22. Chili with a single L

In the most awesome coming together of the Amigo and Americano – the Chili con carne was invented. Popularly known as just “Chili” around here – this beef stew is one of the most crucial culinary finds I have had since I have started living here. As a tourist, you do the dogs and the  burgers, or may be I was never encouraged to try the chili. Oh the sweet sawesome chili, is the closest American cuisine can come to satisfy the inflamed taste buds of my Indian palate.

American cuisine to me was Meatloaf, veggies, mashed potatoes, and salad. Then I encountered the Thanksgiving turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and the other works.
How in the middle of all this bland and thyme the chili came to be, has intrigued me enough to go look up Wikipedia. Guess what – the Mexicans brought it to Texas and today every American family boasts of its own chili recipe. I knew turkey and gravy eaters with a penchant for sweet saurces (cranberry, apple, even barbecue) could not have invented this phantasmagoria of flavor and texture.

Today – wars are apparently fought over ingredients, and each family boasts its own traditional recipe.

I have yet to understand why they haven’t understood what flavor means around here and tried to infuse their other recipes with it. Today I nearly died from the offense that was the thyme turkey stuffing. Thyme? Really? Thyme?

On my new protein-only diet for 6 days in a week, I find myself spooning down chili every so often – esp when they make the chicken version, although the beef version is to die for (depending on who made it). Sprinkle some shaved cheese flakes on this thing as you get it to go with some green onions, and by the time you get to your desk the cheese has melted into some chili nirvana and slurp. It’s unstoppably awesome. Hot – check, spicy – check, chewy – check, satisfying – double check.

For the desis, this is more like kheema curry, with beans thrown in and bigger cut veggies (onions for instance). For the veggies, you do actually have a soy mince option available for chili consumption – which so far has been rare to locate in restaurants, but I found one in Trader Joe’s. I also find that off the beaten track restaurants in one-lane towns have chili that is extremely over salty – don’t know why. But all in all, it’s the one food they love serving hot, and a must try on your next visit.

Also, it’s chilli without the second L.

Chili

So this is what they meant in all those romance novels where the heroine said I’ll make a chili and not something with a lot of chillies.This is a bit confusing to the FOB desi as he arrives on the shores of the hallowed west. Surely chillies must mean (see below):

red and green chillies

Because we – back in India – use chillies to indicate all kinds of products that will blow your tongue to heaven come with hotness: red peppers, green peppers, serranos, black pepper even, for us it all the same – chilli or even chilly sometimes.