Original Hildener Chili con Carne

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• lots of olive oil
• 1 onion(s)
• 1 tsp, heaped cumin, whole
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 bell pepper(s), orange or red
• 500 g minced beef
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• ½ bottle of beer (Düsseldorfer Altbier)
• 1 tbsp oregano
• possibly cayenne pepper
• Salt
• some chili pepper(s), fresh
• 1 can chili beans (420 g), undrained
• 1 can of corn (150 g)

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 40 minutes

Chili con Carne, originally a recipe from Central America, was perfected in the small town of Hilden near Düsseldorf by fusing the spicy original recipe with delicious Düsseldorf Altbier.

Slice the onion into rings, crush the garlic, cut the bell pepper into bite-sized pieces, and cut the chilies into rings or small pieces. That’s all the preparation required, we’re ready to get started! First, heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the onion rings. As soon as they start to brown, add the cumin and garlic. When they start to change color again and it smells good, add the bell peppers, followed immediately by the ground beef. Once the ground beef is halfway crumbly, add the tomato paste and fry for a short while, which gives the dish a nice, rich color. Then deglaze everything with Altbier, add the remaining ingredients, and let the chili simmer on low heat for about ten minutes. Serve with toast, herb baguette, or tortilla chips (the South American version). If the chili has become very hot, add sour cream to tone down the flavor a bit. Oh yes, a few more notes: The spiciness of the dish can be largely regulated by the type of chili. Supermarket peppers (usually from Holland) are very mild, habaneros are brutal, and jalapeños are somewhere in between. It’s very important that you use whole cumin, as only this can be properly roasted and then gives off that wonderful, unmistakable aroma. Unfortunately, it’s very rare to find it in regular supermarkets, but you can get it at almost any Turkish greengrocer, Asian shop, etc. Calorie-savers tend to be very sparing with the olive oil when frying. Fine by me. But it tastes better with a bit more. If you don’t have Altbier available, well… I made the recipe once with Köstritzer, and it wasn’t bad either. Feel free to try other beers if you like, but Kölsch is at your own risk!