It takes only 20 mins to make this Red Beets and Rainbow Carrots Thoran, a simple and delicious vegetable side flavored with coconut and chillies. This is a perfect side to a platter with rice and curry.
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If you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen the countless thoran recipes that I show on Insta stories, when I am cooking them for lunch or dinner. Thoran is one of the staple side dishes in Kerala cuisine and is super easy to make. A simple everyday lunch platter would have rice (see how to make Kerala Matta Rice in the Instant Pot), a curry ( like Sambar - lentil curry or Mango Pulissery - coconut yogurt curry with mango or something similar) and a vegetable side, like this beets and carrots thoran.
This side dish, Thoran, is an easy way to use up any veggies that are lying around in the refrigerator. So, basically any kind of veggie or combination of veggie can be used as a base for this recipe.
Some of our favorites are:
- Instant Pot Carrot Green Beans Thoran
- Beet Leaves Thoran
- Cabbage Thoran
- Spinach and Chickpea Saute with Coconut
This Red Beets and Rainbow Carrots Thoran is
- Easy and quick to make - takes less than 20 mins from start to finish
- Delicious vegetable side to go with rice or rotis
How to make Red Beets and Rainbow Carrots Thoran
- Cook - Crackle brown mustard seeds and curry leaves in hot coconut oil. Add the chopped beets and carrots to it. Add the turmeric powder and a little water, cover and cook.
- Grind - While the veggies are cooking, crush together grated coconut and Thai green chillies.
- Season - Add salt and this coconut mixture to the vegetables. Uncover and cook for a couple more minutes.
Cooking Tips
- Use fresh grated coconut for this dish. I normally use freshly frozen grated coconut. I always have a couple of bags of this in my freezer as I cook a lot with coconut. You can get it at any Indian store near you. DO NOT use desiccated coconut for this, it just won't taste the same. I would just skip the coconut altogether if you can find fresh or freshly frozen grated coconut.
- When using frozen coconut, take a small block of coconut out of the bag, place it in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 secs. This helps the coconut to warm enough that the oil is not separated from the flesh, so it mixes with the spices well.
- Alternate ways to make the coconut mixture:
- In this recipe I have used the simplest way to make the coconut mixture to add to the veggies. You can crush the coconut with cumin seeds, dried red chillies and pearl onions. Alternately you can also just add coconut on top of the veggies, without adding any chillies to it.
Red Beets and Rainbow Carrots Thoran
Ingredients
- 1 medium red beet peeled and finely chopped
- 1 bunch rainbow carrots about 4-5 carrots, scrubbed and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
- 6-7 curry leaves
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- salt to taste
- ¼ cup fresh coconut grated
- 2 Thai green chillies
Instructions
- Heat the coconut oil in a saute pan over medium high heat.
- Add the mustard seeds to it and let it crackle. Throw in the curry leaves to the pan.
- Add the chopped beets and carrots, give it a quick stir and add about ¼ cup of water. Mix well, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, if using frozen grated coconut, warm it in the microwave for 30 sec.
- Using a mortar and pestle, crush the coconut with the green chillies to form a coarse paste like mixture. Do not add any water to this.
- Uncover the beets and carrots, add salt and mix well.
- Add the coconut mix, and cook for 2 mins for it to all come together.
Notes
- Use fresh grated coconut for this dish. I normally use freshly frozen grated coconut. I always have a couple of bags of this in my freezer as I cook a lot with coconut. You can get it at any Indian store near you. DO NOT use dessicated coconut for this, it just won't taste the same. I would just skip the coconut altogether if you can find fresh or freshly frozen grated coconut.
- When using frozen coconut, take a small block of coconut out of the bag, place it in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 30 secs. This helps the coconut to warm enough that the oil is not separated from the flesh, so it mixes with the spices well.
- Alternate ways to make the coconut mixture:
- In this recipe I have used the simplest way to make the coconut mixture to add to the veggies. You can crush the coconut with cumin seeds, dried red chillies and pearl onions. Alternately you can also just add coconut on top of the veggies, without adding any chillies to it.
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