Chili con carne is a popular and official dish from Texas USA as originally, it was a mexican/spanish province/state. Con carne means "with meat" in spanish. There are several ways in making chili con carne. Many people use different variations as far as ingredients are concerned. In this article, I am going to show you how to make chili con carne. I created my own chili con carne recipe and it's fairly easy to do and it tastes fantastic. Usually chili con carne is spicy and hot.

This is a recipe for about 4-7 people.

Here are the ingredients that you will need:

300 grams of beef fillet
2 average red onions finely chopped
10 cloves of garlic finely chopped
8 tomatoes diced
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1 teaspoon of saffron powder
10 small red chilies finely chopped
3 small green chilies finely chopped
1 branch of coriander with its leaves finely chopped
1 branch of celery with its leaves finely chopped
2 cans of red kidney beans drained
Tapioka flour or corn starch flour
Sugar(Optional)
Butter
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Seasoning

Preparing the beef

Cut beef in small pieces. Put in a bowl and add 3 tablespoons of soya sauce. Add some pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of tapioka flour or corn starch flour on the meat. Mix thoroughly.

Cooking the beef

Heat pan on medium fire, add 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and put half of the chopped onions and garlic in there. Let it cook for about 30-40 seconds. Add the meat, and lightly stir fry it with the onions and garlic with a spatula. Add some red and green chilies and mix them to the meat. Leave aside in a bowl.

Preparing the sauce

Heat a big cooking pot or a wok on medium fire, add 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the remaining half of the chopped onions and garlic. Let it cook for about 30-40 seconds. Next, add the diced tomatoes, the chopped coriander and celery, the remaining red and green chilies, 1 teaspoon of chili powder and 1 teaspoon of saffron powder. Cook the mixture for 1 minute, then add 1 cup or 8 oz of water. Now, let the mixture cook till the tomatoes start to become a sauce. Optional: You can add 1 tablespoon of sugar to the mixture to cut the acidic taste of the tomatoes incase the tomatoes are not that ripe. Also, if you want your chili con carne more hot or less hot, you just need to adjust your quantity of chilies used.

Finishing the sauce

Add the cooked beef to the sauce and the red kidney beans, salt, pepper and seasoning and mix all. Should be about 2 yoghurt spoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of seasoning but it's advisable to add salt and seasoning little by little and to taste gradually so that you get the taste that you want. Let the mixture cook for 1 more minute. Serve hot with rice, bread or tortilla chips. Optional: You can also add some grated cheese on top of your chili con carne for added taste.

So here you go with this chili con carne recipe. This is a great meal if you are doing weight training or into strength training as it is high in protein and complex carbs. The beef provides quality protein and the red kidney beans are a good source of complex carbs, fiber and protein. Good appetite.

About the author

Jean Lam is the webmaster of Body Building Resource which provides articles on weight training, nutrition and fitness, body building book and DVDs.