A quick and delicious side of Carrot and Green Beans Thoran, a saute of diced carrots and green beans in coconut, made in the Instant Pot.
Vegetables, by itself, or a combination of few, sauteed with coconut with a tempered seasoning of mustard seeds and curry leaves in coconut oil is a popular, favorite everyday side in Southern India. This type of preparation is called a poriyal or thoran. The coconut especially is an important addition in the state of Kerala, where there is a coconut palm any which way you look.
And in the big feast in Kerala, that is made for a special occasion of any kind, called the Sadya, there is always some form of thoran in the multitude of dishes that are served on a banana leaf. If you are interested in reading more about this feast, there is a whole entire post about the Kerala Sadya and Kerala Sadya Recipes that you can read.
Sounds like a great way to cook vegetables, but you may think why use an Instant Pot for this?
A few reasons, actually. One, the veggies get cooked super quickly and just right texture of being cooked and being crunchy, when you use the STEAM mode in the Instant Pot. Second, as with any Instant Pot recipes, you do not have to baby sit this. Third, usually when the sadya is being cooked in my kitchen, I seem to need all the stove burners and seem to not have enough. So, an extra “burner” with the Instant Pot always helps.
Here are some thoran recipes that we love around here:
Ingredients
- 2-3 carrots diced, about 1 cup
- 1 cup chopped green beans
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp brown mustard seeds
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 8-10 curry leaves
- ¼ cup fresh grated coconut
- 1 Thai green chillie
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Pour about 1 cup water in the inner pot of the Instant Pot. In a steamer basket, add the diced carrots and the green beans. Insert this basket into the inner pot of the Instant Pot.
- Close the lid of the Instant Pot. Set the knob to SEALING.Press MANUAL and adjust time to 3 mins
- Once it is done, and the pressure has released naturally (NPR), move the knob to VENT and open the Instant Pot.
- Take out the steamer basket and empty the inner pot.
- Place the inner pot back in the Instant Pot. Press SAUTE. Once the display shows HOT, add the coconut oil and mustard seeds to it.
- Once the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the curry leaves, give a quick stir and add the steamed vegetables. Add turmeric and salt and mix well.
- Meanwhile, pound the grated coconut and the green chillies roughly using a mortar and pestle.
- Add this to the veggies in the Instant Pot and give a quick stir. Let is saute for a minute or so, till the rawness of the coconut disappears.
- Serve hot with rice and some Instant Pot Parippu Curry.
Nutrition
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