Chili con Carne with Beef Chunks

Preparing the ingredients

1. Chili con carne, or chili, is made with beef. You need the kind of meat usually used for goulash: boneless, with no sinews – shoulder or a goulash cut, not tenderloin. Many local recipes use ground meat, but chili with chunks of meat is much nicer to eat.

2. Rinse the meat and cut it into pieces of about 2–3 cm.

   

3. Get the chili peppers ready – how many to add, and in what form, is up to you.

   Mexican food is quite hot, and not everyone will enjoy the fiery flavor. Mexican recipes often say “8 chili peppers”. That’s scary. But the general rule goes like this: put in 7 peppers whole and cut one, and the dish will be mildly hot. Put in 5 whole and cut three, and the chili con carne will be hot. Cut all 8, and the dish will be atomic.

   I used two small hot chili peppers. I cut one in half and left the other whole, and the chili turned out moderately hot and very tasty.

   

4. Drain the canned red kidney beans and rinse them.

   Red kidney beans are probably the hardest part. They don’t grow here. Local beans will do, though, and some of them are purplish red too. Stores sometimes carry canned red kidney beans, and that is what I use.

   Cut the bell peppers into large pieces. Peel the red onion and slice it into rings.

   It’s best to chop all the vegetables in advance. Red onion, garlic and red bell peppers are always easy to find.

   

Browning and braising the meat

1. Cut a small piece of pork fat into thin slices and render the fat in a frying pan (preferably a heavy-bottomed one with a lid – the meat will braise in it too).

   You need very little fat, literally 1 tbsp. You can use lard, which is actually what classic chili con carne recipes call for.

   

   Fry the beef in the pork fat until browned – over high heat, stirring constantly.

   A browned crust is very important: as the meat cooks further, the pieces will hold their shape well and turn tender.

   
   

2. Once the meat is browned, add the chopped bell peppers, red onion and chili pods. Add water or meat stock, cover and simmer over the lowest heat for 1 hour 30 minutes, until the meat starts to break apart easily with a fork.

   Top up with water or stock so the meat stays in liquid the whole time. Tough meat is most often undercooked, so don’t be afraid to braise it longer.

   

Beans, tomatoes and spices

1. Grate the garlic or chop it finely with a knife. Add the red kidney beans and garlic to the meat.

   

   Add the spices: coriander, cumin, oregano and caraway, plus salt, all to taste.

2. Peel the tomatoes (easiest after pouring boiling water over them) and remove the seeds. Cut the tomatoes into large pieces, about the same size as the bell peppers, and add to the meat. Stir everything gently. Add the crushed tomatoes or tomato juice and a little water – the chili should have some liquid.

   Canned crushed tomatoes are sold in any store, but I prefer natural tomato juice made from fresh tomatoes rather than reconstituted from tomato concentrate or paste.

   Simmer uncovered over medium heat for about 20 minutes. By then the liquid should have almost boiled away and the chili should start to thicken.

   

3. Taste and add more salt if needed. If it isn’t hot enough, add some coarsely ground chili. Add 1 tsp of cocoa (2 g) powder or a piece of dark chocolate.

   Surprisingly, cocoa or dark chocolate gives chili a special flavor – I recommend trying it.

   

   Let the chili simmer for another 5 minutes.

Serving

1. Serve with corn chips, tortillas, rice, cheese, herbs or sour cream.