Eid ul Adha is one of the most festive and auspicious times of the year for Muslims and carries many blessings. Millions of Muslims gather in Makkah to perform the Hajj pilgrimage and remember the sacrifice made by Prophet Ibrahim (AS). I strongly believe that Eid ul Adha provides an opportunity for everyone to strengthen their belief in Allah and make those less fortunate a little happier.

This Eid is referred to as ‘Bakra Eid’ as it brings with it many delicious meals made specifically with meat. Since Eid ul Azha is primarily about animal sacrifice, every house is filled with the sounds of goats baaaa-ing and cattle mooo-ing. Kids decorate their animals with flowers and bells and form quick bonds with them. The excitement in the air originates partly from the thought of meaty, aromatic feasts around the corner. The ‘sacrifice’, however is not complete without visiting the poor, the needy and your loved ones without packaged cuts of meat.

I think this is a good time for a refresher on what parts of meat you will be working with. We will take the bakra (goat) as an example here, as it is a popular animal to sacrifice keeping in view the Prophet Ibrahim’s (AS) tradition. Firstly, I urge everyone to spare prime cuts of meat for the poor, as it’s rare for them to enjoy the best meat.

So here are all the meat cuts of a goat:

goatSource: rafterjlivestock.com

1. Forequarter

(neck; shoulder; ribs up to the shoulders; fore shank, or upper part of front legs)

  • The neck is the part that has the most bones and a lot of cartilage. This is best for making broth and pulao
  • The shoulder (dasti) is the meatiest part. The breast part highlighted in the picture above is covered in shoulder meat
  • The breast portion from the shoulder is mostly used for mined meat and can also be saved to make steaks
  • The shoulder part is best for making BBQ, boneless mutton karahi, mutton stews, alu gosht (meat and potato curry), palak gosht (spinach and meat curry), biryani

Ribs contain meat and layers of fat, and are cut from the fore quarter:

  • They are used to make Grilled Ribs, back chops and front chops
  • Back chops are considered prime cuts and can be used to make various curries
  • A rib rack has seven to eight ribs and can be cooked as a rib rack roast

2. Hindquarter

(hind shank, or the upper part of rear legs and hips)

  • Goat leg refers to the leg from the hind quarter, and are sold as the famous ‘raan’ piece. The whole leg has sirloin attached to a bone. Raan is considered a prime cut
  • Shanks (mahalie ka ghost) comes from fore and hind legs and contains bones. The bones play an important role in making curries
  • The boneless part of the shanks are perfect for making nihari and bonag
  • The boned meat is used in dished like rogan-e-ghost and various other curries

3. Loin

This section runs along the goat’s back from it’s ribs in the forequarter to the hips in the hindquarter. The loin is the most tender prime cut.

  • You can make roast with or without the bone, as well as loin chops and steaks from this meat
  • Sirloin (puth ka ghost) is the top portion of the leg and is sold with or without bone. It can be is used to make Mutton Kunna, Namkeen Ghost and Qorma
  • Tenderloin (undercut) is the meatiest part of the goat. Steaks, bihari kababs and pasanday are made with this meat

4.      Internal Organs

  • Feet (trotters) are cooked on a slow heat for a couple of hours to  make the most delicious shorba in Punjab: payae!
  • Brain (maghaz or bheja) is used to make the famous bheja fry or katta-katt
  • Liver (kalaiji) is used to make kalaiji fry, a popular item to begin a traditional Eid Day breakfast

Here’s a visual guide: meet your bakra.

Fatima Ali

I am trained to be an IT professional. I served National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) for six years after graduating from the same university. As long as I can remember, cooking good food has been my passion and it makes me happy. My cooking lessons were a bit unusual though. Back in the day when digital did not mean much, my father would record cooking shows (knorr ka kitchen, kaukab khuwaja and Zee Khana Khazana – Chef Sanjeev Kapoor) for me to watch endless times later on, before trying the recipes out. I would make brownies and cold cake almost every day while my mother was asleep. This was my way of surprising her every evening. My mother cooks amazing food too and I have tried many of the recipes written in her recipe book. I draw inspiration from a number of chefs from televised cooking shows such as Late Chef Farah, Chef Rahat, Chef Mehboob, BBC Food, Masala TV, Chef Shai, Chef Sharmeen, Master Chef Australia and my ultimate favorite Chef Shireen Anwer. I would not be as good a cook I am now without passive guidance from each one of these.