook on low heat for an hour. Add enough water to cover all the trotters.
Heat 4 tablespoon oil in a large pot, add in the thinly sliced onions and allow it to cook on medium heat until the onions turn translucent.
Next, add in the tomatoes and saute. Then add the chili powder, coriander-cumin powder and the remaining 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste and allow it to cook again for a few minutes until the mixture gets fragrant.
Allow this to cool down completely and then blend this into a smooth paste.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoon oil in the same pot and add the cooked lamb trotters and this paste . Lower the heat and let this simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Add in the green chilies, garam masala powder, lemon juice and julienned ginger and give it all a good mix.
Garnish with a generous sprinkle of chopped coriander leaves and serve hot!
Hint: Use some whole wheat flour to rub the lamb trotters and 'clean' it. You can then wash them off or use them as is, in the recipe.
Substitutions
A couple of elements of this recipe can be substituted.
- If you don't have fresh tomatoes at hand, or just don't want to puree them, you can make do with canned tomatoes too.
- If you don't have the whole spices that the recipe calls for, you can just substitute with some garam masala powder or allspice mix instead.
- If you don't have garam masala powder too, you can use a special mutton Paya masala that is available at most food specialty stores.
Variations
Depending on your taste preference and what you have at hand, you can bring in some variations to this goat Paya curry as well.
- If you love spicy food, you can add in some more green chilies or even some chopped red chilies if you want to.
- Want your curry to have a richer, thicker texture? Add some whisked full fat yogurt into the mix and let the curry simmer for a few additional minutes.
- If you want that nice color but don't want a lot of heat in the curry, I would recommend using Kashmiri red chili powder.
Top Tip: Use a heavy bottomed pot to simmer the Paya curry. This will ensure that the spices and the curry base are cooked evenly, and don't end up getting burnt.
Equipment
Ideally, you'll need to use a pressure cooker and some basic kitchenware to put this dish together. Here's what I used.
Storage
One of the best parts about this curry is the fact that it freezes really well, which means you can easily make it in a big batch and store it for up to 2 months. I like to use my favorite freezer safe meal prep containers for these.
If you have some leftovers, you can transfer them to a food safe container and refrigerate them for up to 3 days.
Remember to reheat the goat Paya curry on low heat, ideally over the stovetop in a heavy bottomed pot.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Goat Paya Curry
- You can make the Paya curry even without the pressure cooker. Just remember that the lamb trotters need to be cooked to perfection, and that using a regular pot may translate into longer cooking time.
- Want the curry to have a thicker texture? You can prepare a simple slurry using a bit of chickpea flour and water and add it into the curry while it is still on heat, slowly, while whisking it constantly.
- To speed up the cooking process, you can also cook the lamb trotters with a bit of meat tenderizer added in. This will also help the goat trotters absorb the flavors better.
- To lend this curry a nice smoky flavor, you can choose to grill the whole onions over an open flame, grind them into a paste and then use them for the recipe.
- You can also use ghee instead of oil for this recipe to make the curry taste even better!
- I used a pressure cooker to make this goat paya curry, but you can also choose to use your Instant Pot if you want to.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
Ready to try this mutton Paya at home? You can serve it with some rice or naan!
With Bread
Pair this flavorful Paya curry with some naan or parathas or any other flatbread of your choice to soak in all that delicious broth. I would recommend teaming it up with some bullet naan.
To make this healthier, you can also make a fresh, crunchy salad to go with it.
With Rice
While steamed rice is the best choice for this recipe, you can also serve it with some Biryani if you want to.
I also always team up all my South Asian or Indian recipes with a cooling side like a spiced buttermilk or a cucumber mint raita.
FAQs
The trotters should feel tender and gelatinous to touch. If they're tough and chewy, they still need to be cooked a bit more.
You can use any allspice mix or curry mix if you don't have the whole spices the recipe calls for.
If your Paya curry has turned out runny, you can enjoy it as Paya soup, which is a flavorsome and healthy bone broth soup.
You can use up the leftover curry to cook your pulao (rice pilaf) dishes.
Related Recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these.
Goat Paya Curry
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoon oil
- 2 tbsp ginger-garlic-chili paste
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2-3 bay leaf
- 2 whole cinnamon
- 1 lemon juice
- 3 lamb trotters
- 2 onions sliced
- 2 tomatoes pureed
- 2 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon coriander-cumin powder
- 2 green chillies
- 1 tablespoon ginger julienned
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
- 3 tablespoon coriander leaves chopped
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns whole
- 1 tablespoon salt
Instructions
- Start by adding the lamb trotters to a pressure cooker or your Instant Pot along with the whole spices- the bay leaf, cinnamon, black peppercorns, cumin, salt, turmeric, 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic-chili paste and let it cook on low heat for an hour.
- Heat 4 tablespoon oil in a large pot, add in the thinly sliced onions and allow it to cook until the onions turn translucent.
- Next, add in the tomatoes and give it all a good mix. Then add the chili powder, coriander-cumin powder and the remaining 1 teaspoon ginger-garlic-chili paste and allow it to cook again for a few minutes until the mixture gets fragrant.
- Allow this to cool down completely and then blend this into a smooth paste.
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoon oil in the same pot and add in this paste along with the cooked lamb trotters and let this simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Add in the green chilies, garam masala powder, lemon juice and julienned ginger and give it all a good mix.
- Top with a generous sprinkle of chopped coriander leaves and serve hot!
