In a large saucepan, brown the meat and crumble it as it browns.
Once it is completely browned, drain the fat in a separate bowl (don’t discard the fat – you’ll need it)
Return the strained brown meat to its original pan.
Take the drained fat from step 2 and pour it in another large saucepan or a dutch oven (which is what I used). Turn to Medium heat. We are going to make a roux, which is a French gravy made from fat and flour. This is what makes the chili nice and thick.
Once the fat begins to warm up, you can add in 1/4 cup of flour and stir constantly. Try to get all of the lumps out of it and keep stirring, otherwise if you leave it alone it will probably burn. If it burns, it may ruin everything so be careful! Keep stirring for about 10-15 minutes, until it reaches a caramel color.
Add the beef broth to the roux and stir. Turn off the heat.
Return to the original pan with the ground beef. Turn the heat back onto Medium and add in the 4 cups of water and the remaining flour (1 1/4 cups).
Combine the beef mixture with the roux mixture together in the dutch oven and add in the remaining ingredients: grated carrot, spice mixture (garlic, salt, sugar, chili powder, cumin, minced onion, and paprika), and vinegar. Mix together until it’s all nice and smooth. (Don’t forget to turn off the heat from the empty saucepan.)
Cover and let the mixture continue to simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef (80%/20% is what I used)
1 1/2 c. flour (1/4 c. in one bowl and 1 1/4 c. in another bowl)
1 1/3 c. beef broth
4 c. water
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1 medium sized (or about 2 tbsp. grated) carrot grated and chopped