Goat Gari Pinon
Overview
Goat Gari Pinon is a robust Ghanaian dish where spiced, slow-cooked goat meat is served over or mixed with gari, dried, fermented, and toasted cassava flakes, creating a satisfying combination of tender, boldly seasoned meat and the slightly sour, grainy texture of the gari absorbing all the cooking juices. The dish is deeply practical in its origins: gari is a preserved, shelf-stable staple that can absorb liquid and flavour readily, making it an ideal accompaniment to richly cooked meats. The combination of goat meat and gari is a classic of Ghanaian home cooking and street food culture.
AFN Heritage Note
Gari is one of the most important processed foods in West Africa, made from fermented and dried cassava, and is a staple from Ghana to Nigeria. The combination of gari with stewed or grilled meats is common across the region, with each country developing its own characteristic preparation. The Ghanaian Goat Gari Pinon reflects Ghana's tradition of pairing bold, long-cooked meats with the distinctive sourness of gari.
Ingredients
Dietary tags are provided by contributors as a guide, not verified by AFN, and they depend on the products you buy. If you have a serious allergy, check every ingredient yourself. Cooking, allergies and your own judgement
Directions
- 1
Mix all ingredients, add water and cook for 1 hour.
- 2
Remove the goat meat from the stock and fry until golden. Set aside
- 3
On a medium heat, in a saucepan with the goat stock.
- 4
Add the gari the hot broth gradually stirring vigorously until obtaining a homogeneous paste (Pinon).
- 5
On a medium heat , in a saucepan, heat the oil and add the onion.Cook for 10 mins
- 6
Add tomatoes, cube taste and add salt if necessary.
- 7
Heat the oil and add the crushed pepper and onion, Add salt to taste. Cook for a min or 2.
- 8
Serve the Pinon with the tomato mixture, goat meat and pepper
Reviews
5 reviews
Drove to an international store in Inglewood just to get 1kg of goat with bone in because regular supermarkets here in LA do not stock it. The smell of the ginger, garlic and allspice simmering with the goat was amazing. Fried the goat until golden brown just like the recipe says. My pinon was a little soft though, think I needed ¼ cup more gari to get the paste firm enough, but still tasted lekker.
Chale pinon is proper Volta region and Togolese style oo! Couldn't get red gari near West Croydon station so I just bought normal fine gari from the tropical foods shop. Herh, stirring that gari gradually into the boiling goat stock was a proper arm workout paa, but the flavour from the tomato paste and allspice in the dough was spot on. My Togolese flatmate gave it a thumbs up.
1 hour boiling was just right for the 1kg goat meat to get tender. I used 2 Knorr beef cubes and added a pinch of Rajah curry powder when frying the onions in the 1/4 cup oil for extra depth. Frying the goat pieces after boiling gave them a lekker crisp crust. Just be careful when adding the gari to the hot broth, it thickens up just now and can burn if your heat is too high.
Got halal goat shoulder from the butcher in Easton here in Bristol and cooked it with the cloves and allspice as instructed. You really need to pour the gari slowly into the stock while stirring fast or it turns into huge lumps! Had my daughter hold the pot while I worked the wooden spoon. Reminded me a bit of the rich base we make for domoda or benachin, very filling meal.
Abeg make sure your goat meat is small pieces o, goat from Southwest Farmers Market here in Houston can be tough so mine took about 1 hour 15 mins to get soft before frying. That broth with the ginger, tomato puree and allspice gave the gari so much flavour, no be small thing. Fried the meat till golden and eaten hot. E sweet proper!