Chettinad Veg

Here's a vegetarian dish from Tamil Nadu I had on my recent travels, at a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Meenakshi temple in Madurai. I was so impressed that I thought I'd give it a shot myself. I have to admit, my version turned out a little different, but it was close.

Serves: 4
Cost per person: 1.90 zl (0.34 GBP, 0.46 Euro, 4,097 Laotian Kip)

Some of the ingredients might be tricky to get hold of so I'll include alternatives!

You'll need:

- a few chopped up florets of cauliflower
- a handful of peas
- a handful of chopped red pepper (capsicum)
- 1/4 of a coconut (the flesh) grated (use a food processor) or just use some creamed coconut.
- 3 dried red chillies (or a tsp of chilli powder)
- 1 tsp of coriander seeds
- 1 tsp of cumin seeds
- 1 tsp pepper corns
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- a small piece of cinnamon
- 2 cloves
- 2 small onions finely chopped
- 1 tsp ginger/ garlic paste (just mince up some garlic and ginger with a microplane)
- 1 handful of curry leaves (I used dried), leave out if you can't get hold of them
- 1 tsp of kalpasi (stone flower) which is a dried fungus used in Tamil Nadu. Replace with 1/4 tsp of cinnamon powder if you can't get hold of it
- 2 chopped green chillies
- water
- salt

Let's go!

1. Dry roast the red chillies, coriander, cumin and fennel seeds along with the pepper corns on a low heat for around 5 minutes. Meanwhile, prep the other ingredients. Chop up the onions etc.

2. Add the grated coconut and give it another 2-3 minutes. If using creamed coconut, don't add now; chuck in later towards the end of the dish. I'll tell you when! Remove this mixture. Put into a grinder. Let it cool a little

3. Oil in a pan on medium. Add a little whole cinnamon and 2 cloves. Onions in.

4. After around 7 minutes, add the ginger/garlic paste, curry leaves and kalpasi. Cook for another 5 minutes or so until the onions are nice and soft.

5. Grind up the coconut/ spice mix with a little water till you get as smooth a paste as you possibly can

6. Add the paste to the onions. Wash out the grinder with a little water and add to the onions. Cook down for around 5 minutes.

7. Add the green chillies and the cauliflower plus a glass or two of water. Cook for around 7 minutes. If using creamed coconut, add at this stage.

8. Add the red pepper and cook for a further 3 minutes.

9. Enjoy!

Costing:

- cauliflower: 2.50 zl
- other veg: 1 zl
- coconut: 1 zl
- the rest: 0.50 zl
- rice to serve: 2.60 zl

Total: 7.60 zl
Serves: 4
Per person: 1.90 zl