What’s cooking today: Jamaican curried oxtail

Before you concoct a slow cook of oxtail the Jamaican way, you need to run up a basic Jamaican spice mix. The spice-in-chief of a Jamaican curry mix is turmeric. The yellow delight leads the way, followed by a triumvirate of ground fenugreek, ginger and yellow mustard seeds, also ground. Then follow, in smaller quantities, coriander seeds, cumin and allspice, with black pepper and a touch each of cloves, nutmeg and cayenne pepper rounding out the spicy mélange.

For the oxtail curry, several of the ingredients will be familiar to those of us who cook Indian curries: chopped tomatoes, garlic and ginger lead the way, with coconut cream adding a fine satiny finish. There are potatoes and carrots in it, and it’s garnished, like most curries, with fresh coriander leaves. For a real Jamaican touch, use scotch bonnet peppers instead of cayenne pepper, and add a can of butter beans and some sliced spring onions (scallions) shortly before the dish is cooked.

First make the spice mix and have it to hand. The rest can be stored in a glass jar.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

For the Jamaican curry spice mix:

2 1/2 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp yellow mustard powder (or grind 2 tsp yellow mustard seeds with the other hard spices)

2 tsp ground fenugreek seeds

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground or crushed coriander  (or grind a tsp of seeds)

1 tsp ground allspice (or grind a tsp of dried allspice berries)

1 tsp ground cumin (or grind a tsp of seeds)

1/2 tsp black pepper

Pinch of ground cloves

Pinch of nutmeg

½ tsp cayenne pepper (or scotch bonnet powder if you can find some)

Method

Grind the hard spices to a powder. Mix them together with the ground spices.

For the Jamaican oxtail:

Ingredients

800 g oxtail in chunks

3 Tbsp cooking oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 fat garlic cloves, chopped

2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger

2 heaped Tbsp Jamaican curry spice (see recipe above)

2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp cayenne pepper (or scotch bonnet powder if you can find some)

2 x 400 g cans chopped tomatoes

2 cans water (use the tomatoes can)

1 x 400 g can coconut cream

3 carrots, peeled and diced

3 medium potatoes, peeled diced

3 spring onions/scallions, chopped

1 can of butter beans, drained

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves, chopped, for garnish

Method

Heat cooking oil in a heavy iron pot. Brown the oxtail well all over and remove. 

Add a little more oil. Sauté the onion, then add the garlic and fresh ginger and cook gently for a few minutes.

Add the curry spice mix, thyme and cayenne pepper. 

Add the tomatoes and water and bring to a simmer.

Add the browned oxtail and season to taste with salt. (No need to add pepper, it’s in the spice mix).

Stir in the coconut cream.

Cook on a gentle heat for two hours, then add the diced potato and carrots. Return to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook until the potatoes and carrots are just tender; not so long that they disintegrate. Stir in the spring onions and butter beans and reheat.

Serve with steamed rice, garnished with coriander. DM

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.

This dish is photographed in a bowl by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.