Chili con carne, chili with meat is a famous dish often called simply chili. It must include tomatoes, spicy hot peppers, meat, usually beef. Many people think that real chili cannot be made without beans, but there have been controversies about this ingredient for centuries, as hot as the chili itself.
To prepare a classic chili, take: – 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil; – 1 large head of red onion; – 1 red bell pepper; – 2 cloves of garlic; – 1 teaspoon of ground chili; – 1 teaspoon of paprika; – 1 teaspoon of ground cumin; – 500 g lean ground beef; – 300 ml of beef broth; – 400 g of chopped canned tomatoes; – ½ teaspoon dried oregano; – 1 teaspoon of sugar; – 2 tablespoons of tomato puree; – 450 g of red beans canned in their own juice.
Chili is served with slides of boiled rice on top and garnished with a spoonful of sour cream. Or with corn chips and cheese. You can also wrap the chili in a special taco cake along with chopped lettuce, chopped tomatoes and guacamole sauce, called burritos.
Prepare your vegetables. Peel the onion and cut into small cubes. Remove the stalk from the red pepper, remove the seeds, rinse the pepper and cut the flesh into cubes as well. Peel the garlic cloves and chop. In a large, deep saucepan, heat the olive oil, add the onion, and stir-fry until clear. Add garlic, bell pepper, season with paprika and chili powder, ground caraway seeds, mix well and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes more. Place the minced meat in a saucepan and break it into pieces with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. Combine the meat with vegetables and fry, continuing to break up any lumps that form.
Prepare the sauce by mixing the broth and canned tomatoes, add the oregano and sugar, tomato paste, whisk and pour into the minced meat, stir and bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Some cooks consider this chili ready-made, others put the beans.
You can substitute dark chocolate for sugar; you don’t need more than a slice.
Drain the liquid from the beans by placing the beans in a colander. Add the beans to the meat and vegetables, stir, bring to a boil again, and then simmer again for about 10 minutes. Let the chili steep for 10-15 minutes before serving. Purists insist that a real chili must stand at night for the aromas to finally merge into one magnificent bouquet.
One of the classic variations of chili is a recipe in which, in addition to beans, canned beans appear. Chili con carne is often seasoned with chopped parsley.