Chilli is a really adaptable dish. Beef, chicken, beans; you can mix and match as much as you like. There are a few ingredients I wouldn’t leave out of any of them though: chilli (obvs), oregano, tomatoes and cinnamon.

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 800g chopped tomatoes, tinned
• 600g mixed beans, tinned and drained
• 500g chicken breast, thinly sliced
• 2 bell peppers, roughly chopped
• 2 dried chillies, chopped
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 200ml chicken stock

Method

• Gently heat the oil in a medium pan.
• Add the onions, garlic, peppers and chillies. Turn the heat right down and pop the lid on. Wait until the onions are soft and start to go translucent.
• Add the paprika, cumin seeds, sugar, salt, oregano and tomato puree. Cook for about a minute, stirring well.
• Add the mixed beans, tomatoes, stock and chicken. Bring it to the boil then cover and turn the heat right down again to simmer for at 30 minutes.
• Remove the lid, turn the heat up and cook for another 15 minutes to let it reduce.
• Serve with rice or chunky bread.

Notes

You could swap the mixed beans for kidney beans. I used dried chillies because they keep longer than fresh so it’s easier to be sure you have some around. It’s the same reason I use tinned tomatoes. Yes, fresh is better but the shelf life is short and I’m a busy chap, no time to shop everyday.

Just in case you weren’t aware, most of the heat from chillies is in the seeds so if you want it milder, leave the seeds out. I get the dried chillies from the Kent Chilli Farm. They do a wide range of chilli varieties. These were Super Demon.