Anne Morgan There is braising steak in Delia Smith’s black bean chilli, so it is not a vegetarian chilli. You cook small pieces of steak with black beans, green chillies and tomatoes in the oven for 2 hours. Then you serve it with a cold avocado salsa, for 4 to 6 people.
This recipe comes from her Winter Collection, from 1995. Delia says it is even better than the classic chilli. It uses black beans instead of red kidney beans, and it is flavoured with lime and coriander.
Plan ahead, because the dried beans need soaking first, overnight or for 3 hours. For a chilli with no meat at all, Delia has a different recipe, a vegetarian chilli with haricot beans and lentils in her Frugal Food.
The steak goes soft, the black beans stay whole, and the cold salsa is a nice contrast. Her chilli con carne uses chuck steak and red kidney beans instead.
Delia Smith’s Black Bean Chilli with Avocado Salsa
Course: DinnerCuisine: MexicanDifficulty: Easy4-6
servings30
minutes2
hours30
minutes540
kcalA beef chilli baked slowly in the oven, then finished with lime and coriander. Avocado salsa and crème fraîche go on the side.
Ingredients
- For the chilli:
450g (1lb) braising steak, cut into very small pieces
225g (8oz) dried black beans
25g (1oz) fresh coriander (two 15g packs)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 green chillies, deseeded and chopped small
1 rounded tablespoon plain flour
two 400g (14oz) tins chopped tomatoes
1 large red pepper
juice of ½ lime
- For the salsa:
2 large, firm tomatoes
1 ripe, firm avocado
½ small red onion, finely chopped
the chopped coriander leaves (kept from the chilli)
juice of ½ lime
a few drops of Tabasco
salt and freshly milled black pepper
- To serve:
4 tablespoons crème fraîche
Directions
- Beans: Soak the black beans in cold water overnight. Or boil them in cold water for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave them for 3 hours.
- Oven: Heat the oven to 150°C, fan 130°C, gas mark 2. You need a 2.25 litre (4 pint) flameproof casserole with a lid.
- Coriander: Pull the coriander leaves off the stalks, cover them and put them in the fridge. Chop the stalks very finely.
- Onions: Heat half the oil in the casserole. Cook the onions, garlic, coriander stalks and chillies gently for about 5 minutes, then lift them onto a plate.
- Beef: Add the rest of the oil and turn the heat up high. Brown the beef in 3 batches, keeping it moving, and lift each batch out.
- Sauce: Put everything back in the casserole and stir in the flour to soak up the juices. Add the drained beans, then the tomatoes, and bring it up to a simmer. Don’t add any salt yet.
- Cook: Put the lid on and cook it in the oven for 1½ hours. Then stir in the red pepper, deseeded and chopped into small pieces, and cook it for 30 minutes more.
- Salsa: Put the tomatoes in boiling water for exactly 1 minute, then peel them, squeeze out the seeds and chop the flesh finely. Chop the avocado and red onion into very small dice. Mix them with seasoning, the juice of ½ lime, half the coriander leaves and a few drops of Tabasco.
- Serve: Just before serving, add salt to the chilli to taste. Stir in the rest of the coriander leaves and the juice of the other ½ lime. Serve it with the salsa, a spoonful of crème fraîche and brown basmati rice.
Notes
- This is a beef chilli with steak, so it is not for vegetarians.
- Make the salsa only while the chilli finishes, because cut avocado turns brown quickly. That's my own tip.
FAQs
Is Delia’s black bean chilli vegetarian?
No, it is a beef chilli, because it has 450g of braising steak in it. Many people think it is vegetarian because of the black beans, but it contains meat.
Delia’s vegetarian chilli is a different recipe, the Haricot and Lentil Chilli in her Frugal Food, for 4 people. It uses haricot beans, brown or green lentils, pearl barley, carrots, celery, tinned tomatoes and a little chilli powder.
How do I soak the black beans?
Delia gives you two ways. Leave them to soak overnight, or soak them faster on the day.
For the faster way, cover them with cold water and boil them for 10 minutes. Let them sit in the hot water for 3 hours, and drain them before they go into the chilli.
How do I make her avocado salsa?
Skin 2 large, firm tomatoes first: pour boiling water over them, wait 1 minute exactly, then slip off the skins. Cut them in half, squeeze out the seeds over a saucer and chop the flesh very finely.
Then halve 1 ripe, firm avocado, take out the stone and cut each half into 4. Peel it, chop it into tiny dice, and chop half a small red onion just as small. Mix it all with salt, pepper, the juice of half a lime, a little Tabasco and half of the chopped coriander.
Why are the salt and lime added at the end?
Delia leaves out the salt until just before serving. Her notes on pulses explain that salt makes the skins of dried beans hard while they cook.
Lime juice and the last coriander leaves go in at the end too. That keeps their taste bright, instead of cooking it away, my own view.
Can I make black bean chilli ahead?
Yes, you can cook it up to the end of step 7 a day ahead, my own advice. Cool it, keep it covered in the fridge, and reheat it gently until it bubbles all the way through.
Add the salt, lime and coriander after you reheat it. Make the salsa on the day, just before you serve it.
