Slow Cooked Chilli Con Carne with Chocolate.

Now , I am not saying that this is the best ever chilli con carne recipe, but normally when I make it (and I tend to make an industrial amount of it), it disappears rather swiftly if left unattended. Make it a day ahead, it will only be more delicious the next day.The meat cuts I use are so called "forgotten cuts", they are full of flavour and don't cost much. Perfect to feed a big crowd.
1-1,5 kg of meat (stewing beef, ox cheek, ox tails , veal tails)
50-75 gr of dark chocolate (depends on personal taste )
3 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 tins of red kidney beans
4 tbsp tomato puree
a pinch of sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 cardamom pods (crushed)
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp red hot chilli powder (add more or less , depending on personal preferences)
1 tbsp cumin
1 red pepper
3 onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
a cup of water
a pinch of salt
Set you oven on gas mark 2/130C.
Dice the meat, prepare the spices, chop up the vegetables.

Heat up the cooking pan, brown the meat, add the spices , onions and garlic.

Carry on cooking on high heat, after a while the onions will start getting light  brown at this time add salt, sugar, tomato puree and lemon juice.

Stir the meat well and add chopped tomatoes , pepper and water. Bring to the boil and transfer to the oven.

Cook for a few hours 4-5 works for me.( At this stage I switch off the oven and leave it till the next day.)

Next we add the kidney beans and chocolate.

If you are re-heating it , cook for about an hour , if you cook continuously half an hour will be enough.

As I was dishing it up, I realised there is no pretty way to photograph it (am lacking the skills), so I took a picture of what I serve alongside it. Doritos, grated cheddar, soured cream , guacamole and heaps of rice.

Enjoy!