Question Two (Smoke) Alarm Aromatic Chili

I just threw this together to use some ground beef I had on hand before it went over, and while it is a bit... odd, or perhaps just 'busy', and I didn't exactly write anything down ahead of time, I do like how it came out (though perhaps the hot pepper was overdone a bit). I rehydrated the small red beans last night. As for the name, let's just say I was a bit careless around the burners...

1.5 lb (-ish) ground beef (actually, add that caveat to everything as I didn't measure anywhere)
2 tblsp pork lard (drained from an earlier ham roast last week)
1/3 lb small red beans, dry/reyhdrated
3 fresh jalapeno peppers
2 homemade pickled jalapenos
1 large sweet onion
8 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp dry cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp dry garlic powder
1/2 tblsp dry diced onion
1/8 tsp dry cilantro
1/6 tsp dry basil
2 bay leaves
16oz canned diced tomatoes
16oz canned tomato sauce
1 tsp tomato paste

3 tblsp whole cumin
1/4 tsp whole fennel
1/4 tsp whole fenugreek
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp whole coriander
1 piece star anise

Preparing dry whole spices
Pan dry-roasted spices on med high heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Set aside to cool for 5 min. Ground spice mixture in food processor (I should probably get a real mill, though with some coaxing it worked well enough).

preparing spice vegetables
Peeled and loosely sliced garlic and onion, which was then minced in the food processor. Heated the pork lard and began sauteeing onion/garlic mince in pan at med high heat for 5 minutes. Cut jalapenos and minced in food processor, then added them to pan and sauteed mixture for additional five minutes, along with 1/3 of prepared spices.

Cooking chili
Moved vegetable mixture to stock pot and added beans, holding at medium heat. Browned ground beef in pan with 1/3 of the prepared spices, and added it piecemeal to pot (it was at this time I set off the smoke alarm the first time).

Stirred beef and remaining spices into bean and minced vegetables for 2 minutes, then stirred in diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Turned heat to low and simmered, covered, for 1/2 hour, then added tomato paste and finishing spices and simmered an additional 1/2 hour.

Served over Basmati rice (which is what I was cooking when I set off the smoke alarm the second time) and topped with shredded cheddar.

This seems to border the line between chili and curry or rogan josh.

My seasons for chili tend to rely only dark chili powder, oregano, dry cayenne flakes, cumin, coarse ground pepper, salt, one to two habanero peppers, fresh garlic, yellow onion, and one beer.

Habanero peppers seem to hit the perfect balance between heat and a slightly fruity flavor.

I recently started adding a small can of tomato paste to my chili pots as well, and I think it really helped improve the balance.

With your mix, does the bay leaf not get overpowered by the cumin, coriander and fennel?

True, it is really a hybrid of a chili and a curried beef, which was very deliberate. I was looking to experiment with it a bit.

And yes, the bay did get lost in all that. I probably could have skipped it entirely, in retrospect.