Believe it or not, the initial flash of inspiration for this recipe was born out of looking to use up some leftover wine. Yes, sacrilege we know. But it had gone beyond the pale, turned a touch sharp and despite best efforts, it just wasn't quite right to drink.
However, when it comes to prepping slow cuts - such as short ribs - an overnight bath in a little bit of plonk goes a long way to help loosen up those proteins. Waste not, want not and all that.
The curried aspect came from wanting something spicy after a dull, grey day and let's face it, there's been a fair few of those this month.
The end result is a cracking dish that goes particularly well with sweet and sour dhal, some cooling raita and a bottle of Pinot Noir - this time from from St John.
Which most definitely was not leftover.
INGREDIENTS
1.25kg short ribs, portioned
½ bottle red wine
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 ot red chilli
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
5cm thumb of ginger, peeled and chopped
6 cloves
1 Star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1tbs tomato puree
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground turmeric
500ml beef stock
Sea salt and cracked black pepper
Plain flour, for dusting
Oil, for frying
METHOD
Before you start cooking, marinate the short ribs by placing them in a bowl and pour over the red wine, cover with cling-film and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, take the short ribs out of the marinade, leaving them in a sieve or colander over a bowl to drain and come to room temperature.
Preheat your oven to 150°C
Lightly dust the ribs in flour and season with salt and pepper. Heat some oil in a casserole over a medium to high heat on the hob and brown the ribs all over.
Whilst the meat is browning, place the onions, chilli, garlic and ginger into a food processor and blitz to a paste.
Take the ribs out and keep warm, then add the paste to the casserole. Cook out for about 5 minutes, then add the cloves, star anise, tomato paste, ground cumin, ground coriander and turmeric. Again, cook out for another 5 minutes until fragrant.
Add the ribs back to the pot, along the with the beef stock, remaining red wine and bring to simmer before covering with a lid and placing into the oven.
Leave them to gently cook for 2 to 2.5 hours, until they are really tender.
When the ribs are ready, take them out of the stock and keep warm.
Pour the remaining stock through a sieve and pour into a fresh saucepan. Place back on the hob to reduce the sauce by two thirds.
Serve with sweet potato dahl, a good drizzling of the sauce and a spoonful of cucumber raita.
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