In a bowl whisk together the brown sugar, curry powder, cinnamon, kosher salt and both peppers. Dice the onion and set aside.
If your butcher hasn't already done this, remove the thin, papery membrane from the back of each rack by inserting the tip of a knife under it. The best place to start is on one of the middle bones. Use a paper towel or pliers to secure a grip and peel off and discard the membrane.
Slice the ribs and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle the dry rub over, tossing to coat each rib all over. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or place in a Ziploc bag. Marinate for at least an hour (overnight is better).
To the Instant Pot add some vegetable oil and brown the dry rubbed pork ribs on all sides. Do this in batches to brown the ribs, not steam them. You want that browned meat.
Add a little more vegetable oil to the pressure cooker if needed and brown the onions, scraping the bottom of the pan to pick up all the tasty bits.
Add the ribs, coconut milk and enough chicken stock to cover. Place the lid on, set the Instant Pot vent to "Sealing", and use Manual Pressure function to set timer for 20 minutes for chewier ribs and 25 minutes for fall-off-the-bone tender ribs.After pressure cooking, allow the Instant Pot to go through a Natural Pressure Release for 10 minutes, then quick-release the remaining pressure. Alternatively, cook the ribs in a slow cooker for 4 hours on High or 8 hours on Low.
Carefully remove ribs from pot and keep warm on platter covered with foil.
Thicken the remaining sauce by cooking on Saute for 10 minutes using a slurry mixture of 2 tablespoons of cornstarch combined with 1/4 cup of water. Alternatively, pour the sauce into a saucepan over medium heat and thicken using a slurry mixture of 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water. Stir to thicken and cook for 5 minutes.
Pour sauce over ribs when serving with steamed rice and garnish with chopped cilantro.
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Notes
Pork loin ribs are also known as back ribs or baby back ribs. On average, one rack of baby back ribs weighs 1.5 - 2 pounds, which is enough for 2 people. This recipe yields enough for 4 people, so purchase TWO racks of pork loin ribs.
If you want to make this recipe using spare ribs or St. Louis style ribs, you will need to increase the pressure cooking time to 30 minutes for chewy ribs and 35 minutes for tender, fall off the bone ribs.
I like to use a Japanese curry powder, under the S&B brand that's been produced since 1923 by Minejiro Yamazaki. It can be found in most Asian markets or online. It's a well-balanced and sweetly aromatic curry powder.