Brisket Chilli

time 5hrs+
🍽
serves 8
🏅
difficulty Bit tricky

A chilli so nice it once caused my co-workers to have a full on argument over who got to eat the spare portion I'd bought in. This recipe makes loads, so you can make people fight over it too.

🛒Ingredients

  • 5 Garlic cloves
  • 3 medium onions
  • 2 chipotle morita
  • 3 guajillo peppers
  • 2 molato chillis
  • 2 ancho chillis
  • 2 pasilla chillis
  • 1kg (ish) brisket
  • 2 tins kidney beans
  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tube of tomato puree
  • 1 tin of plum tomatoes
  • 2 rashers of smoked back or streaky bacon
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 knorr beef stock jellies
  • 1 tbsp on black pepper
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 star anise
  • 1 stick of cinnamon
  • Veg oil/fat to brown the meat
  • 📖Method

  • To prep, start by roughly deseeding all your dried chillis, you don't need to worry about getting all of them, just most of them.
  • Finely dice your onions and chop your brisket into large chunks.
  • Take half of your paprika, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds and grind them together, then with a little salt, coat your brisket chunks.
  • In a pot big enough to hold all the chilli, on a high heat, begin to brown off the brisket with a splash of veg oil, do it in batches so the pan isn't too crowded. It will only take 10 mins to brown a batch. You're not looking to cook the meat, just get a little colour on it. Once browned, set aside.
  • Dice bacon and add to the pot, turn the heat down a little and cook until it's a bit crispy and remove.
  • At this point there should be a nice amount of fat in the pan, reduce to a low heat and add in your diced onions.
  • Whilst the onions are sweating start to scrape up all the burnt bits on the bottom of the pan and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.
  • At the same time, in medium-hot pan, toast all your chillis for 5 mins, and then grind them up. We use a little electric spice grinder but you could use a pestle and mortar or a blender.
  • Roughly crush your garlic cloves and add to the pot.
  • Once onions are soft and brown add the tomato puree and cook down for a couple of minutes.
  • Add in the blitzed chillis and all the remaining herbs & spices. At this point, it's going to get pretty dry so add a splash of hot water and mix.
  • Add back in your beef and bacon and stir around so everything's nice and coated.
  • Add a big splash of Worcestershire sauce, the stock jellies and half a litre of water, stir.
  • Add the beans and stir through.
  • Add in a tin of tomatoes, and enough water that all the meat is submerged
  • Bring it up to a simmer, stick the lid on, and put in the oven at around 140degrees for minimum 4 hours. If you have longer, you can put it on a lower heat for longer.
  • You'll know it's done when the brisket just falls apart.
  • You can serve immediately, but it also gets better with a little time in the fridge.
  • When serving, top with fresh chilli, cheddar cheese & coriander. We've also topped it with bacon, or even black pudding. Serve with tortilla chips or rice.