Ben’s Chilli

A long list of ingredients, so make a big batch.

This recipe has evolved with many happy experiments over a couple of decades. Chilli should not just be hot; but rich and complex. Sounds pretentious, I know, but I’m chuffed with this and get more requests for it than any other recipe.

The keys are pork (the sausage meat); chunky bits (my sons disagree, but what do they know?); smoky chillies; plenty of cumin and garlic. The rest varies depending on what I have around. Not much during lockdown: so the version in the photo at the end includes green pepper; flageolet and haricot beans; and stir fry strips. I had no fresh chillies and the dried ones were more than two years past their sell-by-date, but I suspect they’d be fine in a decade still.

I tend to make a veggie version too, splitting the onion/pepper/spice mix and substituting some meat with robust vegetables. I’ve given the ingredients I used here in green: using a quarter of the spice mix and reducing the meat by a quarter too. Root veg work well, just adjust cooking times, adding the ones which need more cooking first and cutting overall cooking time, or risk a burnt mush.

Serves 15-20

• 2 tablespoons oil
• 4 medium onions: 3 chopped coarsely, 1 chopped finely

• 1/2 head of garlic, sliced finely
• 3 sticks of celery, sliced finely
• 3 red peppers, seeded and chopped coarsely
• 4 red chilies, seeded and chopped finely

• 3-6 tablespoons chili powder – (less if hot, more if mild)
• 2 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 star anise – try to find them at the end and discard
• 4 bay leaves 
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 3 tabiespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons chipotle paste
• 1 ancho chili, soaked in a few tablespoons boiling water and whizzed in blender – or 2 more tablespoons chipotle paste. In this dish I used 1poblano, 1 guajillo and 1 pasilla chili: all large, flavourful Mexican chillies

• 1.5 kg beef mince (not too lean)
• 0.5 kg skirt steak, cut into generous chunks – or stewing steak
• 0.5 kg sausage meat – or around six sausages, skinned

I used 1.2kg mince, 300g stir fry strips and 4 sausages; plus 3/4 of the spice mix, tomatoes etc.

OR

• 1 Aubergine, chopped into generous chunks
• 200g Button mushroom, brushed – not washed
• 2 Courgettes
• 1 small tin of corn

This was enough for a quarter of the spice mix.

• 3 400g tins of tomatoes, chopped coarsely

• 3 400g tins of kidney or black beans, drained

• 1 bunch of coriander, chopped coarsely
• 300g cheddar, grated
• 2 tubs of sour cream

Heat a good glug of oil in a large casserole over medium heat and add the chopped onions and some salt. Cook until translucent and then add the garlic, celery, peppers and chilli. Keep cooking until golden and then add the spices, herbs etc. to the casserole and stir until the pastes start to separate.

For the meat version, now add the mince, beef chunks and the sausage, shredding the former with your fingers; and breaking the latter into small pieces. The goal is to avoid lumps and it’s easier if you take this part slowly, stirring as you go. Don’t dump all the mince in and hope it will break up by itself. That didn’t work for the dinner ladies at school either.

For the veggie chilli, you’re best off frying each vegetable separately in a little oil before adding the spice mixture. They all take different times and you want some colour, particularly if you’re using aubergines or mushrooms, which would just be watery otherwise. Cook ones first which take longer (squash, aubergines) before the quick cooking ones (courgettes, sweet potato, cauliflower etc.)

At this stage, add tomatoes to either version, bring to a gentle simmer and cook with the lid on until the tomatoes have broken up and the sauce is gloopy. This may be just 20 minutes for the veggie chilli, two or three hours for the meat one. Check occasionally, adding a little water to keep moist if need be and season to taste with more with salt and pepper.

If want to freeze it, do it now and add the beans later when you reheat – they go mushy when you freeze them – otherwise add the beans and cook for another ten minutes. Check the seasoning and if too mild, add hot sauce; too spicy, more tomatoes; if just in need of pepping up, lemon or lime juice. Stir in the coriander at the last minute and serve with plenty of rice and/or tortilla chips and bowls of grated cheese and sour cream, with hot sauce on the side.

A word on language… Chilli is the UK spelling, plus a few other places. Chili is the norm in Texas, where it originated. Chile’s the spelling in Mexico, but this recipe is so far removed from there that I don’t worry too much about that.