Chili con carne

A Mexican dish that has become famous all over the world thanks to tex mex, a typical cuisine of the Southern United States influenced by Mexican culinary traditions since 1800, where in the streets of Texas Mexican women, the famous "reinas de chili", sold this ancient "street food".

Cooking time: 3 to 4 hours

Prep time: 30 mins

Ingredients for 4 to 6 people

What do you need?

• 500 gr of coarse ground beef.

• 400 gr of dried black beans.

• 200 gr of red sweet pepper.

• 300 gr of tomato sauce.

• 250 gr of meat broth.

• 1 red onion.

• 2 garlic cloves.

• 1 teaspoon of cumin powder.

• 1 teaspoon of coriander powder.

• 1 teaspoon of brown sugar.

• 1 teaspoon of chili pepper (or more if you like spicy version).

• 1/3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.

• Fresh coriander to decorate.

• Salt to taste.

• Pepper to taste.

How to proceed?

1. Soak the beans in cold water to which you have added a tablespoon of baking soda overnight for at least 12 hours.

2. Rinse the beans and put them to cook in cold salted water. The cooking time is usually indicated on the package and is about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

3. Finely chop garlic, onion and chilli and cut the pepper into strips.

4. In a large pan, heat two tablespoons of olive oil, add the chopped garlic, onion and chilli, cook for 1 minute.

5. Turn the heat to high, add the minced meat. Cook until mostly browned.

6. Season with salt, cumin and coriander and add a ladle of beef broth and continue to cook for about ten minutes.

7. Add the tomato sauce, peppers, salt, and brown sugar and cook over low heat for an hour adding broth when necessary.

8. In a blender add half of the cooked beans with a ladle of their cooking water and blend for few seconds.

9. Add the blended beans with the other whole beans to the meat. cook for another 40 minutes adding broth as needed.

Serve the chili con carne hot with corn chips or warm tortillas on the side, garnish with fresh coriander and toppings of your choice.