A bit more effort was required for this one, but it was worth it!
Chop an onion, a carrot, a stick of celery and 2 cloves of garlic, put this into a glass dish. Add 1 tsp coriander seeds, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 star anise
and a stick of cinnamon, then pour in half a bottle of red wine. Add short ribs, cover and marinate for several hours, or overnight if possible.
When ready to cook, remove the ribs from the marinade, let drain to dry then dust with seasoned flour and brown all over in hot oil. Decant the marinade with
all the vegetables into a deep casserole dish, add a cup of beef stock and a Tbs Madras spice powder, bring to a boil and add the browned short ribs. Cover and
cook in a 140°C oven for 2 to 2.5 hours, until they are nice and tender.
Make a cucumber raita by chopping cucumber into small dice, and mixing with natural Greek-style yogurt. Toast 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp mustard seeds until
fragrant, crush in a mortar and pestle and add to the yogurt, together with some chopped fresh mint.
While the ribs are cooking, prepare the sweet potato dhal. Fry a chopped onion in a little oil, add chopped garlic, a tsp ground cumin and ¾ cup of red lentils,
together with a cup of chicken stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the lentils soften and are collapsing to a thick sauce. Peel and cut
sweet potato into 2 cm cubes and cook in boiling water for 10 minutes, drain and add to the lentils, stirring through but leaving some chunky bits. Keep warm while
you finish off the short ribs. When the ribs are ready, remove them and keep warm. Pour the sauce through a sieve into a saucepan, forcing through as much of the
vegetable pulp as you can, and reduce to a thick smooth sauce. Spoon some dhal onto plates, top with the short ribs, drizzle with the spicy sauce, garnish with mint
and serve with cucumber raita.