>>21419436 (OP)You're thinking about cooking all wrong. Think about it more like art or science. Chili is essentially a tomato based curry with pinto beans. So what are the essential ingredients? Fat, tomato, beans, chilies for flavor, and a thickening agent for the gravy.
In traditional chili ground beef or pork provides the fat and some basic flavor. These things are essential and so you'll have to find a substitute for vegetarian chili. Butter can add fat, and vegetable paste/soy sauce can add a little of the missing flavors. Diced or cubed potato can add some missing bite/mouth feel.
To make the chili, start with your fat, sauté your chosen veggies (onions peppers garlic whatever) salt it a bit, after that's looking good add some cans of diced tomatoes. After that's looking good season it with onion powder/garlic powder cumin etc, then add your cooked beans. You can go with cans or if you feel like fucking with it made dried beans before hand. Let that slowly cook together for a while seasoning and tasting throughout.
That's it. Make it a few times and you'll know what you like and get a lot better at it. It's hard to fuck up and there's a ton of room to practice.
