To get South American style beef ribs have the butcher cut through the bone and produce strips of ribs. So you’ll have a long strip of: meat, then a piece of bone, then meat, then bone, and so on and so forth. There’s no marinade except olive oil, a few spices, and salt and pepper—this is because you’re meant to serve your meat with Chimmichurri sauce.

Ingredients

1/2 cup coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sweet paprika 
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons kosher or sea salt 
6 pounds beef ribs, trimmed and cut across the bones
2 bottles of your favorite beer 

Instructions

Preheat a charcoal or gas grill to 300 degrees F.

For the rub, in a small bowl, combine the pepper, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, and salt and mix well. 

Rub the ribs with the spice mixture and transfer them to a covered roasting pan or Dutch oven. Pour beer around the beef (not over it), cover the pan, and cook over direct heat on the barbecue for 3 hours.

Remove the ribs from the pan and cut into individual portions. Transfer the ribs back to the grill, close the grill cover, and cook for 5 minutes longer, or until they are crusty and tender. Serve with chimichurri sauce. 

Ghee is clarified butter; that is, butter with the milk solids and moisture removed.  It imparts a unique flavor to curries and has a higher smoking point than many vegetable oils, such as olive.  When cooled, ghee will keep for about a year without turning rancid.  Although some sources say it does not need to be refrigerated, just to be safe we recommend refrigeration.    There are a surprising number of ways to make ghee, including boiling the butter in water, but I believe this recipe is the easiest.  Some people add a curry leaf or bay leaf when cooking for added flavor.  Note: never use salted butter for ghee.

Ingredients

2 pounds unsalted butter

Instructions

Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan, then increase the heat slightly to just below the simmering point of the butter.  Cook for 45 minutes, stirring any foam that rises back into the butter.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow the butter to cool to lukewarm.  Carefully pour off the top layer of clarified butter, allowing the solids on the bottom to remain in the pan.  Strain the butter through muslin cloth or through a sieve lined with paper towels.

Store in the refrigerator in a wide-mouthed jar with a screw lid.

This recipe and others can be found in the 12-part illustrated series “A World of Curries”. You can read all about this unique Indian flavor here.

Ingredients

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 curry leaves, crushed (optional)
1-inch piece galangal, peeled and grated, or substitute ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 medium onions, sliced
1 cup coconut milk, recipe here
1/4 cup Indonesian Curry Paste, recipe above    
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons tamarind paste dissolved in 1 cup water
3 small, fresh, hot green chiles, such as serrano, seeds and stems removed, cut lengthwise in half
1 large fish head (about 1 pound)
6 small okras, parboiled and sliced

Instructions

Heat the oil in a wok and fry the curry leaves and galangal for two minutes.  Add the garlic and onions and fry until the onions are soft.  Add the coconut milk and curry paste and stir-fry for about 5 minutes.

Add the salt, sugar, tomatoes, and tamarind and cook for 5 minutes.  Add the chiles, fish head, and okra and simmer, uncovered, until the meat starts to fall off the fish head, about 45 minutes.

This recipe and others can be found in the 12-part illustrated series “A World of Curries”. You can read all about this unique Indian flavor here.

Ingredients

10 dried small hot red chiles, such as piquins, stems removed
5 candlenuts (or substitute macadamia nuts or cashews)
2 stalks lemongrass, bulbs included
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 large piece galangal, peeled and chopped (or substitute ginger)
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon prawn or shrimp paste
1 tablespoon ghee (recipe here) or vegetable oil
4 curry leaves (optional)
1 1/2 pounds prawns or large shrimp, peeled, heads and tails removed (optional), deveined if desired
1 1/2 cups thick coconut milk, recipe here

Instructions

In a food processor, combine the chiles, nuts, lemongrass, turmeric, galangal, onion, and prawn paste and puree to a fine paste.

Heat the oil in a skillet or wok and fry the paste and curry leaves for 5 minutes.  Add the prawns and coconut milk and cook, uncovered, over medium heat until the prawns are done, about 15 minutes.