Mexican

THREE BEAN CHILLI WITH ANCHO AND CHOCOLATE


THREE BEAN CHILLI WITH ANCHO AND CHOCOLATE

A nice bowl of chili has been on my mind for a few days now. Steaming hot, spicy, comforting bowl of chili. So after a gorgeous lunch with friends at Cafe Ronak (a fantastic falafel wrap) and a walk around the shops (stops to 4 health food shops included) I got onto my chili.

Chocolate is the secret ingredient in a proper chili. It makes it rich, dark, velvety and sumptuous. It leaves you thinking what is in that chili? That is if you use dark chocolate of course, a bar of Dairy Milk would leave you thinking what the .... was she thinking?! The other secret ingredient in this chili is a Mexican dried chili, you can use Ancho or Chipotle. I used Ancho, which is a dried Mexican Poblano chili and can vary in flavour from surprisingly mild to rather spicy. These chillies have a smokey flavour that works so well with all the other spices.

The best thing about a bowl of chili is that it is incredibly versatile, eat it just as it is with some homemade tortilla chips, serve it with rice or quinoa, wrapped in a tortilla, on top of a baked potato (regular or sweet), it will even go with pasta. Go crazy with toppings of your choice; jalapenos, avocados, thin slices of red onion or chopped spring onions, sweetcorn, salsa... the possibilities are endless.

THREE BEAN CHILLI WITH ANCHO AND CHOCOLATE

If you like your chili spicy leave the seeds and membranes in your jalapeno, or use two. You can also use hot paprika or even add 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper.
To make the homemade
tortilla chips, cut tortillas (wheat or corn) into strips or triangles, place on a baking tray in one layer (you may have to do in in batches), and bakes at 200C oven for about 2-3 minutes on each side, till they are golden brown.

Serves 6

3beanchili

ingredients
1 Tbs rapeseed oil (or 1/4 cup of water)
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 jalapeno chili, finely chopped (or any other chili), deseeded if you want milder flavour
1 Ancho chili
1 large red pepper, chopped (about 1cm or 1/2inch pieces)
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika (hot or sweet)
1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbs tomato paste
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 Tbs liquid aminos (optional)
1 tin black beans
1 tin red kidney beans
1 tin of pinto (or borlotti beans)
500ml (2cups) of stock (make it out of ancho soaking liquid see in method)
30g (1 oz) of dark good quality chocolate (75%)
Toppings: I used chopped fresh coriander, slices of avocado, thinly sliced red onions and homemade tortilla chips

method
  1. First soak the Ancho chili in boiling water for about 10min. Remove it and reserve the liquid. Chop the Ancho chili quite finely.
  2. In a large wide saute pan heat the oil (or 1/4 cup of water). Add the onion and saute till softened.
  3. Next add the garlic, jalapeno chili, bell pepper and cook for 2 min.
  4. Add the spices and Ancho chili. Cook about half a minute taking care not to burn the spices.
  5. Next add the tomato paste, cook it for about a minute.
  6. Add the tinned tomatoes, liquid aminos, if using. Make up 500 ml (2 cups) of liquid out of the strained Ancho soaking liquid and vegetable stock. Add it to the chile.
  7. Next put in the beans, bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer gently for about an hour. The sauce should be thick with a deep colour.
  8. To finish the chili add the chocolate, let it melt into the sauce. Stir.
  9. Serve with your favourite sides or toppings.
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