Spice up!

What's a better food to eat in the middle of a cold winter than chilli? Spicy food makes you feel warm and chilli also has numerous health benefits. The component in chillies which is responsible for the hotness is a chemical called capsaicin. Capsaicin is what causes the wonderful effects chilli can have on your health.

Chilli has been found to lower blood sugar levels.This way it helps to control insuline levels and can be helpful for people who are overweight or suffer from diabetes. Chillies can lower high blood pressure since they are high in vitamins A and C which help strengthen blood vessels. Capsaicin protects your heart by reducing cholesterol levels. Eating chilli can also increase metabolic rates and help you burn fat.

Capsaicin can provide pain relief by targeting pain receptors and inhibiting a neuropeptide, Substance P, which is the key brain pain transmitter. It does this without affecting nerve cells and having the numbing side-effects that painkillers usually have. So chillies have a relaxing effect on your body and can even help with migraines.

 If you have a flu, eating chilli can be benefitial since it opens up nasal passageways (we all know how uncomfortable it is when you order a hot dish in a restaurant and suddenly your nose starts running). Chillies contain loads of Vitamin C (one 73g chili pepper contains 83% of your daily needs!) which strengthens your immune system and helps your body fight off the viruses.

But these are just a few of the health benefits that chillies are recorded to have. There is even some research that chilli can limit the spreading of prostate cancer and prevent stomach cancer! So if you care for your health there are plenty of resons to treat yourself with chilli but for me the taste is a good enough reason on its own.

When you're handling hot chilli peppers (like habanero) you have to remember to be very careful! The chilli oils inside the chilli peppers contain plenty of capsaicin and if you're not careful while cutting the peppers you'll get chilli oil on your hands. The capsaicin is especially dangerous if it ends up on your eyes or mucous membranes. Use rubber gloves since the chillies can sting, burn and irritate your skin. Rinse the peppers and dry them. Scrape out the seeds. After cutting the chili discard the gloves, wash the knife and the cutting board very carefully and wash your hands with plenty of soap. If you didn't use the whole chilli pepper you can leave it to dry for a couple of days and use it for cooking later on. If you get chilli oils on your hands a good idea is to soak your hands with vegetable oil and then wash with soap (instead of rubbing your eyes or picking your nose, trust me). Capsaicin is fat-soluble so by using oil you can wash it off completely.

If you burn your mouth with chilli, drink a glass of cold milk. The protein found in milk called casein works as a detergent against capsaicin and soothes the burns effectively. If you burn your hands soak them in a bowl filled with milk and ice cubes. If there is no milk available rinse your mouth with cold sugar solution until the pain has stopped. I've also found chewing on white bread very helpful. This trick I learned as a kid when I was in Tunis. I was quite young and not used to spicy foods. We were eating out and I accidentally ate too much harissa (very spicy Tunisian hot chilli sauce). Luckily the waiter understood why my face was all read and I was nearly crying so he gave me a piece of white bread and told me to chew on it until I feel better.

This chilli recipe I've come up with by putting together different elements from a few different recipes. You can use pretty much any beans you like. If you're using dried beans instead of canned ones, remember to soak them the night before and boil them before starting to prepare the food (you can find the instructions and boiling times in the packages). If you're not a fan of bell peppers or corn you can use other vegetables instead, e.g. carrots or potatoes (note that different vegetables take a different time to cook). But don't use too much of different kinds of vegetables. Chilli is best when it's kept simple.

Chilli sin Carne (4-6 portions)

• 4 decilitres boiled/canned beans (I used azuki beans but you can use whichever beans you like)
• 1 decilitre (frozen or canned) corn
• 1 bell pepper (whichever colour you like, I prefer the red ones)
• 1 onion
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 habanero chilli pepper or 1-2 mild chilli pepper(s)
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes (à 400 grams)
• 70 grams tomato purée
• 2-4 decilitres water
• 1 tablespoon dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar, honey or maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon coriander
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• red bell pepper powder
• herbs (e.g. oregano, marjoram)
• salt, pepper

Chop the onion, garlic and chilli (be careful, especially if you're using habanero!). Heat some oil in a pot and add the onion. Cook it for a couple of minutes and add the garlic and chilli. Be careful when cooking the chilli. You might not want to breath the evaporating chilli oils or you'll find yourself coughing for quite some time. Add the coriander and cumin (since everyone has their own taste, the amounts of spices are just directional). Don't forget to sprinkle some red bell pepper powder and herbs as well. Now add the crushed tomatoes and the tomato purée. Let it stew for 10-15 minutes. Add the beans, cacao powder and whichever sweetener you're using. Add some water if there's too little of it. Let it stew now for 20 minutes but remember to stir it once in a while. Add the bell pepper and corn and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Let it stew for 10 more minutes.
Serve with rice, quinoa, bread etc.


If you're interested in the health benefits of chillies and cooking them you can find more detailed information in the links below.

Sources:
http://www.chilli-willy.com/chilli-health-benefits/
http://www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-health-benefits.html
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/chili-peppers.html
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tools-and-techniques/how-to-cook-chili-peppers1.htm
http://www.asianonlinerecipes.com/cooking_guide/handling-fresh-chili-peppers.php
http://www.wikihow.com/Cool-Burns-from-Chili-Peppers
http://dave-dewitt.suite101.com/habanero-chile-peppers-used-in-the-kitchen-a109740