Cook Chili When It Rains

Rainy days are here again in the city where I live. As a person who grew up in the tropics, I adored the rain. Normally, we have two seasons: the dry and wet season. This year we had very short dry season so by now, the weather has been so wet and chilly.


We can have a bright sunshine in the morning but suddenly comes the thick dark cloud followed by lighting, thunder and heavy rain or we can have gloomy cloudy sky with the rain showers all day.

And when rain falls heavily for a few hours or showers down all day, this is what will happen in the city:

When you live in a city like Jakarta, it's either you become bitter or better.... let's choose to become better.



Rainy day holds one certainty in the realm of food – Chili. One spoonful of the spicy stew can warm the body from the inside out.

Chili is a must-have rainy-day-dish, enjoyed equally at a cook-out or dinner party – and especially as leftovers. The one great thing about Chili is the recipe is really kind of a guideline and we can change it depending on our tastes.


One of my favorite Chili dishes is Chili con Carne coz its sooo tasty, hot, healthy and easy to make! It’s best to enjoy during the rainy days like now.


You can have Chili either on its own, with rice, potatoes, pasta, nachos ….you name it!


What is Chili con Carne?


Chili con Carne (literally “Chili with meat”, often known simply as chili) is a spicy stew. The name “chili con carne” is taken from Spanish which means “peppers with meat.” Traditional versions are made, minimally, from chili peppers, garlic, onion and cumin, along with chopped or ground beef. Beans and tomatoes are frequently included. Variations, both geographic and personal, may involve different types of meat as well as a variety of other ingredients.


It can be found worldwide in local variations and also in certain American-style fast-food restaurants. The variant recipes provoke disputes among aficionados, and the dish is used as an ingredient in a number of other foods.



My Version of Chili con Carne


Ingredients:

• 500 gram ground/minced beef
• 1 Large onion chopped
• 2-3 Cloves of Garlic
• 250 ml beef stock
• 1 tin of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed. This is the kind of red kidney beans I use

• 7 fresh jalapeno chili peppers, coarsely sliced. Why seven? no special reason, I just like it (in my country jalapeno pepper is called cabe gendot)

• for the tomatoes, we can use chopped fresh tomatoes (400 gram) or canned tomato paste (around 100 gram).

For the seasoning:

• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon oregano flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• Brown sugar to taste (optional)
• Pinch of salt and pepper

notes: in the original recipe, it uses 1 teaspoon of ground cumin but in my recipe I skip the cumin.


How to make:

• Heat a small frying pan over medium heat and dry-fry the allspice, chili and paprika for 1 minute or until fragrant. Remove from pan.
• Heat the oil in large skillet over medium heat and cook the onion for 2-3 minutes or until soft.
• Add the garlic, fresh jalapeno and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the ground/ minced beef and cook over high heat for 4-5 minutes or until browned, breaking up the lumps with a fork.
• Add the tomatoes, red kidney beans, stock, oregano, sugar and spices.
• Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for around 1 hour or until reduced and thickened
• Season with salt and pepper
• Remove from heat Serve warm in a serving bowl

• Or add the Chili on top of fried potato wedges

How do you take your chili? With beans? Without? With meat? Without? Please Share your favorites in the comments.