My guess is the original didn’t have too many additions, probably spaghetti and ketchup from post-war provisions.
Way back before ingredient availability and foreign cuisine familiarity in India, mexican and italian food relied heavily on ketchup as a sauce / seasoning – some call it “ketchup mexican” (ie desi/Indian mexican), and it’s still wildly popular (even though the real deal has been available for a long time now). Like yoshoku dishes in japan.
I know ketchup often adorns omurice.
I’ve always put ketchup on chili as a condiment, but never in the cooking phase.
I use most of my ketchup in this dish.
I don’t think I’ve ever made baked beans from scratch.
I shall rectify that. Great idea. 
1/2 a cup seems like a lot.
It’s a lot of beans. I make a smaller recipe, and sometimes use rinsed canned beans instead of cooking dry ones.
For my quick weeknight maple beans, I mix a couple tbsp maple syrup, a couple tbsp ketchup, a tablespoon of vinegar and a dash of Worcestershire, and a shake of ground ginger into saucepan. Add some drained rinsed canned beans, bring that to a simmer.
Does ketchup have its own thread yet? Sure seems like it could use one
Or we could add the side convo to one of these existing ones.
Some classic Hong Kong Cafe (Cha Chaan Teng) foods:
Macaroni with ham in soup:
Baked Spaghetti with meat sauce:
I like my chili on noodles Cincinnati style but not Cincinnati chili.
Love it
