Saturday, February 17, 2007

Perfect Weekend Indian Chili


Why does chili have to be Tex-Mex inspired? If you have a crock pot and some ground meat, you can make all sorts of variations of chili. This one is easy to assemble and if you don’t want to wait all day for it to cook, put it in a big pot on the stove and it will cook in about an hour. Remember though, all chilies – no matter what the variety – taste better after they have sat a while. So think about making this a day or 2 before you want to eat it.

I used all frozen veggies in this. During the winter months I find frozen veggies tastier. And it is definitely more convenient!

Serves 8
Ingredients

• 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger, chopped fine
• 2 tsp or 2 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 lb, 454 g ground lamb, extra lean beef or buffalo
• 540ml can of chickpeas
• 14 oz./398ml can of tomato sauce, no salt added
• 1 cup low sodium beef broth
• 2 Tbsp Curry Powder
• ½ Tbsp 13 Spice Curry Blend or ½ tsp each – cumin, coriander, chili powder and turmeric
• 4 cups frozen cauliflower
• 2 cups frozen diced turnip or one small fresh turnip, diced small
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 1 cup fat free yogurt

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat

2. Sauté the onion and ginger until softened, about 3 minutes

3. Add in the garlic and cook one more minute. Empty the pan into the crock pot

4. Return the pan to the stove. Brown the ground meat. If using lamb, drain it and rinse under hot water to remove the excess fat. Add it into the crock pot.

5. Add the next 7 ingredients to the crock pot (from the chickpeas through to turnip)

6. Cook for 4 -6 hours on high or up to 8 hours on low

7. Right before serving, stir in the peas.

8. Put a dollop of yogurt on each bowlful before serving.

9. Enjoy!

This dish freezes beautifully. If you want to lower the fat content then go with the extra lean beef or buffalo. You may need more broth if you are using fresh veggies or are cooking this on the stove. Just be sure this is enough liquid to cover the other ingredients.

Serve with mashed potatoes or basmati rice, white or brown.

Nutritional Information Main Servings with Ground Lamb: 323 Calories, 14g Fat, 5g Saturated Fat, 0g Trans Fat, 37 mg Cholesterol, 400mg Sodium, 8g Fiber, 32g Carbohydrates

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