Smoky chipotle chilli
Is there anything more comforting than a big bowl of chilli on the sofa in your snugs while you slump into your next binge of trash TV? Of course there is. But still… it’s pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
It’s taken a few years to get this recipe right, taking bits and tips from all over the place. But it was worth all the fiddling about and experimenting for what is now a rich, beefy, smoky, deep-flavoured bowl of goodness.
I’d say this is a medium hot chilli, so play around with the level or type of chilli powder and fresh chillies to dial up/down the heat to taste 🔥🔥🔥
Serves: 4-6 with plenty leftover
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 2½ hours
Ingredients
1kg good quality beef mince
2 onions (thinly sliced)
5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 double shot espresso
500ml good quality beef stock
1 can (400g) finely chopped tomatoes
4 chipotle chillies (stalks and seeds removed)
1 tsp cumin seeds (toasted)
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dark brown muscovado sugar
2 tsp chilli powder
2 fresh red chillies (finely chopped)
2 tsp sea salt
Method
Roughly grind the cumin seeds in a pestle and mortar before adding the sugar, dried chillies, chilli powder, oregano and salt. Pound it all together to make your spice mix.
Take your largest, tallest pan, put it over a high heat and add a big glug of olive oil. Brown the mince in batches so not to overcrowd the pan and end up steaming it. Add the onions and stir for 2 minutes.
Turn the heat down to low and add the garlic, stirring until the onions have completely softened. Add the coffee, stock and half the spice mix, pop a lid on and simmer for an hour.
Add the chopped tomatoes, the rest of the spice mix and the fresh chillies before giving it a good mix and letting it simmer (lid off) for another hour. Stir occasionally to make sure it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan.
Check the seasoning, adding to taste. If it’s a bit dry for your liking, add a very small splash of water and stir through. If it’s too loose for you, let it continue to simmer with the lid off until your desired sauciness.
Serve over rice with black beans, in a burrito, with nachos or simply as it is with a dollop of soured cream.
TIPS
This is definitely one of those dishes that tastes even better the next day, so make it in advance if you can.
You can use around 100g of chipotle chilli paste instead of dried chillies. Add it to the pestle and mortar to make a spice paste instead of a dry mix.
To dry-toast the cumin seeds, take the smallest pan you have and add the seeds over a low heat (no oil). Keep the seeds moving so that they don’t burn. Remove after a minute or so, when you you can smell the fragrance.
For a burrito (wrapped or naked) add rice, black beans, paprika-roasted peppers/onions, guacamole, salsa, grated cheese, soured cream and coriander.
For this kind of chilli, the finer the mincemeat, the better.
If you don’t have proper espresso, use 250ml of freshly brewed filter coffee and 300ml of the beef stock.