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a bowl of thick red-brown ancho chili with tender recognizable pork shoulder cubes, whole beige chickpeas and small softened onion pieces, without rice, cheese or garnish
Andre Lewis

Pork and Chickpea Freezer Chili

Whole dried ancho chiles give this chili a rounded red-brown sauce without requiring a potful of fresh tomatoes. Remove their seeds before soaking and blend them thoroughly so the sauce clings to the pork rather than leaving leathery bits in the bowl. Pressure cooking tenderizes shoulder cubes while keeping them recognizable, which makes this feel different from a ground-meat chili even before the chickpeas go in. Let the pressure drop naturally for the stated time and add the canned beans afterward, since they only need a short simmer. A little masa thickens the finished sauce enough to stay on the spoon, but the reheated portion should still loosen easily when stirred.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 3 dried ancho chiles stems and seeds removed
  • 2 cups boiling water for soaking
  • 2 lb boneless pork shoulder trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion diced
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 3/4 tsp fine salt
  • 1 cup unsalted chicken broth
  • 2 cans 15 oz each chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 2 tbsp masa harina
  • 1/4 cup cool water for masa
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • 2 tbsp water per portion for reheating

Method
 

  1. Put ancho chiles in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling soaking water and stand for 15 minutes. Blend the softened chiles with 1 1/2 cups soaking liquid until completely smooth; discard the remaining soaking liquid.
  2. Heat oil using the sauté setting of a 6-quart electric pressure cooker. Brown pork in two batches for 3 minutes per side, then lift out; soften onion for 5 minutes and add garlic and cumin for 1 minute.
  3. Pour in broth and scrape the bottom completely clean. Return pork, add chile puree, oregano and salt and stir well; keep contents below the cooker maximum fill line.
  4. Lock the lid, set the valve to sealing and cook at high pressure for 35 minutes after pressure is reached. Allow pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes, then release remaining pressure according to the appliance directions.
  5. Check that pork is fork-tender; if needed, simmer on sauté until tender. Add chickpeas, whisk masa with its cool water and stir it in, then simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes until thickened; add lime juice.
  6. Divide among six shallow freezer containers. Refrigerate within 2 hours, chill completely, leave expansion room and freeze for up to 3 months.
  7. Reheat one frozen portion in a covered saucepan over low heat with its measured reheating water, breaking it apart as it softens. Simmer and stir until every pork piece reaches 165°F, usually 20 to 30 minutes total.