Spicentice recipe & review

About Spicentice

Spicentice is a family run business that has been going strong since 1994. They produce a range of Indian, Thai, Jamaican, Moroccan, Portuguese, Cajun and Mexican spice mixes.

I was fortunate to meet Ketan Varu (the founder) at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham this year. Here is the recipe to one of their delicious spice kits... if this makes you hungry go to http://www.spicentice.com/home.php to have a browse. 

yee-hah! Chilli con carne with 'mayan' spiced chocolate!

Shopping List - Serves 4

• Spicentice kit
• 500g minced meat
• 4 onions (medium)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 300ml tomatoes (tinned)
• 400g kidney beans (tinned)
• 3 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 lime
• 220ml of stock
• 6 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp salt
• Half tsp sugar

Cooking the dish

1. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the contents of sachet 1 and fry the seeds for a few seconds before adding the onions.
2. When the onion is nicely browned, add the garlic and continue to fry for a minute.
3. Now add the minced meat and stir thoroughly with the onions and garlic. Brown the meat for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. 
4. Now add the tomatoes, 1 tsp of salt, half a tsp of sugar and sachet 2. Also add in 3 tbsp of tomato puree and half the juice of the lime. Stir in the kidney beans and leave to cook for a further few minutes.
5. Add 220ml of stock, herb sachet and 'Mayan' spiced chocolate sachet, stir and cook with a lid on for 15-20 minutes.
6. Once cooked, check the seasoning and serve.

Personal serving suggestions

• Fluffy white rice
• Homemade guacomole
• Sour cream
• Bottle of red: Gran Colina Rioja 2007

Review

As you can tell the recipe above is easy to follow and the ingredient list is easily sourced for a good price. You can tell these kits have been made with love as they contain NO; additives, preservatives, colouring or waste. This definitely makes a difference in the final taste. The addition of the 'Mayan' spiced chocolate adds real depth to the sauce making it beautifully glossy. Resulting in extremely satisfied diners that would go back for more.

These kits are perfectly designed and are great to get people cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

The cost of all the ingredients including the spice kit and rice came to approximately £2.00 per head.