Carrot beans thoran, a simple Kerala style stir-fry made with English vegetables, coconut and onion. A delicious diet friendly, VEGAN side dish. It has no spice added, just steam cooked until 90%. While the dish itself is very simple the technique used here brings out all the flavor of the dish. In short less is more here.
Different kinds of thoran are made in most Kerala homes on an everyday basis. It is basically a combination of vegetable stir fried with coconut until dry. Coconut as you know is abundant and integral part of Kerala cuisine. It makes its presence felt in each and every dish made traditionally.
These days carrot and beans thoran gets a spot for Kerala sadhya as well. The ease of making it on a busy day is a such a life saver especially when you are have a huge line up to cook for the traditional feast. Over all keeper must try recipe.
If you are someone who hate the taste of cooked carrot like me then you have to try this game changer stir-fry. All thanks to my sweet little friend Binsu for introducing me to this recipe.
WHY YOU SHOULD TRY THIS CARROT BEANS THORAN RECIPE?
A warm thoran makes a great side dish for any unflavored rice dish. Goes well with any spicy non vegetarian dishes, grilled meats.
- TASTE: The veggies with just coconut and green chili tastes awesome,appetizing to most age groups.
- TEXTURE: The texture of the vegetable can be kept slightly crunchy or soft.
- TIME: It only takes 15 minutes!
- EASE: This is such a simple recipe to make. You can whip up carrot bean thoran year round with only a few ingredients very easily swap with other ingredients of your choice.
Ingredients :
Carrot : Tender fresh carrot tastes best.
Beans : Use fresh tender beans without too much fibrous ends for best results
Coconut: Fresh grated coconut which has more milk content (ie: not dry coconut) will taste really good.
Red onion : The ratio of onion to vegetables should always be less. Too much onion will leave a lot of water as the thoran sits.
Secret of getting this carrot beans thoran recipe right :
- Chop the vegetable into fine pieces. Use a vegetable chopper to achieve this fine texture for carrot.
- Beans and onion do not cut well in chopper but need fine chopping with a knife on the cutting board as seen in pics below to keep their shape.
- Use your hand to massage the all ingredients together for a good 2-3 minutes. In this time the veggies start to sweat. This brings out their flavor and reduces cooking time keeping their color and taste intact.
- Do not add too much water to cook sprinkle water once or twice. It will get cooked in steam that develops inside.
- Do not cook on high heat instead sauté the veggies and allow to steam cook.
Step pics of making carrot beans thoran :
Chop the carrot alone in a vegetable chopper to a mince. But not beans and onion.
Use your hand to massage the vegetable applying medium pressure.
Make sure the veggies are not over cooked. The bright color and flavor is lost in doing so.
Other delicious MUST- TRY recipes:
Kerala style stir-fry to try :
Other carrot recipes to try :
Carrot Beans Thoran
Ingredients
- 2 Carrot Medium size
- 20 French beans tender
- 1 Red onion Small
- 1 cup Coconut Freshly grated
- 1 Green chili
- 1/2 Tsp turmeric Optional
- Salt to taste
Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
- 2 Whole dried red chili
- 2 sprigs Curry leaves
- 4 tsp Coconut oil
Instructions
- Wash the veggies well pat dry. Peel and cut the carrot roughly so it is easy for the vegetable chopper (so the blades won't bend) Add carrot to chopper and mince to small pieces. Not too fine though
- Cut the ends off of the beans. Chop on a cutting board as fine as you can. But don put it in chopper cause it will loose its shape and become unrecognizable.
- Mince the onion too using a cutting board. Put the chopped beans and onion in a bowl and massage nicely then add carrot and coconut to it and continue massaging applying medium pressure so the vegetables sweat nicely.Add the green chili , salt and turmeric powder (optional)and give this a final massage. Keep aside closed for half hour.
- In a wide pan add coconut oil when it heats up add mustard. When it splutters add the red chillies broken into two then the curry leaves. Now add the chopped veggie mix kept aside. Sauté for a minute until everything heats up slightly then spring some water cover and cook for 5 minutes on low to medium flame.
- Open and stir once then if it needs more cooking sprinkle some more water allow the steam inside to cook the veggies to 90% switch off heat and serve immediately.
Notes
- Chop the carrot alone in a vegetable chopper to a mince. But not beans and onion.
- Use your hand to massage the vegetable applying medium pressure.
- Make sure the veggies are not over cooked. The bright color and flavor is lost in doing so.
Do give this carrot beans thoran recipe a try and let me know your feedback.
Meena
Kenneth
I can’t eat a lot of spices or dairy due to my health issues. This recipe sounds good.
elephantsncoconuttrees
Thank you Kenneth. I hope you get to try this recipe.
Chinnamma Koshy
Ende kochumonde favorite thoran anu idu.
elephantsncoconuttrees
So glad to know ur grandkid loves this colorful thoran.
Smt Geeta Dasgupta
what exactly do you mean when you say massage the vegetables? I love thoran, and wish to use exactly these two vegetables.
elephantsncoconuttrees
By massage I mean tenderize the vegetables by squeezing and rubbing with your palm. This softens the vegetable and helps release its own juices quickly without heating it for too long. You can check videos of massaging kale in YouTube, exactly same process is used here.
Hope this helps.