Voodoo Chili*

Chili-less chili. I know that usually makes about as much sense as a eunuch working as a gigolo, but there’s method in my madness. Not much, but some. The eldest kid can’t handle the really spicy stuff yet, despite my best efforts to toughen him up, and I’m just too damn lazy to decant a portion of onions and mince into a separate pan prior to adding the real heat. The ‘mild’ version I’ve come up with is OK, but it’s not quite there yet, so this is a request for suggestions from the more culinary minded among you.

  

I’ve been experimenting with spices and other stuff with a bit of flavor but a little less kick, because without those it’s basically just a bolognaise sauce with beans. Here’s what I’ve got thus far –

              Cumin

              Cloves

              Paprika powder

              Allspice

              Cinnamon

              Worcestershire Sauce

              Half a cup of coffee

              Mixed herbs

              Pepper, Salt.

I tried a bit of mustard, but short of using the powerful stuff that goes with oden, all the gentler French types we’ve got just get lost. The coffee is a brilliant idea I nicked from somewhere (maybe here, of all places), and it really gives a bit of smoke and depth to things. The cloves and allspice are an attempt to compensate for the lack of heat, and they work pretty well but you need to be careful not to overdo them or you just end up with Jerk Mince.

So where do I go from here? Anything obvious I’m missing? Apart from, well, the obvious? I’ve seen some people recommend adding chocolate, but I think that might just be overly sickly without the compensatory chili heat. Or should I just give it all up as a lost cause and stick with the spaghetti?

*I had a friend who swore blind this is how it was pronounced. Mind you, she also thought the popular Alpine breakfast cereal was called 'moo-ESS-lee'. Takes all sorts.