Everything You Wanted To Know About Vegetarian Chilli Recipes

Now, I'm not a believer in vegetarianism ! I once saw a bumper sticker that read, "If we aren't meant to eat animals, why are they made of meat ?" and can't think of a better way to put it.

On the flip-side, we certainly can't be healthy on meat alone so I look upon vegetarian dishes as the natural complement to a good serve of meat.

Let's jump into the vegetarian chilli recipes then...

The Chilli Vegetarian Recipes

Greens with Coconut and Chillies

This recipe comes from my mate Greg in Thailand who recently caught up with a cousin in San Francisco and had this dish.

• 1 cup finely grated unsweetened coconut (dried)
• 1 ½ cups of water
• ¾ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 3 x 7-8cm long dried chillies - your choice of variety
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp coconut or canola oil
• ¾ tsp black mustard seeds
• 2 tbsp raw rice
• 3 lg leaves red swiss chard, chopped (about three cups)
• ½ tsp salt

Stir together coconut and ½ c water in a bowl.

Stir in cumin, turmeric and ½ cup of water until combined.

Smash garlic with flat side of a large knife and stir into coconut mixture.

Heat oil in a wok over med-high heat until hot but not smoking, then add mustard seeds and fry until they make popping sounds, about 15 seconds.

Add rice and red chillies and cook, stirring constantly, until rice is golden, about 1 minute. Add chard and salt, cook, stirring, until chard is wilted, about 30seconds.

Stir in coconut mixture and remaining ½ cup water and bring to a simmer.

Cover chard mixture with lid and simmer until stems are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until liquid is evaporated and mixture is dry, about 5-7 minutes.

Stuffed Chilli Bajjis

One of my all-time favourite Indian dishes

• 5 - 8 large green chillies - poblano, Big Jim, etc
• 1/2 cup Gram flour (chickpea flour - you can substitute with plain flour, but it's not the same)
• salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder

For stuffing

• 1-2 medium sized onions finely chopped
• 1-2 grated carrots
• 1/2 tsp chutney - choose your favourite
• a bunch of finely chopped coriander

Make a batter with gram flour,salt and chilli powder with water.

Heat the oil in wok and then dip the green chilli in the batter, it should be well coated with batter. Then drop in to hot oil carefully, fry till crisp and golden brown.

Garnish with coriander (cilantro) leaves and drizzle your favourite chutney over it and serve.

Although a little fiddly, these are great entree or snack when you're looking for something a bit different.

Spicy Brazil Nuts

• 30g butter
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon flaked sea salt
• 1 cup Brazil nuts

Melt butter in a heavy based pan.

Add garlic, chilli and salt and stir over medium heat for 1 minute.

Toss Brazil nuts in and continue to stir for 1-2 minutes.

Drain on paper towel and allow to cool.

Broad Bean and Feta Dip

This a perfect light and tasty starter to your feast.

• 4 wholemeal Lebanese breads
• 2 cups broad beans, fresh is better but frozen is fine
• 100g marinated feta cheese
• 2 serrano chillies, deseeded and finely sliced
• 100g ricotta cheese
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• Extra virgin olive oil, to serve
• Smoked paprika, hot variety

Cook the broad beans in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 5 minutes or until tender.

Refresh them under cold running water, drain well and peel.

Place the broad beans, feta, ricotta , chilli and garlic in the bowl of a food processor and process until almost smooth.

Transfer to a serving bowl. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with paprika.

Break the Lebanese breads into large pieces and serve with the broad bean dip.

Hot & Spicy Corn Puffs

Makes about 35 puffs.

• 2 corn cobs
• 3 tblsp coriander leaves, chopped
• 6 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 red cayenne chilli, seeded & finely chopped
• 1 large egg (70g +)
• 2 teasp ground cummin seeds
• 0.5 teasp ground coriander seeds
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 teasp salt
• pepper to taste
• oil for deep frying
• asian style sweet chilli sauce, to serve

Cut the corn off the cob with a sharp knife. Roughly chop the kernels then put them in a bowl with the remaining ingredients except the flour. Stir well. Then add the flour and mix well.

The batter texture will depend on the amount of juice in the corn. If it is excessively dry, add 1 tablsp of water. You shouldn't need anymore than that as the batter is meant to be dry. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Heat oil to 180 C . Drop slightly heaped teaspoons of the batter into the oil and cook for approximately 1.5 minutes, until puffed and golden.

Drain on paper towel and then serve immediately with the sweet chilli sauce as a dipping sauce.

Idiyappam

This recipe is from Kerala in India and can be served as an accompaniment to your favourite meat dish or, if you are vegetarian – it’s a meal on it’s own !

Serves 3-5 (depending on whether it's a side dish or the main item).

