Bean Chilli

This is a much tastier and healthier alternative to beef chilli and has loads of protein from the beans and pulses. It’s usually better the next day. It’s especially nice if you take it for the first night of a camping trip and you all sit around a camp fire after you’ve put up the tent. This recipe is just for the chilli itself so you’ll also need to make the rice and whatever else you want to go with it like pickles, rice, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cheese, nachos etc. You can use any beans you want really but the lentils and chickpeas are great. And you can use any kind of cooking oil you prefer, coconut oil works really well instead of olive oil.

Great

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Take one large saucepan and one frying pan with a lid

Step 2

In the frying pan, add half your olive oil and fry the green lentils until they’re brown on the outside and just starting to stick

Step 3

Fry the onion and garlic in the other pan with the other half of the olive oil

Step 4

Once the onion is soft and browned, add the chipotle, cumin, paprika, allspice, oregano and continue to fry for a few minutes to soften the spices

Step 5

Add the chopped tomatoes, sugar, Marmite, molasses and about a quarter of the stock

Step 6

Add the fried lentils, then fry the other beans in batches, ensuring they’re browned each time

Step 7

Some burned bean will start to build up on the base of the frying pan, use some of the stock to deglaze this and dump it into the chilli

Step 8

We want to create a smoky flavour, which is hard without cooking the chilli on a proper fire. So we need to basically burn a bit of the chilli in the pan. Crank the heat right up and reduce the chilli until it starts to get thick. This could take 20-30 minutes. Eventually the chilli will start to stick to the bottom of the pan and will start to burn. Don’t let it burn too long, just enough to add some smoky flavour.

Step 9

Once you’re happy there’s enough smoky flavour, make a well in the centre of the chilli and deglaze the bottom of the pan with stock by scraping the pan with a wooden spoon. We want to now spread that smoky flavour so reduce the heat and add enough stock to get it to the consistency you want for your chilli.

Step 10

Leave it to cook for 45m to an 1h

Step 11

Cut the bell pepper and fry until they’re burned

Step 12

Add the bell pepper and the juice from a lime and mix it together.

Step 13

Salt to taste and serve with rice, guacamole, sour cream, nachos and a sprinkle of coriander