There's bucket loads of Chilli recipes about on the web, and about the same number of people that will argue what makes the
best chilli as well. e.g. with beans/no beans, meat/no meat, seeds/no seeds, mince/stewing steak.... etc. The recipe I use differs from most I've seen because I create a smooth thick sauce first (in the style of a mole poblano) then add the browned meat, softened beans and other solid veg which gives an incredible deep rich chilli that's really addictive
Now, I can't say that this is the world’s best, but it goes down really well when I make it so I'm taking that as a good sign. There's a few core parts, and lots of optional additional ingredients that can really add complexity to the flavour. So it's very much up to you how much it you on how complicated you make it.
The 3 parts:
The Mole – This is the special bit
not all that complicated but essentially the idea is to cook up a tomato based stew, then blend down to get the thick sauce as a base for the rest of the chilli.
Start by roughly chopping some chillies, dried or fresh is fine (even pickled will work) and fry them off in a glug of oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat. The type of chillies will depend on what heat /smokiness level you’re looking for. I’d recommend putting in at least 2 or 3 different chillies just to give a few levels of flavour. Personal recommendations are: a few chipotles (smoked jalapenos are typical) for the smoke, a scotch bonnet for the heat and a few sweeter/milder red chillies for the flavour. I’d leave the seeds in but you can remove them before chopping if desired. After about 5 minutes, crush 2 or 3 garlic cloves, get about a handful of dried fruit (sultanas, apricots, raisins etc. ) and a hand mixed nuts (personally I find pistachios and almonds work well), then add them to the pan. Cook this for another 5 minutes (the chillies should be soft and starting to blacken) and add some ground spices to the mix. This provides the binding flavours so 2 heaped tablespoons of paprika, one tablespoon of cumin and a tea spoon of cinnamon to give a bit of sweetness. If you’re using any seeds give them a quick bash to loosen them before putting them in. Stir these in and you should be looking at a thick paste that smells absolutely incredible!
Add either a litre of passata, or 2 tins of tomatoes and heat through while giving the occasional stir. When the sauce is mixed, break up and crumble in around half a bar of high cocoa dark chocolate. Depending on your type of food processor, you can blend it up before or after the passata is added. I find it's easier to add the sauce in first as you're not struggling to get the paste off the bottom the pan. When it's all mixed taste the sauce, while the chilli is not complete it can give you a good idea of how it will turn out. Season as desired. If the sauce is way overboard on the heat level do not worry, wait until the next step. Transfer the mixture to a blender/ food processor and blend until smooth. Depending on the size you may have to blend in separate portions at this point. Place back in the saucepan and simmer. At this point if you’re unhappy with the heat level, separate a portion of the sauce off (and keep for another dish) and add roughly half a cup (100ml) of double cream, stir through then taste. Rinse repeat as necessary but don’t add more than 300ml as it’s going to change the constancy.
The Meat – Beef Mince is a good choice, sprinkle a bit of pepper and fry it dry in a frying pan with some finely diced* onion. If it's not particularly lean then drain it off or pat it down with kitchen roll after frying to stop the chilli getting greasy. For me, slow cooking or braising a nice cut of meat is an option but I think it’s rarely worth the extra time and expense in this dish as it's the sauce that really makes or breaks it. General rule of thumb is 500gr of meat will serve 4 hungry people, and one onion medium to large onion will suffice as well. When cooked, stir through the sauce.
The Veg - large Diced** Onions, peppers and as many different types of bean as you like. Fry off the onions and peppers in the little oil left in the frying pan, then empty them into the sauce. In the same pan, lightly toss the beans (don't forget to rinse a few times if out of a tin) and add the beans and residue from the frying pan into the sauce. Roughly balance the portions so if you use 2 tins of beans, then use 2 big onions and 2 big peppers etc. You can add fresh tomatoes at this point but they’re not really required.
Stir the sauce with ingredients and you should be left with a very thick, rich, chilli con carne. Make up half a pint of beef stock and use it to thin the sauce to the desired consistency. Enjoy with rice/over hotdogs/in a tortilla etc.
*Brunoise and ** Macedoine before any cheffy types pick me up on it
TL;DR
1. Fry chillies, garlic, mixed fruit, mixed nuts
2. Add paprika and other ground spices
3. Add tinned tomato/ passata
4. Simmer for a while then add dark chocolate, then blend
5. Cook mince off and add to sauce
6. Cook onions, peppers and beans off and add to sauce
7. Simmer for a while and use beef stock to thin if necessary
8. Eat!
