// Chili con Carne is wonderful! Hearty, tasty, spicy and served piping hot, its sure to warm you up on a cold day!
Of Mexican or Texan origin, I am not sure. What I am sure of is that it’s delicious!
You will find a great trick to cut down on your fat intake by not adding any fat to brown the meat! We release it from the meat itself!
Calorie wise it’s great, approx. 600 cal per portion, including a 140gm serving of steamed basmati!
The above calorie profile is based on 1 portion of Chilli Con Carne made with the below recipe & served with 140gm of steamed basmati rice.
This recipe is adapted from the Hairy Bikers.
Enjoy!
Chili Con Carne
Ingredients:
- 500 gm mince (ground) beef, 10% fat
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 10 fat garlic cloves, bashed then sliced
- 1 medium red chili pepper, de-seeded and chopped
- Salt & pepper
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground red chili
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can chopped tomatoes (400 gm can – substitute 400 gm fresh tomatoes pulsed till chunky in a blender خلاط)
- 450 ml water
- 1 beef stock cube
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 can red kidney beans
Method:
- Have all your ingredients chopped up and ready.
- Heat a big deep pot, on a high heat for a few minutes.
- Add the mince beef directly to the pot, keep the heat on high, and leave it for 5 minutes without stirring or turning! You are searing the mince and browning it without releasing its water and making it boil!. Leaving it in big chunks means you can turn it easily later.
Searing mince in its own fat. - Turn your mince chunks and leave again for 5 minutes to brown the other side. You will notice the fat being released into the pot. That’s what we will fry the onions in.
After turning the chunks. You can also see the fat released. - Turn the heat down to medium and add the onions and give a few stirs to coat the onions and start breaking up the mince.
- When the onions start to get golden, add the garlic and give a few stirs.
- Add a little salt and pepper, the cumin, coriander, chili powder and chopped chili pepper, and give a few stirs.
- Stir in the tomato paste, and give it a few minutes. We are cooking it out so it’s not too tart.
- Now add in the chopped tomato, water, stock cube and stir.
- Add the sugar, bay leaf and oregano.
- Bring to the boil. Once boiling, take the heat down to low and leave to simmer for 1 hour. Give it a stir every once in a while to prevent catching.
- After the hour is up, stir in the can of kidney beans, and leave to simmer for 45min. Give it a stir every once in a while to prevent catching.
- After the time is up, taste and adjust seasoning if needed. (I usually add another tsp of cumin at this stage and give it a few stirs in the simmering sauce)
- Serve with steamed rice & enjoy!
How I serve it at home…(the other shots are just me trying to be fancy pantsy 😉 )
Cook’s Notes:
- I adapted the recipe to follow the bolognaise cooking technique by letting the beef simmer first on a low heat for an hour before adding the beans. This makes the meat sauce much smoother and creamy. If you want to speed it up, just add the beans at step 10 and cook for only 45 minutes. Any longer and the beans will be mushy.
- This is a very versatile dish, so you can amp up or decrease the chili to your liking. Add extra chopped red and green pepper for extra taste & crunch. If you do, add them 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
- If you want a thicker sauce, you can add 2 tbsps of flour, sprinkled over the mince in step 7 and then stir in well before adding the tomato paste. However, after you add the liquid, stir it a bit more often during the cooking time, as the flour and thicker sauce have a tendency to catch and you may need a bit more extra liquid to avoid that. I also find it mutes the flavor of the spices so I skip it entirely and rely on the longer cooker time instead.
Riham's Messy Kitchen! 