3.4/5 rating (35 votes)

Tamarind Ribs

Sticky Imlee Ribs

  • Heat Medium
  • Serves 4
  • Dietary Info LACTOSE-FREE
  • Prep 10 mins
  • Marinade 24 mins
  • Cook 2 mins

Sticky, tangy, spicy blackened tamarind ribs - need I say more?

Hari says

A firm Friday night favourite in my house. I keep these ribs for the grown ups because it feels like tamarind sticky ribs is something to indulge in when the kids have gone to bed. This is food that gets all the senses going so ditch the knife and fork pull out the napkins and enjoy the fruity tang, the sticky sweetness, the chilli heat and the altogether loveliness that is this dish.

  • Ingredients
  • Method
  • 100g tamarind pulp
  • 650ml boiling water
  • 8 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4cm piece of ginger, grated
  • 2 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
  • 2 star anise
  • 2 chillies, finely chopped
  • 100ml soy sauce
  • 100g brown sugar
  • 2 whole rack of pork ribs

Method

  1. Place the tamarind pulp in a bowl, and add the boiling water. Let it soak for 15 minutes then mash it up using a fork. Sieve the tamarind water into a bowl and discard all the solids.
  2. Into a roasting tray big enough to hold the ribs pour in the tamarind liquid, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, crushed coriander, star anise, chopped chillies and brown sugar. Stir until all the sugar dissolves.
  3. Using a knife scrape the underside of the ribs on one end and you will see there is a transparent membrane present. Pull this membrane (use a cloth for grip) from the back of the ribs to remove it. Then place the ribs in the roasting tray and coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for as long as possible - overnight is best.
  4. Preheat the oven to 160ºC and cover the tray tightly with foil.
  5. Cook the ribs until the meat starts to pull away easily from bones (about 2-3 hours).
  6. Remove the tray from the oven and increase the heat to 180ºC.
  7. Pour the juices from the tray into a saucepan, skim off any excess fat and boil the juices over a medium heat for about 15 minutes until it reduces and thickens. Pour half into a small bowl as a dipping sauce for later.
  8. Brush the remaining sauce over the ribs and place back in the hot oven until the ribs are black and bubbling (about 5 minutes).
  9. Brush with any remaining tamarind sauce and leave for a few minutes before cutting into single rib portions.
  10. Serve with the dipping sauce.

Nutritional information

Typical values* per Serving
Calories196
Fat (g)11
of which saturates (g)4.4
Carbohydrates (g)7.6
of which sugars (g)7.4
Fibre (g)0.0
Protein (g)16
Salt (mg)0.99
*Based upon calculated values, supplied by myfitnesspal.com. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated.

Useful equipment

Go to the shop

This goes well with

You may also like to try

Share this

“ Thank you for printing this recipe for my delicious Tamarind Ribs ”

Comments

Comments (5)

  • Hari Ghotra

    11 May 2015 at 08:57 |
    Hi Ramune
    Yes the same volume should be fine. The quality of tamarind does vary quite a lot and some can be really sharp and other times it's not as strong so sometimes you do have to adjust it. Taste the marinade and if you think it needs more sharpness add a little more paste. Hope that helps, klet me know how they come out. Thanks Hari

    reply

  • Ramune Finch

    09 May 2015 at 16:26 |
    Thank you Hari. Sorry to ask again, but how many gr of paste should I use? also 100 g?

    reply

  • Hari Ghotra

    09 May 2015 at 12:21 |
    Hi Ramune Yes you certainly can. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!

    reply

  • Ramune Finch

    09 May 2015 at 10:54 |
    Dear Hari,

    I was wondering if I can use tamarind paste for this? I cannot get pulp anywhere... Thank you!

    reply

  • Mark Deeprose

    24 February 2015 at 10:55 |
    Made this recipe at the weekend and is seriously yummy! My ribs were quite big so cooked for two and a half hours but actually think I could have cooked for even longer. This is proper comfort food and the balance of sweet and sour is perfect. You definitely need the kitchen roll to hand for this one.

    reply

Leave a comment