Smokey Chilli
This has always been my go-to recipe for impressing people. I dare say this recipe is even better than the usual Chilli con Carne. Don’t worry about the coffee, you won’t taste it at the end, but it is an essential ingredient to get the ‘smokey’ taste.
Ingredients
4-5 servings
800 g
400 g
2
Tomatoes canned
Black beans
Spring onions
Bread optional
100 ml
1 tea sp
1 tea sp
1 tea sp
1 tea sp
1
2 cloves
Coffee espresso
Cumin
Chilli
Cinnamon
Paprika powder smoked
Onion yellow
Garlic
An original Aztec chilli recipe includes a bit of cocoa powder
You can also add rice when you have to fill extra hungry mouths
Prep
5 min
- Dice onion and mince garlic
- Set coffee
- + Cut spring onions in rings
Origins of Chilli
Chilli con carne was first made in the wild west of Texas. The chilli queens of San Antonio were brave women who entertained the plaza and supported their families in a time when women weren't supposed to.
Hopefully this recipe can inspire you to also do something that isn't supposed to: make a delicious chilli sin carne.
It's 1873 in San Antonio, Texas. Ana Maria can’t wait to be done with washing clothes. Her mother hopes she will get married soon, but Ana Maria has bigger dreams.
She gathers some Jalapeño peppers from her father. Her family business is proud to be in the chilli business since generations. And rightfully so, because about 6000 years ago it was right here in northern Mexico that the chilli was first cultivated.
At sundown, Ana Maria is setting up her little table. She admires the older ladies who serve various dishes and coffee. Ana Maria only cooks Chilli con Carne. But she is not afraid to experiment.
When two rowdy soldiers order some food she has an idea. She offers the soldier the meal for free in return for the coffee he's drinking. She wonders if this is really going to work. What if it ruins her reputation? With a deep breath, she throws in the coffee with the chilli.
Twenty minutes later a new gringo walks towards her table. He takes a spoon. Then he stops, looks down at the chilli, and locks eyes with Ana Maria. Her heart is racing. Did she ruin it?
“Señorita, I have tasted many chillis across Texas but you are the true chilli queen."
- https://www.atlasobscura.com/
articles/where-did-carne-con-c hili-come-from - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pmc/articles/PMC4035960/ - https://www.npr.org/templates
/story/story.php?storyId=41078 30&t=1559661304799
Listen to the real history:
The Chilli Queens of San Antonio (Podcast)
Cook
30 min
Sauté onion
medium heat ~3 min
Add chilli, paprika powder, cumin and garlic
~3 min
Add tomatoes, cinnamon and coffee
simmer ~15 min
A good tomato sauce always needs it time. Chill out, cowboys don't rush. Play the quest on the bottom.
Add black beans
simmer with lid on ~10 min
Serve with bread and spring onions
The credit for this recipe goes to ‘Eerlijk Eten - Tachtig makkelijke recepten met fairtrade ingrediënten
Today, Texas is the biggest producer of beef, taking up huge amounts of land and water. This form of cattle ranching has little to do with old-fashioned way of the cowboys. So you might say that a real 'cowboy' eats chilli sin carne. So enjoy your meal, you've saved a lot of land by making this smokey chilli.
Learn more:
A new sort of cowboy
Enjoy
Enjoy your ranger chilli while listening to Lydia Mendoza, a Tejano music legend who started her career in the 1930s, right amongst the Chilli Queens.
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I tried it at home, my mom and sister didn’t even notice that I ‘forgot’ the meat (that’s what I told them haha).
Only my dad noticed halfway through haha. But it does taste really good! Made a few changes (I used a bottle of mixed spices and added some extra veggies). But I still don’t miss the meat myself too! 🙂