My maternal grandmother makes a fabulous dry chicken curry that doesn’t require coconut milk which in turn makes it healthier too. For my version of ‘dry curry’, I decided to use pork ribs instead of chicken and packed a whole bunch of spices into the paste that really made the dish so flavoursome and moreish. Spiciness level was probably about medium with just 15 dried chillies so if you prefer a less or more spicy flavour, just adjust the amount of chillies accordingly and tweak the portion of seasoning too.
Pork Ribs Curry Recipe
Ingredients (serves 2-3)
500g pork spare ribs, chopped into pieces
4 slices ginger, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled & crushed
1 tbsp vegetable oil
Spice paste:
15 dried chillies
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp aniseed
2 tsp coriander seeds
5 cloves garlic, peeled
4 slices ginger, peeled
Seasoning:
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp reduced salt light soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water
Instructions
1. Combine all ingredients for the spice paste in a food processor and blend till fine.
2. Marinate the spare ribs with the spice paste and chill in fridge for at least an hour.
3. Heat oil in pan and stir fry the ginger and garlic for 30 seconds.
4. Add all ingredients for the seasoning and bring to a boil. Add the marinated spare ribs and bring to a boil again.
5. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 45 minutes until pork is tender. Add boiling water if gravy dries up midway.
Just like a dry version of rendang. Yum! 🙂
Hi Geri! Thanks for the recipe. I agree that it’s nice to have, for once, a recipe for curry that does not require using coconut milk. Although I do love coconut milk, it’s too much fat at once, and one can’t have it everyday (sadly). Great alternative here!
Thank you Sophie. You can try using low fat evaporated milk as a substitute for coconut milk. Works the same 🙂
so if I add coconut milk, do I make rendang then?
Not quite the same as the regular rendang but it’s definitely worth a try.