I love Mexican food and I got very excited when I was able to find more types of chilies at Whole Foods. Your average grocery store in the UK has green and red chilies and nothing in between. Let me tell you though, if you google ‘chilies’ you’ll find a ton more varieties than that. Thanks to the efforts of the Mexican food importer, Cool Chile Company, you can get a whole lot more of those varieties at certain places (I’ve never been, but I think they have a stall in Borough Market).

Anyhow, I now keep up to six varieties of chilies on hand for all my Mexican food needs!

This is a dead easy, slightly non-traditional chilli recipe using the spicy, little chile de arbol and the fleshy, nutty Pasilla chile to make a dark warming chilli with a kick. I don’t much feel the need to add meat to my chilies because honestly I don’t think it adds that much, so all of my chilli recipes just use different types of beans.

Victor chilli variation 1

Ingredients

• 1 Pasilla chile
• 5-7 chile de arbol
• 1 can chopped tomatoes (400g)
• 1 can red kidney beans (400g)
• 4-5 small shallots, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, cubed
• 2 large mushrooms, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, cubed
• 2 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp marjoram
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 shot espresso
• 1 squeezed lime
• 1 vegetable stoke cube dissolved in 1dl water

Method

1. Gently soften garlic and shallots in a medium pot
2. Add in carrots and mushrooms until softened, then add pepper
3. Prepare chiles as instructed and then chop finely before adding to the pot
4. Stir everything together on low-medium heat
5. Add in tomatoes and beans then stir
6. Add in squeezed lime, espresso, stock and herbs
7. Season with salt
8. Bring to a boil and then simmer for at least 30 mins or until reduced to a thicker consistency
9. You can top up with water if it gets too concentrated
10. Serve topped with sour cream and/or cheese