Vegetable Thoran

Keep Korma and Curry On.

India is a controlled and chaotically enriching assault on the senses which has altered my perception on reality forever. I would go as far as to say that it quite literally blew my mind. 

There are so many things to love about a place that holds the most wonderfully vibrant and alive cuisine in the world, coupled with an ancient system of healing and what's not to love about the traditional home of downward dog?

So what was my biggest takeaway from India?

I met a myriad of wonderfully genuine and generous people who I felt had a strong sense of kinship and community, perhaps I noticed it more because I could see people’s dependency upon one another.  And not just the kind of dependency which involved getting a step further ahead in business or a personal advancement.  It was more of a matter of sticking together for the sole purposes of survival.  Being immersed in the human element of India and its people gave me an insight and a sense of perspective that can’t be found on a facebook highlight reel.

What did I learn? 

I learnt that it’s not about living your dream.  It’s about living your purpose.  And for me these two things are very different.  For some people living your purpose may be enjoying a simple, happy and uncomplicated life engulfed in personal meaning. For others it may mean the difference between a job and a calling. For me it is both.

The external chaos of India compels you to explore your internal world, let go of the extrinsic and live in the intrinsic to be able to cope with all that is happening externally, the people with leprosy, the snake charmers, a herd of cows on the road, bustling and beeping traffic and a lack of sanitation.  It makes you try to want to understand more than who you are and what your values are, but what your true purpose on this planet is.  For me being in India meant being comfortable with feeling uncomfortable most of the time which helps you to find your purpose sooner.

Speaking of takeaway, the initial reason for my food safari was an urgent craving to delve into the richness and healing properties of Ayurvedic nutrition and cooking and to sink knee-deep in learning about how to eat right for your constitution or dosha.

One of my first stops was Kerala in South India where I studied Ayurvedic nutrition and a practical cooking course in order to research for my next book, Eat Right for Your Shape!

I’ve always had a soft spot for Indian cuisine in particular curries and pretty much any Saag I can get my hands on, but I hadn’t really experienced the taste of true Indian cuisine until my visit to India. A big attraction of the food for me is that it is mostly vegetarian yet so full of flavour and created with simple ingredients.

One of the simplest and most magical dishes I came across was a Keralite dish called Vegetable Thoran, a dry vegetable curry. It literally only took a couple of bites for me to fall head over heels in love.  Part of the magic of cooking traditional Indian cuisine is that it doesn’t have to be about hunting down specific ingredients to make it authentic in a Western sense, such as powdered garam masala, you can use just a handful of  ingredients at hand to whip this up quicker than you can say; Holy Haryana.

Vegetable Thoran

In a nutshell the base ingredients to create a thoran are finely chopped or grated vegetables tempered with mustard seeds and cooked with curry leaves, shallots or onions, freshly grated coconut and spices.  You can use any kind of vegetables that are around, carrots, zucchini, cabbage and you can add chili depending upon your preference.

The absolute key to this dish is in your knife handling skills; to create a carefully chopped and constructed pile of goodness it takes calmness and patience and being in the moment, some other facets of Indian wisdom. 

Start with good quality organic vegetables where possible and play around until you get the flavours that work for you.

Hello Coconut Scraper

Vegetable Thoran

• 2 TBS coconut oil
• 1 TBS black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 inch piece of ginger minced
• 1 small onion chopped fine
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 green chili chopped (optional)
• 1 TBS turmeric
• 8-10 small curry leaves (one sprig)
• 4 carrots grated fine
• 500 gms green beans chopped on angle very fine
• Pinch Celtic sea salt
• 1/2 cups grated coconut
• 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 TBS filtered water

 Method

• Heat the coconut oil in a pan over medium-high heat
• Place in mustard seeds and fry until they pop
• Add cumin and continue cooking until the colour changes
• Add ginger and onion and garlic and sauté until translucent
• If using chili pop it into the pan now and cook for a minute
• Stir in turmeric and curry leaves

Snappy Sweet Green Beans

• Pour in green beans and a pinch of salt
• Stir and cook for a couple of minutes

Stir in Carrot

• Add carrot and stir and cook for another couple of minutes

Pour in Coconut

• Now pour in coconut and stir, season to taste
• Cover the pan with a lid and reduce heat to low and continue cooking until vegetables are soft you may need to add a tablespoon of water here if the mixture is too dry to help the cooking (steaming) process
• Garnish with coriander leaves (optional)

The Finished Dish

Happy Cooking!  You can check out my recipe books here.