Chili with Minced Beef and vegetables

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil

1 large onion

1 red chili

1 green chili

1 orange chili

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder (or 1 level tbsp if you only have mild)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

500g lean minced beef

1 beef stock cube

½ tsp dried marjoram

1 tsp sugar

410g black beans

Directions

Chop the onion and the chilies

Peel and finely chop 2 garlic cloves

Put your pan on medium heat. Add the oil and leave it for 1-2 minutes until hot. Add the onions and cook, stirring fairly frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft and slightly translucent. Add the garlic, chilies, 1 heaped tsp hot chilli powder or 1 level tbsp mild chilli powder, 1 tsp paprika and 1 tsp ground cumin. Give it a good stir, then leave it to cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Brown the 500g lean minced beef. Turn the heat up a bit, add the meat to the pan and break it up with your spoon or spatula. The mix should sizzle a bit when you add the mince. Keep stirring for at least 5 minutes, until all the mince is in uniform, mince-sized lumps and there are no more pink bits. Make sure you keep the heat hot enough for the meat to fry and become brown, rather than just stew.

Make the sauce. Crumble 1 beef stock cube into 300ml hot water. Pour this into the pan with the mince mixture. Add ½ tsp dried marjoram and 1 tsp sugar and add a good shake of salt and pepper.

Simmer it gently. Bring the whole thing to the boil, give it a good stir and put a lid on the pan. Turn down the heat until it is gently bubbling and leave it for 20 minutes. You should check on the pan occasionally to stir it and make sure the sauce doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan or isn’t drying out. If it is, add a couple of tablespoons of water and make sure that the heat really is low enough. After simmering gently, the saucy mince mixture should look thick, moist and juicy.

Add the beans. Drain and rinse 1 can of black beans (410g can) in a sieve and stir them into the chilli pot. Bring to the boil again, and gently bubble without the lid for another 10 minutes, adding a little more water if it looks too dry. Taste a bit of the chilli and season. It will probably take a lot more seasoning than you think. Now replace the lid, turn off the heat and leave your chilli to stand for 10 minutes before serving, and relax. Leaving your chilli to stand is really important as it allows the flavours to mingle.

Serve with Ginger Rice with Chili and Cashewnuts