• 225g rice sticks or vermicelli
• 4 tablsp oil
• 50g cashew nuts
• 0.5 onion, chopped
• 3 eggs, hard boiled and cut into segments
• 150g fresh or frozen peas
• 2 leeks, finely chopped
• 10 curry plant leaves
• 2 carrots, grated
• 1 small red capsicum, diced
• 2 red cayenne chilles, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 tablsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tablesp tomato paste
• 1 teasp salt

Soak the rice sticks/vermicelli in cold water for 30 minutes, drain them and put in a saucepan of boiling water. Remove the pan from the heat and drain the hot water off after 3 minutes. The quickly refresh the noodles by running some cold water over them for 10 seconds. Drain.

Heat half the oil and fry the cashews until they’re golden brown. Watch them closely as this tends to happen quite quickly once they get to temperature. Now fry the onion on high until golden brown. Cook the peas in a little boiling water until tender.

Add the other half of the oil to the first half and quickly fry the curry leaves. Then add the carrots, capsicum, chilli, and leek and stir for one minute. Add the soy sauce, tomato paste and noodles and stir constantly to prevent the noodles sticking to the frying pan for about two minutes.

Serve on a plate and garnish with the eggs, peas, cashews and fried onion.

Grilled Baby Potatoes

makes 8 serves

You'll need skewers for this recipe.

• 1kg baby potatoes
• Olive oil spray
• 2 teasp sea salt flakes
• 1 teasp smoked paprika, sweet

If you are using bamboo skewers you'll need to soak them in water for 30-60 minutes and then drain

If you are using metal skewers, go to the next step

Preheat barbecue to medium heat

Place potatoes into a large saucepan, cover with cold water, and bring to the boil

Reduce heat to medium-low and let them simmer for about 5 minutes or until just tender when tested with a skewer

Drain and rinse under cold water

When they're cool enough to handle, cut the potatoes in half and thread onto skewers.

Spray potatoes with oil and sprinkle with the sea salt and paprika

Grill for 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes, or until golden and crisp and serve

Cheatin' But Delicious, Easy Stuffed Jalapenos

• green jalapenos
• 1 tub of Philadelphia cream cheese
• bacon rashers (cut into thirds across the length)
• toothpicks

There's no specific amounts here as you can make as many or as few as you want !

Halve the jalapenos lengthways and remove the pith and the seeds. Remember: wash hands thoroughly after this step or face the predictable consequences

Spoon some cream cheese into each jalapeno, enough to just fill it level.

Wrap a piece of bacon around and secure with a toothpick

Arrange on a roasting pan and bake in your hooded BBQ or oven at 90°C (200°F) degrees for approx 20 mins.

Before serving let them cool down a little as the cheese gets quite hot and holds the heat well.

My Friend's Breakfast Eggs

makes 4 serves

The combination of garlic, yoghurt, olive oil and salt is surprisingly good match up.

A friend in Holland sent me this one about a year ago. My regret is that it took me this long to getting around to trying it. It's a great breakfast after a good holiday sleep-in !

If you have left over yoghurt mixture, it is great with cold chicken, grilled salmon, or put a dollop in a large, roasted field mushroom.

• 240ml good, Greek-style yoghurt (not too sharp and really thick)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• Sea salt
• 50ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 80g unsalted butter
• 8 sage leaves
• 4 large free-range eggs
• 2 red serrano chillies, de-seeded, very finely sliced

Put the yoghurt into a bowl with the olive oil, garlic, and a pinch of the sea salt.

Stir well and taste. Add a little more salt if you think it needs it.

Set aside to allow the flavours to do their thing and blend.

Now, in a small frying pan on medium heat, add the sage leaves and the butter pan.

Cook, stirring gently, until the butter begins to separate, and then keep going until it begins to brown.

Set aside in a warm place while you cook the eggs.

In a separate pan on medium heat, add a teasp of the browned butter.

Crack the eggs into the pan and add the chilli and cook until the whites are firm and the yolks are still a little soft.

I like to spoon the hot butter over the whites to encourage the eggs to cook more quickly and to flavour them.

To serve, put the yoghurt mixture onto four plates, lay the eggs on top and scatter over the chilli.

Spoon the still warm sage butter over the eggs and serve, along with a strong, black coffee.

Thai Basil Eggplant

makes 2-3 serves as a side dish

This is a great side dish too some

• 4 Chinese eggplants (see picture), sliced into 2cm (1 inch) thick rounds
• 3 tablsp peanut or soy oil
• 2 Thai bird’s eye chili, de-seeded, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup water

• 2 cups Thai basil leaves, whole (see picture)
• Asian fish sauce, to taste

Heat up a large non-stick skillet and drizzle with oil.

Throw in the chili and garlic and fry for a minute until fragrant.

Add eggplant and continue to toss until garlic turn golden.

Add a cup of water and cover with lid.

It should take about 5 minutes for the water to be absorbed and the eggplant to finish cooking.

Once the eggplant is tender, add basil and fish sauce to taste.

Quickly toss everything together and take off heat.

Serve immediately with hot jasmine rice.

Esquite - Mexican Corn Snack

Makes 2 serves

Esquite is a typical Mexican dish and is basically grilled corn kernels sliced from the cob into a glass and a range of accompaniments piled on top - which you then eat with a spoon.

