BBQ & Beers: Vindaloo Ribs

Sun, barbecues and beers go hand in hand. You can’t beat a bit of beer and meat on a sunny day. Even better if you’ve managed to marinade your rack of ribs overnight, but it’s not always easy to be that prepared especially with our temperamental weather. With the wealth of micro-breweries on Sheffield’s doorstep matching the variety of flavours on the grill from smokey caramelisation to sticky chilli marinades, is the stress-free part. Bradfield Brewery’s blonde ale, Farmers Blonde (4 per cent) has light refreshing citrus notes and a sweetness of malt flavour that compliments slow cooked pulled pork shoulder rubbed in a tangy tomato and granny-smith marinade. Acorn Brewery’s Old Moor Porter (4.4 per cent) a dark spicy robust Victorian style porter might not be the obvious first choice but its punch stands up to a beef brisket smoked and slow cooked with an umami rub; with its hints of olives and Worcester sauce. Thornbridge Brewery’s Tzara, a Köln style beer (4.8 per cent) – is the palate cleanser of the bunch and great to wash down the sticky marinade on your barbecue ribs. Tzara’s a hybrid beer which is fermented like an ale but matured like a lager and with a restrained bitterness that lets the ribs do the talking.


For these Indian spiced inspired ribs (thanks to Flamin' Amateurs for the recipe) you'll require a beer that can stand up to the mustard seed, paprika and cayenne – an IPA is ideal. You might have to find some take out from The Fat Cat pub, but if you can, buy some of Kelham Island Brewery's double IPA Mind Control at 6.9 per cent to accompany. Its hop flavour and aroma emphasis – a double helping of the trio Citra, Chinook and Nelson Sauvin meld with and magnify the spices, providing some cooling bitterness before a fire quenching wash down. The beer has just been released as the July special and is the final part of Jim C's comic inspired collaboration with the Kelham Island team.

Vindaloo Ribs BBQ Recipe:

Ingredients

4 racks pork baby back ribs

Dry rub: 4 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/4 tsp fenugreek, 1/2 tsp ground turmeric, 1 tbsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp paprika, 1 tbsp ground coriander, 5 tsp cayenne and 1 tsp ground ginger.

Sauce: 15 curry leaves, 240 ml ketchup, 160 ml rice vinegar, 240 ml cider, 120 ml cider vinegar, 60 ml soy sauce, 2 tsp mustard, 1 tsp garlic granules, 1 apple grated and 1/2 an onion grated.

Method

1. Mix together the dry rub ingredients above in a bowl and save to one side.

2. Make the sauce by boiling then simmering in a pan for 15 minutes the sauce ingredients and add a large pinch of the dry rub mix. You should have quite a vinegary sauce to deal with the heat of the dry rub.

3. Rub the ribs in the dry mix then smoke (kept together in rack formation in foil) for about 30 minutes at 100c on the barbecue, then cooked for a further 2 hours unwrapped at 100c. Finally finish off wrapped again in foil with a good helping of sauce for another 1 to 2 hours until a tooth pick goes in easily.

*Alternatively for the oven* Cook in a domestic oven at 140c until a tooth pick easily goes in (approx 2 to 3 hours) then cover in sauce, leave to rest for 30 mins and finish off on your BBQ grill.

Try the Vindaloo ribs recipe and match with a local beer.