Chocolate is a key ingredient in some mole dishes that come out of Oaxaca in Mexico. Mole (pronounced mo-lay) is the local word for sauce. This recipe is a tasty take on a chilli, with dark chocolate giving it a depth of flavour and adding an air of intrigue to the dish!

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Peel and finely chop the garlic. Slice the leeks into rounds, including the green tops. Deseed the peppers and, if using fresh chilli, deseed and finely slice it lengthways. Chop the courgette into bite-size pieces.

Heat the oil in a big saucepan and fry the leeks and garlic on a medium heat for five minutes, stirring regularly to make sure they don’t burn. Add the courgette and peppers along with the chilli, whole cumin seeds and salt, and fry for a further five minutes.

Drain the kidney beans and rinse thoroughly. Add to the pan together with the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, ground coriander, ground cumin, paprika and black pepper. Turn the heat up to high and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, add the chocolate and leave to simmer for a further 10 minutes.

Finely chop the fresh coriander and mix it into the chilli with the lime juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

To make the cornbread, first mix the ground flax and water together in a small bowl to make ‘flax eggs’. Leave to sit for 10 minutes.

Mix the rest of the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix all the wet ingredients, then add the ‘flax eggs’ and stir in. Add the wet mix to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly until they form a dough.

Put the chilli into a shallow pie dish (or an approximately 25cm quiche dish), spreading it evenly. Cover the chilli with the spinach leaves. Top it off with the cornbread dough, then put into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Serve with a simple green salad and sour cream (or coconut yoghurt if you are dairy-free).