Chilli con carne.

Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. Hope we all had a wonderful weekend. So, today's recipe is going to be an easy yummy stew called, chilli con carne!
I was introduced to this lovely dish in my first year in uni by my very good friend and then roommate Stephanie (shalla to dilichukwu :D). She used to always make it back then and it was soo good, I had to learn the recipe!

So lets start with the ingredients needed:

• 450 g of minced beef
• One large onion (chopped)
• One bell pepper (chopped)
• One red chilli (chopped)
• Three cloves of garlic (chopped)
• Two tomatoes (chopped)
• Two tablespoons of tomato puree
• One can of kidney beans
• Two bars of dark chocolate (optional)
• One tablespoon of dry chilli powder (optional)
• One teaspoon of smoked paprika
• One teaspoon of cumin
• One teaspoon of dry coriander
• Two beef bouillon
• One teaspoon of salt
• A dash of dry thyme

STEPS

Heat up your sauce pan or pot with a little drizzle of vegetable oil, add in your minced beef and stir till it's all brown. Then add in your onions and garlic, stir fry all together till the onions turns translucent, then add in the chopped chilli and bell pepper, stir fry for a minute or two and then add in the two tablespoons of tomato puree, also stir fry for a few minutes, then add in your chopped tomatoes, stir and mix well, then add in about 2 - 3 cups of water or if you have meat stock, you can use that instead.

After adding the stock or water, add in all your dry ingredients (salt, dry thyme, dry coriander, cumin, smoked paprika, dry chilli powder, beef bouillon). Stir and mix everything, then let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Taste and check for additional seasoning, if its ok, go ahead and add in your kidney beans, then let it simmer for another 15 minutes. Finally, add in the two bars of dark chocolate if you wish, stir and let it simmer for another 5 minutes atleast and your sauce is ready!

This recipe should be enough for about 4 servings.You can serve this with some white rice, pasta or any side of your choice. I served mine with some fluffy white rice :)

I really hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy :)

P.S. I have made this with and without the dark chocolate, and they are both amazing! But if you like a little bit of sweetness, definitely add in the dark chocolate :)