- Beans
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Dry Beans, 2 cups pinto, kidney, black, or a mix
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Kosher Salt, 2 tbsp for the brine
- Chile Paste
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Dried Ancho Chiles, 4 stemmed, seeded, torn into pieces
- Substitutions: Pasilla Chiles Mulato Chiles
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Dried Guajillo Chiles, 2 stemmed, seeded, torn into pieces
- Substitutions: New Mexico Chiles California Chiles
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Dried Árbol Chiles, 2 to 4 optional, for heat
- Substitutions: Pequín Chiles
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Water, 2 cups
- Chili
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Avocado Oil, 4 tbsp
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Onion, 1 large, diced
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Bell Peppers, 2 diced
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Jalapeños, 4 diced, seeds in for heat
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Carrot, 1 grated omit to reduce sweetness
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Garlic, 8 cloves roughly chopped
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Ground Cumin, 1 tbsp
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Smoked Paprika, 2 tsp
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Dried Oregano, 2 tsp Mexican if you have it
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Black Pepper, 1 tsp
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Cayenne, 1/4 tsp
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Kosher Salt, 1 tbsp
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Broth, 4 cups
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Tomato Paste, 1/4 cup
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Whole Tomatoes, 28 oz Cento San Marzano, crushed by hand
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Soy Sauce, 2 tbsp
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Dark Beer, 1 cup optional
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Masa Harina, 1/4 cup optional, for thickening
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Apple Cider Vinegar, 1 tbsp
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Lime Juice, 1 tbsp
Brine
- Dissolve 2 tbsp salt in 8 cups cold water. Add dry beans and soak 8-24 hours at room temperature. Drain and rinse.
Chile Paste
- Set the Instant Pot to sauté. Toast the torn chiles in the dry pot, stirring constantly, until fragrant and slightly darkened (2-4 min). Stop there. Scorched chiles turn bitter.
- Add 2 cups water, simmer until soft (~5 min), then blend chiles and liquid until completely smooth. Set aside. Wipe the pot.
Chili
- Heat oil on sauté. Cook onion, bell peppers, jalapeños, and carrot until softened (~8 min). Add garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, black pepper, cayenne, and salt. Stir until fragrant (~1 min).
- Add the chile paste and cook, stirring, until it darkens and starts to fry (~4 min). Add broth and the drained beans. Scrape the bottom clean.
- Pressure cook on high 12 minutes for brined beans, 30 minutes for unsoaked. Full natural release.
- Set to sauté. Stir in tomato paste and cook until it darkens (~3 min). Add crushed tomatoes, soy sauce, and beer. Simmer until thickened (15-20 min).
- To thicken further, whisk masa harina with 1/2 cup water and stir it in gradually. Off heat, stir in vinegar and lime juice. Salt to taste.
- Tomatoes go in after the beans are cooked. Acid prevents the pectin in bean skins from dissolving, so dry beans simmered in tomatoes can stay chalky. The salt brine works the other way - sodium displaces calcium and magnesium in the skins, softening them and reducing splitting.
- To skip the brine, go straight to the chile paste and pressure cook 30 minutes.
- Substitute 3 tbsp chili powder for the whole chiles, added with the other spices. The result is noticeably flatter.
- This is a stone soup recipe. Any bean combination, any onion, any pepper. Add celery, corn, TVP, or nutritional yeast. A teaspoon of cocoa powder or a pinch of cinnamon deepens the chile paste.
- Top with green onions, avocado, jalapeños, cilantro, vegan dairy, or pickled red onions.
- Undercook the beans if freezing.
- Stovetop: build the chile paste and sofrito in a Dutch oven, add beans and broth, simmer covered until beans are tender (1-2 hours for brined, longer if not), then add tomatoes and finish as above.
- Reheat over low heat. Correct with salt, vinegar, and lime, which fade first.
