Vegetarian Chettinad Curry Recipe

Chettinad cuisine is one of Tamil Nadu’s best culinary treasures. The vibrant and flavoursome curries from the region are hot, punchy, and rich. I have always tried Chettinad curries with chicken. However, replicating these flavours at home with some fresh vegetables was equally special. Chomp down with hot appams or neer dosa. My experiment with Neer dosa went horribly awry, but you can try it for yourself, recipe here.
I swear by my Kerala Vegetable Stew, check it out the recipe.

Ingredients for Chettinad Curry – serves 4

For the Masala

• Grated coconut – 1/2 cup
• Green cardamom – 3
• Cloves – 3
• Fennel seeds/ saunf – 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon stick – 2.5 inch
• Whole dried red chilli – 1
• Cumin/ Jeera – 1 tbsp
• Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
• Coconut oil – 1 tbsp
• Garlic cloves – 8
• Ginger – 1 inch
• Cashews – 10, crushed
• Poppy seeds/ Khus khus – 2 tbsp

For the curry

• Onion – 2, small, chopped
• Tomatoes – 3, medium-sized, pureed
• Curry leaves – 10-12
• Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
• Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Mixed chopped vegetables – 2 cups (I used beans, peas, carrots and pumpkin)
• Coconut milk – of 1/2 cup coconut

Method for the Chettinad Curry

To make the masala

• Heat coconut oil in a pan, add jeera seeds, let them crackle for a minute.
• Add the grated coconut, coriander powder, whole red chilli, cinnamon stick, saunf, cloves, cardamom, mix well and roast on medium heat for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to avoid burning. Set the masala aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, soak the khus-khus and cashews in 1 cup of warm water for 10 minutes.
• Transfer the roasted masala into a grinder, add the garlic and ginger.
• Drain the soaked khus-khus and cashews and add to the grinder. Add 1/4 cup water and blitz to make a smooth paste.

To make the curry

• Start by making coconut milk. Grind the coconut by adding one cup of water. Pass the mixture through a sieve, what you get is the thicker first milk. Transfer the contents of the sieve back to the grinder. Add another cup of water and blitz again. Pass through the sieve, this is the slightly watery second milk. Discard the rest of the coconut.
• Heat oil in kadhai, add the onions and cook until translucent.
• Add the pureed tomatoes, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt and mix well. Cook for 8-10 minutes on medium-high heat until the masala starts integrating and the oil starts to separate.
• Add the ground Chettinad masala to the kadhai and mix. Add the chopped vegetables, curry leaves, add 1 cup of water and the second coconut milk. Mix and bring to a boil.
• Cover and cook for 15 minutes of medium-low heat.
• Turn off the heat, add the first coconut milk, mix and serve hot with appams or dosai.