This is as close to the original recipe as I could get. Traditionally you are supposed to use a spice mix called tajin which is mainly chilli powder, salt and dehydrated lime juice. However, this is nearly impossible to get outside of Mexico.

• 2 corn on the cob
• 2 tablsp grated parmesan
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 1 lime, quartered
• 4 tablsp mayonnaise
• Olive oil

Preheat your BBQ.

Brush the corn with the olive oil then grill until cooked through.

Slice the kernels from the cobs, into a bowl, and squeeze the cob strongly with your hands to get a little of the corn milk into the bowl.

Toss the corn with salt and cayenne then divide between two bowls or glasses.

Then top the corn with mayonnaise and cheese to your taste and squeeze a little lime juice over the top.

Grilled Pineapple With A Spiced Lime Syrup

makes 4 serves

You can vary the flavours and aromas in the syrup to get a different flavour every time.

Try star anise, lemon, orange, cinnamon, ginger, lemongrass, nutmeg, etc ......

• 1 ripe pineapple
• 300g white sugar
• 1 lime, thinly sliced
• 1 red cayenne chilli,de-seeded and thinly sliced
• 2 sprigs of rosemary, cut into a few pieces (use scissors)
• 500ml water
• Vanilla ice-cream, to serve

OK, first up make a simple sugar syrup by putting the sugar in a heavy-based saucepan and pouring in the water.

Place over a low heat and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.

Raise the heat to medium and bring the syrup to the boil. Let it boil/simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the lime slices, chilli and rosemary pieces to the syrup, and let it bubble for another 5 minutes.

During that 5 minutes, prepare the pineapple. Cut off the top and base from the pineapple, then stand it upright on a board.

With a serrated knife, slice away the skin and prise out any dimples left in the fruit.

Turn the pineapple on to its side and cut into 8 even wedges.

Heat up a ribbed griddle to high and put the pineapple in the pan, pressing them gently on to the ridges.

After about 4 minutes, turn each wedge over and do the same to the other side.

Turn the wedges over and repeat on the other side.

Remove the pineapple wedges from the griddle and put in a wide dish.

Pour the sugar syrup over the pineapple with all the aromatics.

Leave to cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, but overnight is better, as it gives time for the flavours to blend and infuse.

Before serving, drain off the syrup and run it through a fine sieve to remove any solids.

Serve the wedges with vanilla ice-cream, drizzled with the sieved syrup.

Spicy Carrots

Makes 2 serve as a main or 4 as a side.

You need a large wok, frying pan or sauce pan with a lid for this recipe.

• 450g (1 lb) julienned carrots
• 2 teasp black mustard seeds
• ½-1 teasp chilli powder
• ¼ teasp turmeric powder
• 1 teasp salt
• 2 tablsp olive oil, or ghee

Pre heat a wok or saucepan to medium heat and then add the oil/ghee and heat through.

Add mustard seeds and as soon as they start to spit and pop, remove from the heat and add the carrots.

Stir the carrots through the oil and then place back on the heat.

Now add the chilli, turmeric, and salt mix them in.

Cover with a lid for 3-5 minutes- you don’t want to overcook the carrots, they should still have a little crunch left in them when your finished.

Serve with Naan bread and some raita for a dish on it's own, or as side dish to grilled or roast meat.

Seville Style Olives makes 8 serves

A great example of the impact that 800 years of Arab (Moors) occupation had on the culture of the Iberian peninsula.

• 250g (9 oz) large green Spanish olives, unflavoured/unmarinated
• 2 piquin chillies, crushed
• 3 thin slices lemon
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 anchovy fillets, rinsed in milk
• ½ teasp dry oregano
• ½ teasp thyme
• 1 cup dry sherry
• ¼ cup vinegar

Lightly crush the olives and put them in a glass jar and add the remaining ingredients and then add just enough water to cover the olives. Stir well and marinate in the refrigerator.

Every couple of days open the jar and give it all a good shake. The olives need at least a week to marinate but left longer, they will get hotter.

The olives will keep for about 2 months in the refrigerator.

To serve, drain the olives and allow to warm to room temperature before serving.

Jamaican Rice & Beans in Coconut Milk makes 3-4 serves

A traditional Rastafarian style vegan dish - nice and simple one-pot meal.

• 1 cup long grain rice
• 1 cup (8.5 fl oz) cooked kidney beans
• 1 tablsp cumin seeds
• 1 teasp asafoteda powder (any asian store)
• green or yellow chillies finely chopped. Your choice of type and number - traditionally they would be Scotch Bonnets.
• 1 green capsicum, diced
• Salt to taste
• 440ml (15 fl oz)can coconut milk
• 2 tablsp vegetable oil

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and then add the chilli, cumin and asafoteda and fry for a minute.

Add the rice and continue frying for a 5 minutes and then add the remaining ingredients, stir and bring to boil.

Cover and cook over a low heat for about 12-15 minutes.

Add a little water if needed.

Serve when you're ready to eat, mun !