Beans Thoran | Kerala style French Beans Thoran | Green Beans Poriyal | Onam Sadhya Recipes

Beans sauteed in coconut-shallot tempering

I am still lingering in the Onam mood!! :) I took a 10 day vacation & was roaming and eating & visiting friends & relatives during this Onam. That is the essencce of Onam right? So I can say, that this Onam was well spent :) But what I miss now the most is the food :D as always! It's nice to have food prepared by someone else once in a while right.. I miss my mom's soul filling comfort food, the elaborate sadhyas of Kerala, the heavy biriyani & meen curry of Deeps' aunt.. 

So to relive the Onam moments, it's a simple Beans Thoran today. Very easy to make and a quintessential to the Onam Sadhya,Thoran is basically veggie cooked/tempered with coconut shavings. It's not necessarily beans but Sadhya can be served with a thoran made with any veggie. It can be Long beans or Cabbage or Beetroot or any veggie of your choice for that matter. 

So what was the thoran that you served this Onam? 

Other Sadhya recipes: Beans Thoran Cabbage Thoran Mathanga Erissery Mathan Erissery | Mathan Vanpayar Erissery Mampazha Pachadi | Pazhutha Manga Pachadi Mambazha Pulissery | Mambazha Kaalan Chembu Kumbalanga Moru Kootan | Taro-Ash Gourd Pulissery Pulissery | Kachiya Moru | Mor Kuzhambu Sambar | Kerala Style Varutharacha Sambar with no Coconut Homemade Ada for Adapradhaman Recipe Source: Ma   I Took:  Preparation Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes   Serves : 3-4 persons I Used: Beans - 250 gm/1.5 cups (chopped) Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp Salt - As needed To Temper: Oil - 1 tbsp Mustard  - ½ tsp Shallots - 6-8 nos (sliced) Red Chilly powder - 1 tsp Curry leaves - A sprig To Pulse: Coconut - 3 tbsp Shallots/Small Onion - 2 no Green Chilly - 1 no Garlic - 1 pod Cumin Seeds - ¼ tsp The Way:

1. Rinse the beans in water twice or thrice. And chop them finely into small quarter inch pieces.

2. In a pan, add the chopped beans along with ¼ tsp turmeric powder, salt and ¼ cup of water. Allow them to cook covered in a medium low flame until done. Check in between if water is sufficient, take care not to overcook or burn.

3. Now while the beans get cooked, coarsely pulse together the ingredients under 'To Pulse' in mixie without adding water. Do not grind to a smooth paste. Just 3-4 pulse until all the ingredients get crushed and mixed well would be sufficient.

4. Heat oil in a pan. Splutter the mustard seeds.

5. Now add the chopped shallots and saute for 2-3 minutes. When they start to turn colour, add the curry leaves.

6. Now add the ground coconut paste and saute for another minute.

7. Add red chilly powder and again saute for 3-4 minutes till the raw smell goes away. Now add in the cooked beans and give a nice stir till the coconut tempering is coated evenly all over the cooked beans.

Serve along with brown rice, Sambar and pappad or as a side dish in your Onam Sadhya :)

Notes:

• Addition of garlic, cumin & shallots while crushing the coconut is completely optional. As a family who does not like the strong flavour of garlic, I always add 1 pod of it. So adjust the ingredients to suit your tastes

• Coconut is the key ingredient for thoran. So do not compromise on it :)

Cheers,

Chitz

Yellow Pumpkin Kootu | Poosanikai Kootu | Parangikai Kootu - without coconut

Yellow Pumpkin cooked in Mung Dal

Many think that pumpkins, especially the yellow ones, are for Halloween carvings ! It does remind you of the Harry Potter movies & the Hogwarts dining room, na? I know many a friends who do not like it as a veggie. Maybe the sweetness that it imparts is what puts off many to have it as a side dish. But it is said to be a great source of Vitamin A & antioxidant beta carotene. It also seems to decreases the risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes & promotes a healthy complexion & hair. Now that last part would make you feel that including pumpkins in your diet does not sound like a bad idea after all, right? It is also a great substitute for oil & butter in your bakes ! Now I have heard that they even make payasam (kheer) with pumpkins. So many ways to have them..

Yellow pumpkin is one of the favorite veggies of my sis, my mom, me & now Dhruv as well :) I am happy that he likes it & I do not have to run behind him to make him eat them. I was scared that he might not like them coz it's not Deeps' favorite. But this kootu recipe has impressed even Deeps as well & he eats at least 2 spoons of it when I make them (Yes, that's an achievement) Somehow, my mom's recipes do have a very positive impact on his veggie eating habits ! :) So people out there, who do not like pumpkins, do try this recipe for sure, coz it's a breeze to make & a keeper for sure and you are going to start liking them hereafter :)

Other pumpkin recipes:

Vegan Pumpkin Bread
Mathanga Erissery

Recipe Source: Ma

 

I Took: 30 minutes

 

Serves : 2 persons

I Used:

Yellow Pumpkin - 250 gm (A big piece) Moong Dal - ¼ cup Ginger - An inch piece Garlic - 2-3 cloves Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp Salt - As needed

To Temper:

Oil	-	1 tbsp
Mustard	-	½ tsp
Urad Dal	-	1 tsp
Red Chilly	-	4 nos
Curry leaves	-	A sprig
Asafoetida	-	2 pinch

The Way:

1. Rinse moong dal thoroughly in water. Then soak the dal in water (I took 1.5 cups) for 20-30 minutes

2. Remove the skin of the pumpkin (and also the middle mushy part with seeds) and dice it and keep aside

3. Add salt & turmeric powder to the soaked dal and boil it till it is 3/4 done. Check in between if water is required and add accordingly

4. Once the dal is 3/4th cooked, add the diced pumpkin pieces

5. Crush the ginger & garlic and also add them along with the pumpkin pieces

6. Now cover and cook till the pumpkin pieces are cooked and becomes soft and mushy. This should take around 8-10 minutes

7. Now for the tadka/tempering, heat oil in a tadka pan/kadai

8. Add the mustard seeds. When they splutter, add the urd dal. As it slightly turns colour add the remaining ingredients and give a nice stir

9. Add the tadka to the kootu and mix and serve

Tastes awesome with Plain Rice / Rasam Sadam / Kathirikai Kara Kuzhambu / Pavakkai Puli Kuzhambu

Notes:

Instead of boiling the moong dal, you can pressure cook as well. Just about 2 whistles should suffice. As pumpkin gets cooked fast, I would not recommend to pressure cook it.

Cheers,

Chitz