Bosnian Cooking 101: Chili in Sarajevo

One of my favorite things to eat during winter is chili, so naturally, I made it during our huge snow storm. It can be fairly difficult to find ingredients for American foods in Bosnia though. I was quite thrilled to find everything I needed in the Konzum in the Sara Centar. Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients:

500 ml beer, pivo
400 g canned kidney beans, crveni grah
800 g canned tomatoes, paradajz
160 g tomato paste, paradajz pire
1/2 large chopped onion, luk
2 chopped green peppers, zelena paprika
2-3 cloves minced garlic, češnjak
1 package chili mix (Tex Mex Chili con Carne)
1 Tbs cayenne pepper, ljuta paprika
1 rounded Tbs dried oregano, origano
2 rounded Tbs dried parsely, peršin
salt and pepper to taste, sol i papar
500 g ground beef, mljevena junetina

Note: I used a soup spoon for my tablespoon (Tbs) measurements.

Directions:

1. Put beer, beans, tomato paste, onion, pepper, and garlic in a large pot.
2. Cut canned tomatoes into medium-sized pieces (unless they are already diced). Add to pot.
3. Add 3/4 of the chili mix.
4. Add cayenne pepper, oregano, parsely, salt, and black pepper.
5. Stir and start cooking on the stove at a low temperature.
6. Brown beef in a saucepan. Strain the fat when the meat is still barely pink, and sprinkle the rest of the chili mix onto the beef. Let it cook all the way before adding to the rest of the chili.
7. Cook large pot of chili uncovered for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Yield: about 7-8 large servings.

Chili is best served with grated cheese on top, bread on the side, and a glass of milk. I used gouda because cheddar is impossible to find in Bosnia. I have also found that chili tastes better the day after you cook it, since the extra time lets the flavors meld together. This makes it perfect leftover food.

I made this recipe for my friends here last Monday, and it was a fun night. I wanted to introduce them to one of my favorite winter meals, since most of them hadn't even heard of it before. Chili is best with a bit of a kick, and even though I cut the cayenne pepper in half from the first time I made it, some of them had an interesting time handling the heat. They demolished all of the cheese and bread I had in an attempt to cancel out the spice. It makes sense though. Bosnian food isn't spicy at all.