Cornbread-Topped Chilli Con Carne

Directions

1. 1
   Peel and finely chop the onions; you might want to use the processor here, and if so, add the peeled garlic or mince it by hand.
2. 2
   Heat the oil in a very large pan it has to take every-thing later and fry the onion and garlic until they begin to soften.
3. 3
   Add the chilli, coriander, cumin and crushed cardamom pods and stir well.
4. 4
   Deseed and finely dice the red peppers, and tip into the spicy onion.
5. 5
   Break up the ground beef into the pan and, using a fork, keep turning it to separate it as the meat browns.
6. 6
   Its hard to brown quite so much meat, so just do the best you can.
7. 7
   Add the chopped tomatoes, kidney beans, ketchup, puree and water, stirring to make a rich red sauce.
8. 8
   When the chilli starts to boil, sprinkle over the cocoa and stir it in.
9. 9
   Simmer partially covered for 1 1/2 hours.
10. 10
    At this point you can cool and freeze the chilli, or just keep it in the fridge or a cool place overnight.
11. 11
    Preheat the oven to 425F.
12. 12
    Tip the chilli into a large, wide dish or keep in the pan that is ovenproof.
13. 13
    Combine the salt, cornmeal, flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a bowl.
14. 14
    Whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, honey and oil in a glass measuring cup, and then stir into the dry ingredients, mixing to make a vivid yellow batter.
15. 15
    Pour the cornmeal topping over the chilli con carne, or blob it over to cover the top as evenly as possible.
16. 16
    Dont worry if some of the chilli seeps through as this wont matter one tiny bit.
17. 17
    Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the cornbread and then bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the cornbread topping is risen and golden and the chilli underneath is bubbling.
18. 18
    How long this precisely takes depends on how cold or hot the chilli was when it went into the oven.
19. 19
    Since its such a huge vat, you may find it simpler to reheat it on the stove in its pan, before it gets its topping, to start with.
20. 20
    Let the chilli stand for about 5 minutes once out of the oven before cutting the top into squares or slices to serve with a helping of chilli underneath.
21. 21
    And alongside this chilli, as with the vegetarian chilli overleaf, you should dollop out an un-chillied guacamole, some cool sour cream and a mounded pile of strong grated Cheddar.
22. 22
    So, mash the ripe avocados with the finely chopped scallions and add the lime juice and some salt to taste.
23. 23
    Stir in most of the chopped cilantro and turn into two bowls, sprinkling each with the remaining cilantro.
24. 24
    Divide the sour cream into another two bowls, and dust with a little paprika and, into yet another pair of bowls, grate the Cheddar so that people can take clumps and add the tangy cheese to their plates of guacamole and sour-cream splodged chilli.