Goat Sukka | Goat Sukha
Goat Sukka or Goat Sukha is a dry mutton preparation, which is native to the Mangalore and Udupi region. Many attribute the origin of this dish to the neighboring region of Goa where culinary influence of Arab and Turkish traders can be seen in the meat dishes. The recipe probably amalgamated with the signature ingredients of the western coastal region of India and is thus heavy on spices like peppercorns and fennel and a good amount of coconut.
Though I am not fond of winter or cold or snow, I love the festive spirit that is all around during this time of the year. Shopping around for little gifts to be sent to school, lighting up the house, putting up the Christmas tree, each tiny thing seems to be filled with light and joy. There is something to look forward to every evening. And the houses look so pretty shining brightly against the winter sky.
Also this is the perfect time to cook the spiciest, richest dishes as both the food and process of cooking warms you up. Like this Goat Sukka which I will tell you about but I need a preamble...
Many years ago when I had started blogging, it was a small, close-knit community of Indian bloggers. We read each others blogs, commented on posts, cooked from each others blogs, and slowly via food became familiar with a sliver of their lives.
Slowly though the community disbanded, they are still there but they don't blog as much. If I have to search for a recipe and I google it, there are thousands thrown at me and I have to cautiously scroll through to find the one that will work. There is always some that will work but I don't trust them blindly any more.
So all this reminiscing is because of one single dish called Goat Sukka. It might actually have been Goat Sukha, given that it is a dry meat preparation but I have seen it blogged as Sukka and I like to call it that way. Goat Sukka is a dry mutton preparation, which is native to the Mangalore and Udupi region. Many attribute the origin of this dish to the neighboring region of Goa where culinary influence of Arab and Turkish traders can be seen in the meat dishes. The recipe probably amalgamated with the signature ingredients of the western coastal region of India and is thus heavy on spices like peppercorns and fennel and a good amount of coconut.
I had first made Goat Sukka from SigSiv's blog. We loved it too much and I bookmarked her recipe. It had just the right amount of fennel, peppercorns and whole coriander, the perfect aroma of kari patta, a little bit of coconut, and was way easier than making kosha mangsho. I made it a few more times and then I forgot about it. These things happen. I get obsessed about some dish, cook it every other day, and then bam I forget all about it for the next 2 years.
So after this long gap, I felt a strong urge to cook goat sukka again. To refresh my memory I clicked on the url I had so carefully saved. And guess what happened ? I got a "This site cant be reached error"!! I tried hacking around and yet nothing. In desperation I sent Sig a Facebook message to see where her blog was. Turns out she hasn't blogged for a while and now her domain has expired. In the process she has also lost her blog posts.
I was so depressed by the news that I decided not to make Goat Sukka at all. But I had already bought 5 lb of mutton and no one wanted a mangshor jhol or kosha mangsho again. So I googled and pages upon pages of Goat Sukka washed over me, none of which seemed liked my old Goat Sukka. Then I searched up another favorite and very very reliable Konkani blog Aayis Recipes and no wonder she had the chicken sukka recipe.
Based on the old recipe I had in mind and with help from the one that Shilpa of Aaayis Recipes had, I made the Goat Sukka again. It turned out to be so so good. I also didn't want to risk losing it again and so right away got down to blog about it.
