Favourite Things - almost famous chili

There have been two happy coincidences recently.


The first is that my son went to see a live show of "the sound of music" in the little town of Waipu. I was unfortunately unable to go, but by all accounts he was spell bound. Afterwards he claimed it was boring, accept for the Nazi storm troopers. My mum, who went with him, said that he was spell bound. Since then he has been singing snippets of songs, including "favourite things", and I'm aloud to join in.


The second coincidence is that there is an ad campaign for an insurance agency that asks you to identify your favourite things. Well I couldn't think of any "things" that were favourite. Flavours on the other hand...mmmmmm


Well I love a bit of spice and a bit of the unexpected, and this chocolate chili fits the bill. Not the sweet kind you are expecting, no this is out and out savoury, with a hint of something extra. Serve it up to the troops and see if they can figure out the secret ingredient.


I took it to work a few weeks ago and wound up giving the recipe out to half the staff. It smells fantastic, and the chocolate is not as weird as it sounds. The spices are wonderfully fragrant. Give it a try! 


And yes, this chili is one of my sons favourite things, not to mention mine.

Oh it's dairy and gluten free too

2 TBSP olive oil
2 -3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1-2 onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped (optional)
25g raisins (more if desired)
30g chopped almonds
2 TBSP sesame seeds
2-3 TBSP maize cornflour
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1-2 tsp crushed chili (to taste)
400g tin crushed tomatoes (add another tin or some tomato paste for an extra tomato boost if preferred)
200g frozen spinach (optional)
handful of green beans (optional)
2 cups water
1 400g tin black beans, drained and rinsed (or dry beans, soaked overnight and cooked till tender)
1 tsp brown sugar(to taste)
35g dark dairy free chocolate (equal to one Whittaker's Sante bar) 
salt and pepper to taste

Saute garlic and onion until soft, add celery, raisins, almonds, sesame seeds, cornflour, spices and stirfry for 1-2 minutes until fragrant, adding more oil if too dry. 
Stir in tomatoes, water and vegetables and simmer for 5 mins, add black beans and simmer for 10 mins. (longer if you like the flavours to meld, but stir from time to time to prevent it catching on the bottom of the pan)
Add chocolate, sugar and seasonings and stir until combined.
Serve on a bed of rice or with cornbread.

This is the family friendly "mild" version, If you prefer more heat add chili sauce (eg Tabasco) and maybe a little extra chocolate as well. Warning, the heat does sneak up on you a little if you get carried away with the chili sauce.

The leftovers taste amazing reheated the next day.

Originally inspired by a Ceres recipe from a "mind food" magazine I found at a doctors surgery, with a few "minor" adaptations ;)



OK so I tweak it every time I make it, but that's what cooking is all about.


Loodle