Spicy Baby Back Ribs

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

Filed Under Good with Drinks, India - Kerala, Pork 

In my last post, I didn’t mean to convey that I hate cooking. I just meant that it is the outcome that I enjoy more than the process. When it comes to cooking, the benefits outweigh the effort normally. That is the reason I cook certain dishes and would never even attempt certain others. I know I will never be able to bake a cake as tasty or as beautiful as our neighborhood baker. Even if I do it will take me hours of hard work, so I’d rather just buy it. But there are some other dishes, especially here in a foreign land, only way for me to satisfy my cravings is to cook those myself. In such cases, yeah the actual cooking process is tiresome, but the output makes it totally worth it.

These pan-fried baby back ribs is a great example for that. It is an original Chef Sig recipe, I have to do the work myself, but luckily the effort here is minimal and the taste is phenomenal if I say so myself. :)

pan-fried ribs

I normally make ribs in the oven, but my oven has been broken for a while. So I tried the recipe on the stovetop and got a different but absolutely amazing result. These were so tender but with a slightly crispy texture, we loved it! I will give you both versions of the recipe, oven and pan-fried, even though I only have a picture of the pan-fried version today. You can use regular spareribs or baby back ribs. Ask your butcher to cut the rack into individual ribs. If using spareribs, cut the individual ribs into half widthwise.

pan-fried ribs

Ingredients

Method

Dry roast the spices and curry leaves and grind to a smooth powder. Mix the spice powder and salt with the yogurt and vinegar and 2/3 cup of water to form the sauce.

Oven method

Pre-heat the oven to 425F. Place the ribs in a large roasting pan and roast for 15 minutes. The fat will separate from the ribs, pour the fat out.

Pour the prepared sauce over the cooked ribs and turn the ribs so that the ribs are completely coated with the sauce.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350F and roast for 45 minutes turning the ribs once after 25 minutes.

If there is still liquid remaining in the pan, remove the ribs and reduce the liquid down to a sauce, and serve on the side of the ribs.

Stove-top method

With the same ingredients on the stove you will get a totally different texture. Place a very lightly oiled large frying pan on the stove. When the pan is hot, put the ribs in the pan, reduce the heat down to medium-low, cover and cook for about 15 minutes. The ribs will get tender and some of the fat will separate. Remove and save the fat for later.

Pour the prepared sauce over the ribs and turn the ribs so that the ribs are completely coated with the sauce. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes. After most of the liquid is absorbed, uncover the pan and cook till the ribs are dry and slightly charred. You can use some of the saved fat from the previous step if the pan gets too dry.

I can’t decide which method I like better, the oven method gives you the saucy ribs which will make you lick your fingers, but the stove top method gives you a more dry, crispy texture still keeping it tender inside. 


Comments

24 Responses to “Spicy Baby Back Ribs”

  1. Raaga on April 30th, 2008 12:18 am

    they sure look inviting. :-) And I know what you mean about the effort thing. Its like puff pastry… or those veg puffs… I long to make them at home, but I feel it is so much easier to buy from outside when you’re sure of the taste there :-)

  2. Arundathi on April 30th, 2008 1:20 am

    (my husband sitting here next to me, saw the photo and said - now why cant we make that?). Looks delicious. And now you’ve put me on the hunt for baby back ribs in chennai. thanks, i think. :)

  3. Arundathi on April 30th, 2008 1:22 am

    have you claimed your award at my site yet??

  4. sunita on April 30th, 2008 1:31 am

    Those look spicy indeed :smile:

  5. sra on April 30th, 2008 2:19 am

    In my current lazy mood, I think I’ll just wait till I come to Seattle, or till you come back to India! I don’t really eat pork but these look good. :drool:

  6. Ammu on April 30th, 2008 2:32 am

    Wow..luks so yummy.. :drool: I dint get it first that tis is pigs meat..which i don have.. :sad: n it cant be made wit ny other meat rite..i guess i shoud try tis wit tender chicken.. :razz:

    There is really no sub for ribs, you can try lamb chops or chicken drumsticks. You will need more time for lamb chops and you can skip the first step for chicken. Haven’t tried either in this way, so I am just guessing :)

  7. indosungod on April 30th, 2008 2:37 am

    They sure look wonderfully delicious. Chef Sig, you did good.

  8. Padmaja on April 30th, 2008 3:43 am

    I love them :drool: hot n spicy :razz:

  9. Asha on April 30th, 2008 4:03 am

    Slurp!!! My son LOVES baby back ribs. We had it for Sunday lunch, store bought this time.Looks great Sig, Indian style! :drool:

  10. Rachel on April 30th, 2008 4:07 am

    Chef Sig> baby ribs looking good and spicy!

  11. Kalai on April 30th, 2008 5:52 am

    What an awesome idea, Sig! They look crispy and lip smackingly good! Btw, you’re welcome to come and hang out while I bake anytime you wish. :grin:

  12. Mishmash! on April 30th, 2008 6:17 am

    heyyy :) after a long time here :) read about ur india trip…hope u had a great vacation except for the travel part…:)

    Shn

  13. rina on April 30th, 2008 6:45 am

    Always enjoy these cool ribs… :cool:

  14. richa on April 30th, 2008 7:48 am

    i thot the ‘outcome’ was the pile of dishes to be done at the end :???:
    the *ing for the marinade sure sound grrrrreat :party:

  15. Anuzi on April 30th, 2008 10:29 am

    OOOOO :drool: You always have out do yourself sig! Best of all the recipe super easy…my fav kind :wink:

  16. Rajitha on April 30th, 2008 12:26 pm

    aha…yet another dish you..you…you.. cooking hater :mrgreen:

  17. molly on April 30th, 2008 1:30 pm

    Hey Chef Sig!
    A bit of confusion when you mentioned that the jus is reduced to a gravy.Usually in gravy, something will be added but this is just concentrated jus right? So in the pan-fried version, do you get the jus while shallow frying? So how do you seperate fat that is rendered? I just noticed these inconsistencies. May be you can clear up…BTW, good idea. Seeing two photos I got a bit confused. Then I realized they are the same…just different angles.

    In the pan-fried version, some of the fat is separated during the first step, not as much as you would get while roasting in the oven, but still there will be a lot of melted fat in the pan. You can just pour this out and preserve some for later. After the sauce is poured in, you don’t need to separate anything out, just let it cook in the gravy, and it will dry out.

    In the oven version the liquid won’t dry out as much, so you can take out the ribs and reduce the liquid down into a thick concentrated version.

    Hope that makes sense.
    -Sig

  18. Jyothsna on May 1st, 2008 5:39 am

    The picture itself is so mouthwatering! Can I come over…?

  19. mandira on May 1st, 2008 8:24 am

    gorgeous photos!

  20. Divya Vikram on May 1st, 2008 2:10 pm

    Mouthwatering!

  21. musy on May 1st, 2008 5:12 pm

    Chef Sig, you rock :)

    Ofcourse, the outcome is always nicer and more anticipated than cooking itself (and then you have these yummy pictures) :-D

  22. Indian Girl on May 2nd, 2008 1:01 pm

    Hey Sig!

    You’ve been tagged for a fun round of quirky facts! Go to my blog to find out about the rules of the game. Have fun!

    Love,
    Indian Girl

  23. Rachna on May 2nd, 2008 2:56 pm

    Hey I know what you mean…. I looooove to cook and toil for hours sometimes ……but othertimes I cant see myself entering the kitchen…..heee.. love your clear soup….

  24. Meeta on May 3rd, 2008 2:34 am

    oh i just want to sink my teeth in them. give me one PLEEEASE!

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