Now what is a Thoran:
Thoran is a traditional Kerala dry vegetable recipe made with grated or finely chopped vegetables like yam (suran), bittergourd (karela) , cabbage (bandh gobhi), carrots (gajar) , beans (beans like chawli beans, french beans) , red amaranth leaves , drumsticks or drumstick leaves. The basic ingredients in which the vegetables are cooked are shallots, coconut, curry leaves, mustard seeds, turmeric powder, green chili or red chili and coconut oil.
Thoran is one of the dishes that is served in the Sadya along with the other dishes. ( A Sadya is a grand feast where a vegetarian meal comprising of various dishes is served on a plantain/banana leaf.)
If you do not like the raw taste of beetroot, than you should try this recipe. Its great. It goes very well with rotis, parathas and specially the Kerala Parota and even cooked rice. You could also have this recipe as a side dish.
In this recipe, I wanted some spiciness that would soften the sweetness of beetroot and coconut. So, I added both red chili and green chili along with ginger. I also added coriander powder, red chili powder and crushed whole garam masala. This was my variation to this recipe and the beetroot thoran was awesome and great.
You have to chop the beetroots finely. You could also use grated beetroot which will cook faster than chopped beetroots.
For all those who do not have fresh coconut, you could easily substitute with dry or dessicated coconut. Of course fresh coconut has a different taste, but the thoran tastes equally good with dessicated coconut too.
- 2 beetroots ( chopped or grated)
- 4 tsbp grated fresh coconut
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 4-5 shallots (chopped into 4 pieces)
- 10-12 curry leaves (whole or chopped)
- 1 whole red chili
- 1 green chili, finely chopped
- 3/4 tsp finely chopped ginger
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 cardamom, 2 peppercorns, 1/2 ” cinnamon, 1 clove ( crushed to a medium coarse powder in a pestle and mortar)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- salt
How to make the Beetroot Thoran:
- Heat the coconut oil in a kadai or wok.
- Add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the cumin seeds.
- The cumin seeds will start to sizzle now. Immediately add the shallots and curry leaves.
- Fry the shallots on a medium flame for 2 minutes.
- Now add the whole red chili, chopped green chili and ginger.
- Fry for a minute.
- Add all the dry masala powders including the crushed and powdered whole garam masala.
- Fry for a half a minute and then add the beetroot.
- Mix the chopped beetroot with the rest of the spices.
- Add the grated coconut and salt
- Cover and cook the beetroot till it is done.
- To facilitate faster coking of the beetroot, you could add some 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup of water to the beetroot. Cover it and cook.
- Serve with rice, chapatis or even parathas.
