Tabak maaz is a traditional lamb or goat rib recipe of Kashmiri cuisine, and one of the most famous dishes in the Wazwan feast, a decadent meal featuring not one or two, or even five courses of lamb, goat, and other meats, but 36! The celebratory feast is seen as an art form, and chefs take a special pride in preparing the dishes.
Tabak maaz are lamb ribs cooked slowly in tumeric milk with spices and fried golden brown.
Tabak Maaz Ingredients
The secret to the recipe is that the riblets are soaked overnight in a spiced tumeric milk, then simmered until tender and browned in ghee until crisp. They’re perfumed with spices and make a great appetizer browned crisp and delicious in ghee.
Indian spices for lamb ribs: ginger, cardamon, pepper, black cardamom, bay leaf, fennel.
This recipe has some exotic spices. Black cardamom can be found at your local Asian grocery store in the spice section, or purchased online. Unlike green cardamom, which has a rich, floral taste and aroma, black cardamom is rich, dark and smoky.
The Kashmiri-style ribs are cooked in an aromatic tumeric milk with spices.
Lamb and goat ribs are very rich. Some people may like them served as-is, but Chef Bergo recommends giving them a light trim to remove some of the fat. See our post on how to cook lamb or goat ribs for a demonstration of how Chef trims his ribs.
After marinating and simmering, pat the ribs dry and fry them crisp.
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30gramsor 2 each 1in x 3 inch rectangles fresh ginger, peeled
1small onionhalved
2Tablespoonsground turmeric
Tiny pinch saffronoptional
6dried bay leaves
75grams1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
Spice Blend
3 3inchcinnamon sticks
20gramswhole black cardamomroughly 6 medium-sized pods
10whole green cardamom
2tablespoonsfennel seed
2tablespoonscumin seed
2Tablespoonsblack peppercorns
Serving and finishing
¼cupghee
Fresh cilantro
Finishing saltoptional
Instructions
Spices
Lightly toast the toast the ingredients for the spice blend, then roughly crush in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Combine the spices, onion, garlic, ginger, bay leaves and salt with the water in a soup pot, bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat and cool.
Marinating the ribs
Add the ribs and milk to the liquid and refrigerate overnight (optional). Add a little extra water to barely cover the ribs if needed.
Bring the ribs to a simmer, turn the heat to low, and cook for an hour on the lowest heat possible. Do not allow the ribs to boil or they could fall apart.
Test to see if the ribs are done by wiggling a bone-it should move freely, but they should not be falling apart. Allow the ribs to cool in the liquid for 45 minutes.
Remove the ribs and pat dry. From here the ribs can be prepared days ahead of time.
Browning and serving
Brown the ribs crisp in the ghee on both sides and serve the hot garnished with cilantro and finishing salt.
Notes
The ribs make a great appetizer to a larger Indian-style meal.