Have you ever seen a bowl of Chilli Con Carne, the popular Tex-Mex dish? Forget all about the dish’s Mexican or Texan origins for a moment, and here’s what you’ll find. A spicy, deeply umami dish with equal portions of meat and kidney beans. Sounds almost as pleasant as our Rajma Masala or smokey Kosha Mangso, right? It is! Which is why Chilli Con Carne, though Tex-Mex, is a dish Indians can fall in love with easily.
The origins of Chilli Con Carne are as rich as the dish itself. Before there were taco and burrito trucks in the world, there were stands in the United States of America that sold authentic Mexican food. Back in the 1860s, Mexican immigrant women in San Antonio, Texas—popularly known as the ‘Chili Queens’--used to serve hot and spicy food from the South at the Military Plaza. The women would cook dishes like at home, get large amounts of these dishes to the market place, set up makeshift tables and open fires, and serve the dishes hot to soldiers, tourists and merchants. Chilli Con Carne was invented by these amazing women.
Soon, these makeshift kitchens and the increasingly popular dish of Chilli Con Carne moved to other Texan cities like Galveston and Houston. During the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, the San Antonio Chili Stand introduced Chilli Con Carne to the whole nation, and soon, people across the length and breadth of the US fell in love with it. In 1977, Chilli Con Carne was declared the official dish of the state of Texas. Soon enough, the world adapted to this dish.
But can Chilli Con Carne become a household favourite in India? It sure can, especially among families that eat non-vegetarian food. We already love eating kidney beans, spices and red chillies—in fact, some of the hottest chillies in the world are either Indian or Mexican in origin. When it comes to the meat, Texans prefer beef. We Indians can easily replace it with chicken or mutton. In fact, vegetarians who want a taste of Chilli Con Carne can also use soy granules to make this dish!
To make Chilli Con Carne, all you need is one pot and all the ingredients to make this dish. Given the similarities between Indian and Mexican cuisine, any Mexican ingredients you can’t find easily can be replaced by Indian ones. Here’s the one-pot Chilli Con Carne recipe with an Indian twist. Try it and let us know how much you loved it.
Image courtesy: Facebook/The LADY Shake
Ingredients:
500 g minced mutton
400 g kidney beads, parboiled
2 large onions, finely chopped
4 red chillies, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup tomato puree
1 cup vegetable stock
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 dry red chilli
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp garam masala
Salt, to taste
2 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp fresh cream
3 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
Method:
1. Heat ghee in a large cooker. Add the cumin seeds and dry red chilli.
2. Once the cumin seeds stop spluttering, add the onions and garlic.
3. Saute the onions until they turn translucent, then add the minced mutton, red chillies, tomato puree, cumin powder, garam masala and salt.
4. Mix well and keep sauteeing the ingredients every 2-3 minutes. Do this for 15 minutes.
5. Then, add the kidney beans, dried oregano, stock and adjust the salt.
6. Seal the cooker, then cook the Chilli Con Carne for 2-3 whistles. Turn off the flame and let the steam release naturally.
7. Open the cooker and check the Chilli Con Carne for the perfect cook—the mutton should be cooked and kidney beans should be visible.
8. Add the fresh cream and coriander leaves, mix well and serve the Chilli Con Carne hot with rice or rotis.
