Kerala Thoran with Green beans & Chioggia Beetroots. {Indian sattvik vegetable Stir fry for every day meals.}

I cook green beans stir fry at least three four times a week, mostly  Kerala style stir fry known as Thoran. I always add few other veggies  with beans. I got Chioggia beets from  Whole foods Market, they are not sold in other grocery stores here. This is my first time to cook with Chioggia beets. These beets have originated in Chioggia, an Italian coastal town near Venice, Italy.  They have beautiful  unique contrasting rings of dark pink, light pink and white color. They are also know as Bull's eye Beet / Candy stripe Beet.  Good  feature of these beets is, they don't bleed like regular beets but their beautiful bold  pink color fades away after cooking. They are very sweet and mild in flavor. When I make green beans and betroot thoran I  pre-boil beets, drain stock then combine  it with cooked  green beans  to avoid green beans from getting all  dark red. For Chioggia beetroots I can skip pre-boiling step. This stir fry was cooked for Sunday lunch, I prepared quick Kadhi to go with rice and stir fry. Scroll down to check recipe for preparing quick Kadhi. 

Simple Sunday Lunch -  Rice-Kadhi-Sabzi.

Ingredients :
Serves 3 people

• Green beans -   sliced into 1 cm pieces, yield 2.5 cups
• 1 medium size Chioggia Beet - peel skin, cut into 1 cm dices, yield around 1 Cup. (you can use regular beetroot.)
• 7-8 - curry leaves
• 1/2 Cup - fresh grated coconut
• 1/4 Cup - finely chopped cilantro

Tempering Ingredients

• 1/2  T.spoon - Mustard seeds
• 1 Tb.spoon - skinless urad daal (splitted or whole gota type.)
• 1/2 T.spoon - Turmeric
• 2 pinches - Hing / Asafoetida
• 7-8 curry leaves 
• 1 Green chili - finely chopped
• 1 Tb.spoon oil - preferably use coconut oil.

How to cook Kerala Thoran with Green beans and Chioggia beets :

1. Snap both the ends of green beans, thoroughly wash under running water. Hold 10-15 green beans together in left hand over cutting board  and slice into 1 cm size pieces.
2. Chop out both the ends of Chioggia beats, peel the skin, rinse under water. Make 1 cm thick slices. Stack 2-3 slices together and cut into 1 cm size cubes.
3. Heat a medium size skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp oil, when hot first add 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, wait until seeds start to crack, quickly cover with lid, wait for 15-20 seconds or until frequency of cracking slows down, then add curry leaves, chopped green chilies. saute for 15 seconds. Next add half tsp turmeric powder, 2 pinches Hing and 1 tbsp Urad  dal, stir continuously for 10-15 seconds or  until urad dal slightly changes its  shade, Don't wait too long, once dal turns light  brown, quickly add  chopped green beans, stir well with Tadka.
4. Over medium heat saute green beans for 3-4 minutes. Now add diced  Chioggia Beets, continue to saute over medium heat for 6-7 minutes, stirring often.
5. Reduce heat to medium low, add 1/4 cup water, sprinkle salt, continue cooking until all water evaporates. Now add remaining 7-8 curry leaves, stir and cook some more time until beans and beets get tender, this step will take about 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle half the quantity of fresh grated coconut and chopped cilantro, mix well. shut off the heat
6. Before serving garnish with remaining fresh coconut and cilantro. Serve with  warm rice, Roti or enjoy bowl full of Thoran just like salad.

.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.

How to make Kadhi ?

Kadhi is  curry  made by tempering  yogurt with  various seeds, spices and herbs, little besan flour is used to get thick, creamy texture and enhanced flavor.

Ingredients :
Serves 2 people

• 1 Cup Yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup water.
• 2 Tb.spoon - besan flour
• 8-10 - curry leaves
• 1 Green chili - finely chopped
• Ginger - 1 inch piece, minced finely.
• 2-3 Garlic cloves - sliced lengthwise
• 1/2 T.spoon - Cumin seeds
• 1/4 T.spoon - methi seeds (fenugreek seeds)
• 1/4 T.spoon -Turmeric powder
• 2 pinches - asafoetida (Hing)
• 1/2 T.spoon - sugar 

1. Mix 1 Cup Yogurt with 2 tbsp besan flour, little salt and 1/4 cup water. Thoroughly whisk to get  lump free smooth  yogurt consistency.  You may add little more water to have desired consistency. Keep it aside.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a small size pot, don't heat  too much. I have tempered with cumin seeds so average hot temperature is fine, they should sizzle as soon as you drop in but should not get dark instantly. If you are using mustard seeds then oil needs to be heated  more. First drop  1/2 tsp cumin seeds and 1/4 tsp methi seeds,  allow to sizzle for 15-20 seconds.
3. Next add minced ginger, sliced garlic, chopped chillies, and curry leaves. Stir all well and saute for one minute over medium high heat.  Lastly  add 2 pinches of hing and  1/4 tsp turmeric powder, stir for 15-20 seconds.
4. Now add yogurt Besan mixture, stir well. Cook over medium heat until yogurt softly starts to boil. Taste and adjust salt, add  1/2  tsp sugar. Reduce heat to low, allow to simmer for 5-6 minutes. Serve warm over rice or eat with roti or enjoy as soup in a bowl.

Check three top garnished semi-circle slices of Chioggia Beetroot

 for its original color, after cooking bright red, pink color fades to white, orange and light yellow.