What makes chili chili?

Most dishes have a signature component, that sine non qua. With chili for me personally it's cumin. I don't care what else you do to it, if there's no cumin taste, it just ain't chili. How about you?

Now, the above was the actual point of this post, but as long as I'm here let me describe my last chili effort from over the weekend. The quantities of the herbs and spices are pretty much up to you and so are the types of chiles. I have a heavy hand.

Hardware: A slow cooker.

Ingredients:
3 lbs. chuck
2 large onions
1 head of garlic
2 pasilla chile peppers
2 Anaheim chile peppers
1 6 oz. can of chiplotles in adobo sauce
1 16 oz. can of pinto beans
1/2 cup corn meal
1 small can tomato paste
16 oz. beef broth
1 bottle of Heineken (or whatever)
Oregano
Parsley
Bay Leaves
Chili Powder
Cumin
Paprika
Cayenne Pepper
Black Pepper
Salt
Tums

Method:
1. Cube then chop the meat in the Cuisnart until it is somewhere between chop meat and shred. How chunky or not you make the meat is up to you. Heck, it doesn't even have to be beef.

2. Brown the meat.

3. Season the browned meat with the cumin, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and salt and let this brown a little longer.

4. Toss in the tomato paste and let cook a little longer and then deglaze with the beer.

5. Transfer into the slow cooker.

6. Rough chop the remainder of the choppable ingredients and toss on top of the meat mixture along with the pinto beans, oregano, parsley and bay leaves.

7. Add the broth and more beer if you like. Stir it all up.

8. Let cook for about 7 hours on low, stir occasionally.

9. Stir in the corn meal and let cook another hour or so until it reaches the thickness you like ... another 3 or 4 hours won't hurt it none. (Some folks might toss in some unsweetened chocolate and/or cinammon at this point, too.)

10. Re-season. That corn meal sucks up a lot of the salt flavor.

11. Take TUMS as needed.

Cumin...without cumin, its just stew.

Richard

Cumin...without cumin, its just stew.

Richard

My sentiments exactly!!!

Coarse ground venison is a fine addition to chili, and it is an excellent way to use those less tender cuts of Bambi.

Agree

I now add whole cumin seeds at the beginning to be fried, adding powdered cumin later.

But chile peppers is also essential, imo

OK, now distinguish this from curry.

OK, now distinguish this from curry.

Easy

Curry isn't made from beef -- (or pork) for religious reasons. Round here anyway.

But you are correct; curry is such a vague term as to be almost meaningless.

A Yahoo search of "beef curry" turned up 1,250,000 hits.

OK, now distinguish this from curry.

Well, there isn't any fenugreek, coriander, fennel seed, black mustard seed, clove, cardamom, nutmeg, turmeric, ginger, asafoetida, saffron, rose petal etc. ... some of which, I'm guessing, lend to a curry's flavor direction.

How you you make a difference between curry and chili?

I heard tell that Namaste in Concord is serving up one hell of a Burrito Vindaloo lately.

A Yahoo search of "beef curry" turned up 1,250,000 hits.

A Yahoo search of "beef curry" turned up 1,250,000 hits.

I got 1,990,000 hits for "Ann Curry" which is indicative of some kind of Asian-Indian fusion cuisine ... or would that be Confucian?

How you you make a difference between curry and chili?

There's a very, very interesting overlap between Mexican and Indian which I think has not been adequately explored.

I've resisted, but what the hell...chili gets no tomatoes. I'll not argue the point either

...and I won't even go into the addition of meat discussion...been there; never again!

I've resisted, but what the hell...chili gets no tomatoes. I'll not argue the point either

...and I won't even go into the addition of meat discussion...been there; never again!

The no-tomato school is one major chili trend. I'm not quite that adamant about it, but I don't use whole tomatoes either, although I like tomato paste to add backbone.

Most dishes have a signature component, that sine non qua. With chili for me personally it's cumin. I don't care what else you do to it, if there's no cumin taste, it just ain't chili. How about you?

I almost had the self discipline to stay out of this thread. However, self discipline has never been my strong suit.

From a technical point of view what makes "chili" "chili" is chili powder. I am talking about the stuff that dates foorm ther late 19th century and was first marketed in Texas.

In these formulations cumin is *always* an ingredient - along with salt, oregano, garlic powder, cayenne and, often, paprika (a chile.) For me, like you, most of the chili powders I have run across do not contain enough cumin. Whnne using a propreitary chili powder (that is, one I didn't make myself) I invariably add cumin to the chili.

And "chili" as we are talking about it here *always" contains some kind of meat. "Chile" does not. "Chili" is meat with red or green "chile" sauce. If it's anything else it will carry modifying nomenclature.

None of the American chili contest sanctioning groups allows the addition of beans in competition.

I always put beans in the type I make for home consumption - much healthier and I like beans, anyway.

It's becoming more and more obvious as I go along here that I should have stayed out of this thread. I think I'll stop now.

Chef, you and I think along the same lines about chili. I like plenty of cumin, I do add tomatoes and beans, because I like 'em! I also like plenty of cayenne (or hotter chiles), but I have to tone it down for the wimps in the house who don't like the hot stuff. For me, if I break into a sweat with the first spoonful, then it has enough cayenne in it. Because of the milder tastebuds present, i usually have to spike my bowl with some Cholula (sp?) or crushed habanero pepper sauce to get it to my taste.

As I understand the history of the dish, it came about as a way to mask the taste and/or smell of meat going bad on the traildrives and roundups.

Chef, you and I think along the same lines about chili. I like plenty of cumin, I do add tomatoes and beans, because I like 'em! I also like plenty of cayenne (or hotter chiles), but I have to tone it down for the wimps in the house who don't like the hot stuff. For me, if I break into a sweat with the first spoonful, then it has enough cayenne in it. Because of the milder tastebuds present, i usually have to spike my bowl with some Cholula (sp?) or crushed habanero pepper sauce to get it to my taste.

As I understand the history of the dish, it came about as a way to mask the taste and/or smell of meat going bad on the traildrives and roundups.

Yep, we are of a chili mind, I think. And I appreciate you not commenting on my copious typos. I was in a hurry.

I agree on the chili powder - and quality is all across the board on that. Once you find one you love, being without it is true hardship.
I have one I really like - it's made by Baltimore Spice - it has a nice depth of flavor that really brings something to the chili party. But I always add a nice handful of extra cumin, and sometimes more.

And I add beans, too.

Yeah...ya'll are right. You still gotta have chili powder. But I've never found a chili powder with enough cumin in either.

Chili w/ beans. Chili w/ no beans...both styles get cooked around here (at least when I've got a quart jar of Tums and a couple of Nexium handy)
But the bean, no bean argument can get pretty rowdy at chili cook-offs.

I only make chili once or twice / year. Usually with enough time between batches so that I've forgotten how bad the heartburn was when I ate it last.

I love the stuff, but it doesn't like me.

Richard