Short ribs are one of those things that I always love to order out, but have never made at home so I’m trying my hand here with Kenyan Short Ribs (Nyma Choma).

I’m not exactly sure why I’ve been so hesitant to make them at home- maybe it seems to be like an indulgence not appropriate for regular Monday-Friday fare. Maybe they seem like something hard to make. However, after seeing my mom NOT slave over the stove when making them when I was home this past holiday, I realized I was scared of nothing. Coming into Eastern Africa, I found a spice rub that seemed like it’d be the perfect first go, so here I present today’s experiment: Nyma Choma, or roast meat.

Not only did I convince myself that making short ribs at home was NBD, I also have a live in house guest at the moment who is keen to eat and try everything I cook and celebrate my triumphs and laugh (with me) at my failures so I figured short ribs were definitely the way to go. Live to eat right?

Caveat here is that I didn’t do this completely authentically. Rather than preparing this the traditional way, which would be grilling (and I really don’t like grilling), I did mine in the slow cooker. Lazy Sundays were made for slow-cooked food, no? Anyway, the spicing was the same and I served it alongside a traditional dish of the Kikuyu people called Irio, a Kenyan mash of potatoes and vegetables.

No so hard, after all it seems.

Kenyan Short Ribs (Nyma Choma)

February 25, 2013

Servings: 4

Prep: 5 min

Cook: 5 hr

Total: 5 hr 30 min

Difficulty: Easy

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Kenyan short ribs (Nyma Choma) are a slow-cooker version of this traditionally grilled, richly spiced African dish.

By: Chrissy

Ingredients

2-3 lbs beef short ribs
2 garlic cloves, minced
juice of 1 lemons
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander
2 tsp paprika (I used smoked)
salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions

Step 1 In a Ziploc bag, add the spices and lemon juice. Add the ribs and toss to coat thoroughly.
Step 2 Turn on the broiler. Lay out the ribs on a broiling sheet and broil the ribs about 3 minutes on each side, enough to give them some color.
Step 3 To the slow cooker, add the meat and the marinade, adding about ¼ cup water or broth just to ensure they don’t’ stick to the bottom. Cook on high for about 5-6 hours until the meat is tender