David's Texas Meets North India Vegetarian Chili

I never found a recipe that was similar to what I was looking for, so I made my own. I started by thinking about traditional vegetarian three-bean chili and Rajma-a North Indian dish similar to chili using red kidney beans and spices (Padma Lakshmi's really looked good...) My goal was the consistency and taste of "American" chili with a "Indian" flavor. So nice and thick and equal parts beans and tomatoes, unlike Rajma which is more saucy.

I think its really good, though I'm definitely open to improvement ideas!!!

Chop the following veggies, and cook over medium heat until onions are translucent. This can be as short as five minutes, but I like to do about 15 minutes.

1 sweet onion

2 red or orange bell peppers

1 minced jalapeno

2 individual stalks of celery

2 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoon olive or other vegetable oil

Add the following spices and flavoring and continue to cook for approx 5 minutes.

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp coriander

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp fresh ginger

Pinch turmeric

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cumin

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

¼ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp white pepper (black or a blend works too)

Raise the heat to medium high, and add the following: (Include the juices in the cans of tomatoes)

28 oz can diced tomatoes (I use organic)

14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes

2 vegetable bouillon cubes

2 tablespoon vinegar

Once boiling reduce to medium low heat and add the beans.

1 can pinto beans (half smashed with a potato masher or similar)

1 can red kidney beans (half smashed with a potato masher or similar)

1 can black beans (half smashed with a potato masher or similar)

Once the beans have come up to heat after about 15 minutes, add:

Hot sauce (to taste)

1.5 tablespoon chopped semisweet chocolate

Continue to cook until reduced to your desired consistency.

Copyright 2009 - David Etue

David's Texas Meets North India Vegetarian Chili by David Etue is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.