Slow cooker chilli recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

10 round shallots

500g braised or stewing beef diced

1 tbsp plain flour

2 tsp smoked paprika

Sea salt& cracked black pepper

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

2 tsp cocoa powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1 pint beef stock hot

400 g tinned chopped tomatoes

400 g tinned kidney beans

1 cinnamon stick

Method

Place the shallots in a bowl and pour over boiling water. Allow the shallot skins to soften in the water for 10 minutes before easily peeling – keep the shallots whole.

In the meantime, place the beef in a large bowl along with the flour, 1 teaspoon of paprika and salt and pepper. Thoroughly coat the beef in the flour mixture.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan and in batches brown the meat well until just caramelised. Once browned, place the meat into the slow cooker along with the prepared shallots. Fry the remaining meat.

In a large jug dissolve the cocoa powder in 20ml of hot water. Add the cumin, cayenne pepper and sweet chilli sauce to create a thick paste. Stir in the hot stock before pouring it all into the slow cooker. Add the chopped tomato, kidney beans and cinnamon to the slow cooker along with a large pinch of salt and pepper. Stir all the ingredient together and place on the lid.

Cook on ‘low’ for 7 - 8 hours (3.5 - 4 hours on ‘high’) until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened. Half an hour before serving, if the sauce needs reducing further, pour the chilli into the pan and simmer over a medium heat until the sauce has thickened to your desired consistency.

Recipe courtesy of UK Shallots