This is a great recipe for large groups. It’s perfect for a “Friday night soup kitchen” on a weekend away as people can help themselves to a bowl as they arrive at odd hours. The quantities listed below are thus for a BIG pot of chili that’ll feed 10 people with left overs. Please adjust to your requirements and taste!

You’ll need:

Beef mince - 2kg - lean mince is better as always, hamburger mince has too much fat
Onions - 3 large - peeled and chopped small - When preparing onions, always remove the dry outer layers and the woody root at the bottom!
Kidney beans - 2 large tins (about 1kg total)
Capsicum - 1 large - core and seeds removed, chopped as you please
Garlic - 3 or 4 large cloves, peeled and chopped finely
Tomato paste - 1 large jar
Crushed tomatos - 3 x 440g tins
Mixed herbs - to taste - I use about 1 tablespoon in a pot this size
Sambal Oelek (indonesian chili paste) - to taste - Start with 1/2 a tablespoon and add more if you want it hotter. Remember that in a large group you usually want to keep it mild and let people add more to their own bowl if they want.
Cumin - 1 tablespoon
Spices - Other spices to taste - many other spices work in this recipe. Paprika is a favourite.
Olive oil

Instructions

• Fry your beef mince until it browns. First it’ll get all wet as the water cooks out, then it’ll dry up again and start to brown on the bottom of the pan. Once it’s at this stage, you need to keep it moving and scrape the brownings off the bottom so they don’t burn. In a non-stick pan you won’t get the brownings on the bottom but that’s OK because the meat will still brown.
• Once browned to your satisfaction, remove the mince to a separate container for a short while. Browning your mince is only practical if you’ve a small amount of mince (under 1kg). If you’re doing a large pot of chili for a group of people then skip the browning and just add the raw mince later.
• Fry up your onions and capsicum in a little olive oil until they too, start to brown.
• Add the garlic and fry for a bit longer to release all that lovely garlicy goodness.
• Return the mince to the pot (or add raw if you didn’t bother browning), add the beans, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, chili, cumin and any herbs and spices you care to add.
• Cook it all up, taste-test the chili and add more if you like then serve with fresh crusty bread

If you don’t brown the meat first, the whole meal can be cooked in about 30 minutes!