Bowl of chilli con carne with kidney beans, sour cream and coriander, with rice, lime and dried ancho and guajillo chillies

Mains

Chilli con carne with dried chillies

Using whole dried chillies instead of shop chilli powder makes a huge difference to chilli con carne. Ancho, the dried form of poblano, gives it a sweet, raisiny depth, and guajillo adds a brighter, tangy note. Chunks of beef cooked low and slow make it richer than mince.

To make your own ancho, leave poblanos on the plant until they turn deep red, then dry them whole. Dried guajillo comes from the mirasol chilli.

  • Prep 25 min
  • Cook 150 min
  • Total 175 min
  • Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 3 dried ancho (poblano) chillies
  • 3 dried guajillo chillies
  • 1 kg beef chuck, cut into 3 cm cubes
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 500 ml beef stock
  • 400 g tin kidney or black beans, drained
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Sour cream, coriander and lime, to serve

Method

  1. Step 1

    Soak

    Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chillies, toast them in a dry pan for 20 seconds a side, then soak in boiling water for 20 minutes.

  2. Step 2

    Purée

    Blend the chillies with 150 ml of the soaking water until smooth.

  3. Step 3

    Brown

    Brown the beef in the oil in batches in a heavy casserole and set aside.

  4. Step 4

    Soften

    Fry the onions for 8 minutes, add the garlic, cumin, oregano and tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.

  5. Step 5

    Simmer

    Return the beef, add the chilli purée, tomatoes, stock and salt. Cover and simmer gently for 2 hours, stirring now and then, until the beef is tender.

  6. Step 6

    Finish

    Add the beans and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes to thicken. Serve with sour cream, coriander and lime.

Grow your own

The chillies in this recipe are easy to grow from seed in New Zealand.

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