Suzanne’s Red Chilli

I like to make this recipe by toasting my own seeds, preparing the beans from dried and dicing fresh tomatoes but most often I just do this simpler version because I’m lazy! I find this recipe also makes a great burrito filling (see notes at the bottom of the recipe). This recipe is loosely based on my Dad’s Chili Colorado recipe which was always tomatoless and beanless.

Ingredients

• 1 TBSP ground cumin
• 1 TBSP ground coriander
• Olive oil for frying
• 1 large yellow onion, diced finely
• 1 generous TBSP finely chopped garlic
• 450g/1lb stewing beef, cubed into roughly 1/2” chunks (1.5cm)
• 1 TBSP sweet paprika
• 4 TBSP chili powder (see notes)
• 1 TBSP plain all purpose flour
• 2 tsp dry oregano
• 2 beef Knorr stock cubes dissolved into 16oz/475ml boiling water
• 2 x 15oz/400g cans of pinto beans rinsed/drained
• 1 x 28oz/800g can of tomatoes, drained and diced/chopped into bite-size pieces
• Salt & ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat a large heavy pan (with a tight fitting lid) over medium-high heat. Once hot, add a few TBSP of oil and brown the beef in batches. Add more oil as needed. Take care not to overcrowd the meat so that it doesn’t steam. You want a nice color on it – color means flavor so don’t skimp on this part! Keep the batches of browned beef in a bowl and do not drain, you want all the juices from the meat.
2. Once all the meat is browned and removed from the pan, turn the heat down to medium, then add the onions and garlic and a little more oil if needed. Saute the onions and garlic gently. You don’t want to brown them. Once they have softened, turn the heat up to medium-high again, pile the onions and garlic in the middle of the pan and add the spices on top (cumin/coriander/paprika/chili powder) to the pan. Stir the spices into the onions until you can smell them (just a few seconds).
3. Add in the flour, oregano, and the meat along with any juices to the pan and stir to combine. Carefully pour in the water/stock cube mixture and stir well.
4. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat to a simmer and put the lid on. Simmer covered for 1 to 1.5 hours, checking and stirring every 20 to 30 minutes.
5. Once the meat just starts to go tender add the beans and tomatoes, stir well, cover and cook for a further half hour or until the meat is so tender it easily breaks apart with a fork.
6. Taste and season with salt & pepper before serving.

Serves 4 to 6

Notes

• Leave out the tomatoes and beans for a great burrito filling.
• Basically, it’s 1/4c (30g) dry measure of chili powder but I like to use a few different chili powders to make up the whole amount so I measure them in TBSP.