Day 23: Indian Lamb Riblets

So...tonight's recipe is completely random. I was having one of those day's where I wasn't craving anything in particular. Knowing that I had to cook something didn't make it easy on my indecisive mood. So I went to the freezer and checked to see what kind of meat was waiting for me. Lamb riblets- i've never tried those before...and i'm pretty sure i've never seen them raw either. I googled 'lamb riblets' and watched all the idea's pop up. Barbecued, spiced, honey-soy, smoked- you name it. But the one that jumped out to me was indian style riblets, by my friend Huey. If you couln't tell- I was being sarcastic, I can't stand the guy. For those of you who don't know who Huey is; he is a (large) australian chef with a horrible moustache and a terrible habit for talking with his mouth full. But, I sucked it up and gave him the benefit of the doubt.


What you need:
[Add all these together in step one]
- 1 tsp ground Turmeric
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tspn fennel seeds
- ½ tspn fenugreek seeds (I have no clue what these are, I didn't add those)
- 1 small cinnamon stick, broken up
- 1 heaped tbsp grated fresh ginger
-  2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp chilli paste
- vegetable oil


- 1 kg lamb riblets, trimmed 
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 large onions, finely chopped
- 1 can diced tomatoes ( I didn't seem to have any- so I just diced up two tomatoes)
- 1 - 2 cups chicken stock
-  Sea salt & freshly ground pepper
- 3 heaped tbsp chopped fresh coriander
- ¼ cup plain yoghurt
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice


How to put it all together:
1.Preheat oven to 220°C fan forced (240°C normal). 
2. Mix all the dry spices with the ginger, garlic and chilli paste, adding a little oil if needed. Make sure its well mixed, you could even put it in a food processor to get it ground.
3. Using your hands, toss the riblets with the spice paste until well coated. Then put in an oven tray in one layer and cook in the oven for about 15-20 mins until browned. 
4. When the ribs are almost ready, heat a little oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan and gently sauté the garlic and onions until tender, stirring now and again. 
5. Add the tomatoes with about 1 cup chicken stock, quite a bit of salt and a little pepper. Stir and cook until the sauce has slightly thickened. Mine didn't thicken- I must admit I kind of freaked out at this stage. So, I grabbed a jar of curry paste from the cupboard and put about 3 tbs in to thicken it up. It worked well.
6. Then add the riblets to the pan, leaving any oil and fat behind. Stir to coat well with the sauce and add about 1 tbsp chopped coriander. Cover, turn the heat right down and simmer for about 20-30 mins until the lamb ribs are very tender, stirring now and again and adding more stock if needed. 
7. Combine the yoghurt with the remaining coriander and lime juice. Turn off the heat and stir through the yoghurt mixture. 
8. Serve the lamb with plenty of the sauce I plated it on top of some plain cous-cous. 

Mmmmm riblets- fun to say and eat! It was different to what I usually like eating, but it wasn't half bad.