South Indian Inspired Veggie Chili

Whether eaten simply in a bowl or served over whole wheat spaghetti and topped with cheddar cheese, this recipe has been my go-to since discovering spice layering. This chili is more than a stew mimicking the feel and flavor of chili, it is a fun to cook and reliable recipe for making a vegetarian chili that suits the palettes of almost anyone. 

A couple of notes: 

1) A heavy-bottomed stock pot works the best for this recipe. 2) Be sure to use canned black beans for the recipe – and use the cheapest available. They break down during cooking and give the chili a wonderful body that you cannot get from dried beans unless you cook them to the point of breaking down. 

3) If you do not have portobella mushrooms, white button mushrooms will do just fine. 

EQUIPMENT

Chef’s knife

Cutting Board

Stock pot with lid

Wooden Spoon

Can Opener

Colander

Measuring spoons 

INGREDIENTS

2T extra virgin olive oil

1T mustard seed (any color)

1T cumin seed

2-3 dried chilies (optional)

1 medium Vidalia (or sweet onion), diced

1T minced garlic1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, crushed

2 15-oz cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 15-oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed 

1 6-oz can tomato paste

2 rounded tablespoons of ground cumin

¼ t hot madras curry powder

¼ t ground cayenne pepper (or more to taste)

1 8-oz package of portobello mushrooms

Recipe

Bring a stock pot to heat over medium high flame. While heating the pot, dice the onion and set it aside. Once the pot is hot, add the olive oil, mustard seed and cumin seed. Cover. The seeds will begin to pop open (much like popcorn). Once the rate of popping starts, turn the heat to medium low, add the dried chilis, diced onion, and salt. Cook until the onions are translucent, stirring frequently. This takes 5-7 minutes. If the edges of the onions slightly brown, it’s completely fine. While the onion is cooking, mince your garlic. Once the onion is cooked, add the onion and saute for another 2 minutes or so. 

 

Crush the whole tomatoes in a large bowl, removing any remaining skin or hard cores from the tomatoes. Add the crushed tomatoes and juice to the pot. Fill the can with water, swish to remove adhering tomato from the can walls, and pour the water in your pot. Increase the heat to medium high.  Add in the cumin, curry powder, and cayenne. While you can increase the amount of cayenne pepper, do not increase the amount of curry -- doing so will make the chili taste like curry. 

Drain the beans in a colander and rinse them well. add the beans and tomato paste to the colander. Mix well to dissolve the tomato paste. Chop the mushrooms into bite-sized (½  – ¾ inches diced) pieces and add to the pot. Remember, they will shrink when cooking. 

Bring the pot to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 40-45 minutes until desired thickness. 

Serve over your favorite pasta, served with cheese and crackers or simply with a dollop of lime-coriander yogurt and sprinkle of cilantro!