Two Bean Chilli

Yes, three or even four bean chilli would have sounded better but I forgot that we had other beans hidden away when it came to soaking time last night. We ended up with black beans and haricot beans which worked well anyway.

The basic recipe is based on our recently tweaked chilli con carne but this version is meat-free, partly because we wanted to eat something slightly lighter than normal this evening and partly because this recipe relies on store-cupboard basics. As there isn’t any meat, I’ve reduced the spicing slightly because I have a vague notion that meat can carry stonger flavours than pulses.

4 tbsp olive oil
2 red chillies, roasted, deseeded and pulped
4 garlic cloves, roasted and then pulped
1.5 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp chipotle chilli powder
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp smoked paprika
Glass red wine
1 large onion, finely chopped
600ml beef stock
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
Salt and pepper
Bay leaf
500g mixed beans
1 tsp cocoa powder

Roast the chillies and garlic in the oven for about 30 minutes, on 190 degrees, before removing from the oven leaving to cool down. Remove the seeds from the chilli and squash together with the garlic.

Boil the (soaked overnight) beans for 20 minutes and then rinse well.

Grind the coriander and cumin together in a mortar and pestle and transfer to a bowl, mix with the chilli powder, cinnamon and paprika.

Soften the onions with some salt, add the garlic and chilli pulp to the softened onions and let it cook together for a couple of minutes. Into this mixture, add the powdered spices and cook for a further couple of minutes. Deglaze with some red wine and allow the alcohol to cook out.

Next, add the stock, tomatoes, tomato puree, the bay leaf and season. I left this to bubble together without the beans for a few minutes, mostly because they hadn’t finished cooking but it did give me the opportunity to squash everything together so there weren’t any lumps. Add the beans, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for an hour and a half. Add the cocoa powder and cook for just a few more minutes.

This would be better left to cool, refrigerated overnight and then served the next day but I wasn’t organised enough for that.  It ended up sitting for about four hours and I added the chocolate powder while I was re-heating it which worked well.

The end result was really good but I think I was wrong about the meat carrying stronger flavours, this was definitely spicy but I think it could have taken the same amount of heat as the meat version.  We served it with a baked potato and cheese and really didn’t miss the meat at all.