Chettinad is a region in South India where many of my ancestors come from. It is a dry, arid land inhabited by a devout and enterprising people. And the food is simply sensational. There is no greater pleasure than eating at a chettinad wedding! Chettinad cuisine uses an abundance of spices like cumin, fennel, fenugreek, star anise, poppy seeds, chillies, tamarind, shallots, coconut and curry leaf. This chettinad meal maker curry is inspired by my heritage.

Nemam Koil, our clan temple in Chettinad

Chettinad is famous for its palatial ancestral homes. This house in Kothamangalam is now Saratha Vilas hotel.

Chettinad homes are generally famed for their non vegetarian food. But you can easily enjoy the flavors of this region with this vegetarian, vegan recipe. Meal maker or Nutrella are Indian brands of soy protein that are quite meaty in texture. I used Indian meal maker in this recipe. Feel free to use any kind of dried soy chunk or granule product. TVP, TSP, soy chunks, soy granules, or even seitan will work.

This chettinad meal maker curry recipe is easily adaptable to different tastes, use only vegetables (cauliflower is nice) or adjust coconut milk however you like. You can use more or less chillies according to your preference.

Chettinad Meal Maker Curry Recipe

(A Spicy Curry using TVP, TSP, Meal Maker, Nutrella or Soy Chunks)
Serves about 4

Ingredients
1 cup dry soy chunks/Meal Maker/Nutrella/TVP/TSP*
1 tablespoon oil
½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
6 curry leaves
1-3 green chillies, slit. optional
½ medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, cut into slivers
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1 recipe masala powder, see recipe below
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 cup coconut milk
Salt

*Soy chunks like Meal Maker and Nutrella are easily available at Indian stores. TVP/TSP granules are available at the regular grocery store.

Method
Rehydrate the soy chunks (meal maker) or granules according to package instructions. This usually involves boiling a small pot of water with a little salt, boiling the soy chunks in it, then letting them soak in the boiling water (10 minutes for soy chunks, less for granules – read the box instructions). Drain the soy chunks or TVP granules, and squeeze out as much water as you can. Set the re-hydrated soy chunks or TVP granules aside, and proceed with the recipe.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Add black mustard seeds and let them sizzle. Then add cumin and stir for 30 seconds. Add curry leaves and chillies, stir again. Then add onions, and sauté on medium-low heat for 3 minutes, or till the onions have softened. Now add the garlic and tomatoes. Continue to cook on medium-low heat till the tomatoes are very soft, about 6 minutes.

Add the ground masala powder (recipe below), turmeric, and salt, stir for a minute.

Add re-hydrated, squeezed soy chunks/meal maker/nutrella/TVP/TSP and pour in 2 cups water. Bring to boil. Continue boiling for about 5 minutes.

Pour in coconut milk and cook stirring for about 2 minutes. Taste the curry, if it is too spicy for you, add more coconut milk.

Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve hot with rotis, chappatis, tortillas, or steamed rice.

For the masala powder
Ingredients
1 tablespoons coriander seeds
1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
1/2 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 small dried red chili, optional

Method
In a small, heavy skillet on low heat, toast each of the ingredients one at a time. Roast each spice for about a minute, or till it lightly turns color and gets fragrant. Let the toasted spices cool a little. Then place in a coffee grinder and grind into a fine powder. Make sure there are no unground pieces.

This recipe is a vegetarian and vegan version of a Food & Wine magazine recipe for chile spiced skirt steak tacos. I found the recipe on the Bitten Word site- my new favorite blog by fellow Washington DC bloggers!

I used seitan (Westsoy brand)  instead of the meat and added some onions and green peppers to bulk it up.  I made some changes to the original taco seasoning recipe — I used more chipotle powder. I didnt use ancho chile powder because i didnt have any. I also cut out the black pepper because I didnt think it added much to the taco seasoning. The original recipe calls for onion powder, but because i was using a lot of fresh onions, I left out the onion powder. 

Non-vegans can serve this taco with shredded cheese and sour cream. But these tacos were so tasty thanks to all the paprika, chipotle, cumin and other spices that I didnt miss the cheese or sour cream. Enjoy with a good, cold mexican beer.

Chipotle Spiced Seitan Tacos Recipe

adapted from this Food & Wine magazine recipe found on The Bitten Word blog
makes about 8 tacos

for taco seasoning
1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder (i left this out)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

for the filling
2 tablespoons oil
1 large red onion, cut into strips
1 large green pepper, cut into strips
8oz  seitan

8 corn tortillas, warmed
Pico de gallo, Guacamole, lime wedges, chopped cilantro and shredded red cabbage for serving

In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the taco seasoning and set aside. In a wok, heat oil and add onions. Cook on medium heat till the onions are soft and caramelized, about 7 minutes. Then add green pepper strips, seitan, mixed taco seasoning and saute for about 2 minutes.

Serve with warm tortillas, pico de gallo, guacamole, and shredded red cabbage.

Ive walked past boxes of snowy white Enoki Mushrooms at the Asian store. I’d stop to admire these floral looking clusters, but never bought them because I wasn’t quite sure what to do with them. But this time I picked up a box, telling myself if they were so pretty to look at I’m sure they’ll taste good.

Enokis are a delicate, slightly sweet mushroom. They hardly need any cooking. Infact, you could use them raw in this recipe if you wish.

Crispy SeitanSeitan – about 5 large pieces. I use white wave seitan.
Rice or plain flour – 6 tbsp
Chili Powder – 1/2 tsp
Garlic Powder – 1/2 tsp
Salt
Oil

Mix the flour, chili powder, garlic powder and salt. Dredge the seitan pieces in the flour mixture. Heat one tbsp of oil in a pan, and pan fry the seitan till golden brown on both sides.

Now place the seitan on a cutting board and let it cool. Once cooled, cut into strips.

Enoki Mushrooms and Snow PeasEnoki Mushrooms – one 7 oz box
Snow Peas – about 25
Sesame Seeds – 2 tbsp

Cut off the end one third of the enoki cluster. You should now be able to separate the mushrooms into individual stems.

Saute the mushrooms in a pan with some oil on medium heat for about 1 minute.

You could also use the mushrooms raw.

Trim the ends of the snow peas. Boil water in a pot and add snow peas. Boil for 1 minute. Drain snow peas and place them in an ice bath. Drain before using.

Sesame Honey SauceSoy Sauce – 4 tbsp
Sesame Oil – 4 tbsp
Honey – 1 tbsp

Whisk all ingredients together.
Combine the mushrooms, snow peas and seitan in a bowl. Pour the sesame honey sauce over the vegetables. Toss carefully.

Sprinkle sesame seeds on top.