RACHEL LETT
This chilli will give you a cuddle and warm your bones on the coldest of winter night. This. Is. Comfort.
Winter Chilli con Carne
SERVES 6–8
Knob of animal fats like ghee/butter/tallow
1 onion finely chopped
2 medium carrots peeled and finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic crushed
1–3 red chillies sliced (depending on heat and how you like it)
1 kg of pork or beef mince (or mixture of both)
1 tablespoons fennel seeds
1 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon natural salt
3 fresh tomatoes roughly chopped
1 litre homemade chicken stock
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
bunch of coriander chopped
1–2 limes juiced
Ingredients
In a heavy based saucepan, sweat the onions with knob of animal based fat like ghee, over a low heat, with the lid on. Cook until soft and translucent.
While the onions cook, toast the fennel seeds, coriander seeds, smoked paprika and pepper in frying pan on a medium heat. Keep the spices moving, and take off the heat once they start smelling fragrant.
Toasting is essential for bringing the spices back to life; so don’t be tempted to skip this step. Otherwise the chilli will taste ‘flat’.
With a teaspoon of salt, grind the spices in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar and set aside.
Once the onions are cooked, add the carrots, garlic and chilli, and allow to cook for a further two minutes.
Turn up the heat and add the minced meat to brown, stirring continuously.
Once the meat is nicely browned, add the ground spices, bay leaf, tomatoes, vinegar and stock. Bring to the boil, and simmer on a low heat for at least 1 hour.
The longer you can leave it the better. If you have a slow cooker, you can put it in this and leave it to cook on low during the day or overnight.
At the end of cooking, turn up the heat and reduce the sauce till it’s thickened—this is key, you don’t want your chilli to be running all over the plate.
Finish the chilli with a squeeze of lime, chopped coriander and season to your taste. Trust your instinct here; it may need more salt, pepper or acid, for which you can add lime juice or apple cider vinegar.
Serve with cauliflower rice, avocado salsa and spring greens.