Algerian Chili - test run!

[Guest guest]

I made the Algerian Chili recipe tonight and it is very tasty. I think

I will turn up the heat (more hot spices) next time I make it, but I

will definitely be making this one again.

 

I want to report on the changes I made to the recipe and so I will

reproduce the original here and then comment afterward on

 

my changes.

 

Algerian Chili

 

Ingredients:

 

2 cups navy beans, soaked

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced

3 small dried red chilies, seeded

15 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbs. sweet paprika

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

4 tsp. ground cumin

6 oz. tomato paste

2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped

7 cups water or vegetable broth

2 bay leaves

2 1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp cayenne, or to taste

20 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

10 sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped

 

Directions:

 

Rinse and pick over the beans and soak them overnight; drain and reserve.

In a large soup pot over medium heat, heat the oil and cook the onion,

stirring occasionally, until tender.

Add cayenne, garlic, paprika, black pepper, and cumin. Cook, stirring

for 2 to 3 minutes; add tomato paste and stir until mixture thickens

(1 to 2 minutes); stir in tomatoes and 1 cup of water or broth and

bring to a boil.

Add the beans and remaining 6 cups water or broth.

With a thread or cotton string, tie together bay leaves, chili

peppers, and half parsley sprigs, and add them to the pot.

Lower heat to medium-low, cover, and cook beans until tender (1-2 hours).

Before serving, discard the chilies, bay leaves, and tied parsley;

mince remaining parsley and add to pot along with

 

cilantro.

 

-=-

 

The first change is reflected in what I just posted: I swapped cayenne

and chili peppers in the directions because it made no sense to me to

tie cayenne powder together, so I figured the two peppers got

accidentally swapped in the directions.

 

Now, in the order presented in the directions, my changes:

 

1. I eliminated the olive oil. Instead, I did a " healthy saute "

starting with 1/4 of vegetable broth and adding more as needed. I used

a total of 1 cup of veggie broth and 6 cups of water in the recipe.

 

2. I doubled the cayenne pepper and I changed the pepper measurement

to 32 twists of the pepper mill on the coarse grind setting. (My next

pot of this I plan to double the cayenne again. The amount of pepper I

used seemed about right.)

 

3. I did not remove the seeds from the chili peppers (yes, I like

spicy food.) (My next pot of this, I plan to double the chili peppers,

still unseeded.)

 

4. I was unable to find fresh parsley and fresh cilantro in my grocery

so I used dried of both. I added all the parsley rather than half and

added the cilantro earlier so that it had time to reconstitute well in

the soup.

 

Dried worked well (though I'm sure fresh would be better), but I would

not advise it if someone were trying to modify the recipe by using

tinned beans because it takes long enough to reconstitute the dried

herbs that the beans would be overcooked if they were already cooked

at the outset.

 

One possibility, however, if one were to want to convert the recipe to

tinned beans and dried parsley & cilantro would be to add the beans

last so that the herbs had time to simmer properly.

 

I converted the parsley and cilantro using the assumption that 1 sprig

is roughly equal to 1 tablespoon fresh herb which is roughly equal to

1 teaspoon dried herb. So that makes for 20 teaspoons of dried parsley

(which worked out to the exact contents of a 10 gram bag) and 10

teaspoons of dried cilantro.

 

Other notes: I think I would like to double the tomatoes the next time

I make this.

 

Overall, I give it high ratings and would serve it to company

(possibly with some pita and hummus on the side as I think the flavors

would go together well. Also, a green salad, perhaps with a tahini

lemon dressing or an avocado dressing.)

 

Sparrow