Simple Lamb Chilli Con Carne - Easy homemade Chilli made with ground lamb, red kidney beans, fresh tomatoes and smoked Chillies which can be made in INSTANT POT or on STOVE TOP.
This chilli con carne with ground lamb is the TOTAL WINNER! So what's so special about this chilli, you ask?
1. We use fresh tomatoes instead of canned
2. We use lamb mince instead of a combination of 2 or more meats.
I also cooked my kidney beans from scratch instead of buying them canned in my trusty instant pot.It's really simple!
There are so many chilli con carne recipes online. Most use Beef or a mix of many meats are are unusually complex and carb heavy. I wanted something simpler, chilli con carne made with fresh ingredients which are easily available especially in India.
The recipe is inspired by the note shared by my dear friend Gopika.Her aunt gave her a rough recipe which she passed on to me.
How to make Chili Con Carne
Step 1 - Prep
Get all your ingredients together.Soak and cook the kidney beans in an instant pot or pressure cooker.
Score and blanch the tomatoes.Once cool, puree them.
Thaw your meat and Chop up the onions,carrots and bell pepper as fine as you possibly can.
Step 2- Assembly & Simmer
Make the base of the chilli con carne with onions, green pepper and carrot.To this, add rest of the ingredients and simmer away on low flame for 45 minutes or so.
Chilli con carne Ingredients and Alternatives
If you don't live in an area where the ingredients are available geographically, getting all the listed ingredients can prove tough.
That's why here is a list of alternates that you can use
- Mexican Smoked Chillies - these chillies give the chilli a beautiful undertone of smokiness.If you can't find them, then you can use normal chilli powder that is available around you.
- Red Kidney Beans- I have used small sized dried kidney beans(Rajma) which I cooked in the instant pot.If you don't have the patience to cook the rajma from scratch you can use the canned beans.
- Blanched Tomatoes- If you don't get fresh tomatoes around you, feel free to use canned tomatoes.
Pro Tips and Tricks
- Chillies - If you don't have any of the Mexican chillies, you can Char a red bell pepper directly on the gas, peel it, puree it and add to the chilli.This will give it a smoky flavour you will otherwise lack if you dont use the mexicon smoked chillies.
- For healthier Chilli - To make this a healthy meal, serve this with greek yogurt instead of sour cream and skip on the cheese and nachos.
What to serve with chilli con carne
Ideally you should serve this lamb chilli with sour cream, tortilla chips and shredded cheese.You could also top it with avocado slices and serve it along with rice.
However, a healthier version would be to swap the sour cream with greek yogurt and skip the rest of the trimmings.
Dietary details of Lamb Chilli Con Carne
This chilli recipe is
- Gluten Free
- Low Calorie
- Healthy - when served with greek yogurt instead of sour cream and eaten by itself- without any nachos or chips.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Cup Onions
- ½ Cup Carrots
- ½ Cup Bell pepper
- 3 cloves Garlic
- 250 gms Mutton or lamb mince
- 2 Cup Kidney Beans cooked & drained* or ½ cup dried beans
- 1 Kg Ripe tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika* Adjust as per taste
- 1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper* Adjust as per taste
- 1 teaspoon Chipotle pepper* Adjust as per taste
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- pinch Nutmeg
- 3 Cloves
Instructions
Prep Work
- Soak the dried kidney beans overnight.Cook with 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 ½ cups of water in pressure cooker for 25 minutes.This step can also be done in an instant pot.Reserve the beans water.
- Meanwhile, Score* the tomatoes.Boil water and cook the tomatoes in boiling water for 10 minutes.Remove from water, peel away the skin and cool.Once cool, roughly puree the tomatoes.
Stove Top Cooking
- Heat a deep pot on medium flame.Add oil.
- Once the oil starts shimmering, add the onions, bell pepper, carrots and garlic.Cook till translucent for about 10 minutes.
- Add lamb mince and break it up.Mix well.
- To this, add the cooked red kidney beans and crushed tomatoes.
- Also add, cumin, cloves,chilies, salt, cinnamon, mace and garlic powder.
- Cook covered for 45 minutes on medium low flame.
Instant Pot Cooking
- Choose the SAUTE mode.When the inner pot is hot, Add oil.
- Once the oil starts shimmering, add the onions, bell pepper, carrots and garlic.Cook till translucent for about 10 minutes.
- Add lamb mince and break it up.Mix well.
- To this, add the cooked red kidney beans and crushed tomatoes.Also add 1 cup of water left over from boiling kidney beans(or from the can)
- Also add, cumin, cloves,chilies, salt, cinnamon, mace and garlic powder.
- Cook in the "CHILLI" OR "PRESSURE COOK" mode SEALING position and cook for 18-20 minutes.
Notes
If you don't have any of the Mexican chillies, you can Char a red bell pepper directly on the flame, peel it, puree it and add to the chilli.This will give it a smoky flavour you will otherwise lack if you don't use the mexican smoked chillies. Score* the tomatoes- Cut the tops off and make X mark on the bottom of the tomatoes with a sharp knife.That way the tomatoes peel off easily.
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